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A special in-person seminar with our esteemed Gestalt colleague from London.This seminar explores how sociopolitical forces, including state violence, racism, immigration enforcement, and abuses of institutional power, shape the therapeutic field and influence both client experiences and therapist presence. Grounded in Gestalt field theory, participants examine contact boundary disturbances and creative adjustments that may arise in response to oppressive conditions, while learning to distinguish survival strategies from pathologizing interpretations.
The seminar also invites therapists to examine their own positionality related to race, citizenship, class, and political alignment, and to consider how historical structures of slavery, Indigenous genocide, colonialism, and anti-Black racism continue to inform contemporary experiences of power and violence. Through this lens, participants develop practices for remaining grounded and present with clients whose safety is threatened, while engaging thoughtfully with discomfort, differing values, and challenges to their own assumptions without withdrawing from therapeutic contact.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
-Apply field theory to understand how sociopolitical events (immigration raids, political violence, revelations of elite abuse) actively shape the therapeutic relationship and client presentations.
-Identify contact boundary disturbances (confluence, retroflection, deflection) that may emerge when therapists encounter material related to state violence, racism, or their own proximity to power.
-Recognize creative adjustments in clients navigating oppressive field conditions, distinguishing between pathologizing frameworks and those that honor survival strategies.
-Examine personal positionality regarding race, citizenship, class, and political alignment, and articulate how these positions influence therapeutic presence and awareness.
-Trace connections between contemporary manifestations of power abuse (Epstein network, ICE enforcement) and historical structures of violence (slavery, Indigenous genocide, ongoing anti-Black racism and colonialism).
-Develop practices for staying present and grounded when working with clients whose safety is directly threatened by state or institutional violence.
-Engage productively with discomfort when one’s own values, safety, or political beliefs are challenged, without collapsing into defensiveness or withdrawal from contact.
Presenter: Umaa Thampu, MBACP (Accred.)
Register at: https://pghirishfestival.formstack.com/forms/2026fallseminars
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: $150
For LPCs, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.
Space is limited. Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Event venue
1824 Murray Ave #201, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, Pennsylvania 15217
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