I/Thou - Gestalt Therapy and Joanna Macy’s ‘Great Turning.’
Updated: Jun 12, 2021
I have just finished 170 hours of training in Gestalt Therapy applied to working with Children and Teenagers with the Gestalt Institute of the Canary Islands. This training has enriched my group work at various levels - from the theoretical to the personal.
Here I reflect on the application of gestalt concepts - the relational perspective, the I/thou relationship and responsibility - to the Hij@s del Drago, a creativity and contact with nature group for 6-9 year olds that I co-founded in Mogan, Gran Canaria in 2014.
The relational perspective
In Gestalt therapy it is understood that an individual’s disordered ‘symptoms’ should be understood in the context of the system of which they are part - at the family, social and environmental level.
My particular focus is on what Richard Louv, in his seminal work ‘Last Child in the Woods’ denominates ‘nature deficit disorder.’ Over the past few decades, he argues, we have seen an increase in cases of anxiety, panic attacks and depression lined to the deterioration of our relationship with the natural world.
The Great Turning
This deterioration runs both ways. As we know we are destroying the natural world. We are now facing the sixth mass extinction of species due to over exploitation of resources and an economy based on fossil fuels. In other words we are at a turning point for the future not only of humanity but of the natural world.
Facing this reality is frightening and can tend to make us feel paralysed. ¿What will our children’s future be like? ¿What can I do to change this - given that it is such a systemic problem?’
I think that the only thing we can do is to walk with hope and faith, in consciousness of the realities around us and doing our bit to contribute to what ecopsychologist Joanna Macy calls the ‘Great Turning.’
L@s Hij@s del Drago 2021
My creative group practice has two pillars - the first is the creation of spaces for personal growth, the second is community mobilisation for the regeneration of our relationship with the natural world.
With the Hijos del Drago, a creativity and contact with nature group for 6-9 year olds, I aim to create a space which incorporates both of these pillars - supporting children and their families to become more resilient (able to face adversity) and to feel empowered to do their bit in the ‘Great Turning.’
Resilience
There is no better moment to talk about resilience.
We returned to Gran Canaria, having spent three years in Brussels, at the beginning of 2019 - when forest fires ripped through the centre of the island, burning more than 10,000 hectares. Then, in 2020, just after I had restarted the Hij@s del Drago, the Coronavirus pandemic started.
A year later, in March this year, I started the group again - with fewer children and taking all the necessary Covid security measures. During these past few months we have ‘played’ in various ways - using games, theatre, yoga and drawing - to support two key aspects of resilience - self-awareness (recognising and expressing emotions) and ability to be in the here and now.
The natural space in which this process of learning to trust ourselves unfolded was ideal. Contact with nature sharpens the senses, awakes curiosity and promotes the development of the imaginative capacities.
Fostering an I/Thou relationship
And from this strengthened self my hope is that the children that participate in these kinds of spaces don’t lose the innate intuition they have of their interdependent relationship with mother earth, of their I/Thou relationship with her.
When we are conscious of this relationship, we take responsibility for our part in it. This is very different to the I/It relationship with the natural world that currently predominates - leading us to destroy the only house we have.
And now…..
I plan to offer more spaces such as this, starting in September this year. I will also share creative and contact with nature activity ideas here in this blog - to inspire others to create similar spaces, or to enrich the spaces they may have already created.
Comentarios