6th International Gestalt Research Conference

Building the Evidence Base for Gestalt Therapy

5th to 7th September 2025, Birmingham - UK

Welcome to our 6th International Gestalt Research Conference site where you can find more information about the programme, speakers, workshops and the venue, you can book your ticket and explore suitable accommodation and interesting sights in Birmingham. Please scroll down to explore.

We will be updating this site with more details as they are finalised so check back in with us regularly.

Tickets on Sale

Standard Ticket £325.00

SOLD OUT - Early Bird Ticket £295.00

REFUND POLICY: In case of cancellation you will receive a full refund (less any admin/bank charges) when cancelling up to 28 days before the event. Any cancellations within 28 days of the event will receive a full refund (less any admin/bank charges), where the ticket is resold, if unsold the ticket will be non-refundable.

BURSARY: Please contact your local Gestalt membership body to seek any support for your attendance, i.e. ticket or travel cost. If you are UKAGP paying member and require a financial support, please contact Theo at admin@ukagp.org.uk for the application form.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE: The Research Conference Organising Committee are pleased to inform you that we are able to offer payment plans up to 3 months prior to the conference. If you are interested in exploring this further please contact finances@ukagp.org.uk

Conference Programme

Click image to enlarge

Keynote Speakers

Biljana van Rijn is a current President of the UK Chapter of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, an Associate Director of Education at Metanoia Institute in London, psychotherapist, supervisor and a psychotherapy researcher.

She leads the research centre at Metanoia Institute and has established a research clinic. Her focus is practice-based research with a particular interest in theory - building case study research and the process of change in psychotherapy. Biljana has authored numerous research publications using the qualitative, mixed method and quantitative methodologies as well as books on clinical assessment and formulation and working with sexual attraction in counselling and psychotherapy.

Dr. Felicitas Rost works as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Open University UK, supervises clinical doctorate students at the Tavistock Clinic, and works as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in the charity sector. She is also the General Vice President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR).

Previously, she was the Research Lead at the Tavistock Clinic, where she was involved with the Tavistock Adult Depression Study (TADS) and set up an enhanced ROM for individuals who present with sexually problematic and violent behaviours at the Portman Clinic. Most recently, she spearheaded a five year stakeholder campaign that demanded and achieved crucial methodological revisions of the latest NICE treatment guideline for depression.

She is the PI of the HEARD study – a health economic evaluation of individuals with complex mental health needs. As part of the Talking Therapies Task Force (TTTF), the aim is to promote the development of a national program of psychological therapies for these individuals.

Her current interests are shaped by two beliefs: the need to build bridges between research and clinical practice, and the breaking down of arbitrary hierarchies of types of research evidence.

Ladislav Timulak, PhD is Professor in Counselling Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is Course Director of the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. Ladislav (“Laco”—read “Latso”) is involved in various psychotherapy trainings in Ireland and internationally. His main research interest is psychotherapy research, particularly the development of emotion-focused therapy (EFT). He currently is adapting this form of therapy as a transdiagnostic treatment for depression, anxiety, and related disorders. He is also researching the use of mental health interventions delivered online. He has written or co-written ten books, more than 100 peer reviewed papers and chapters in both his native language, Slovak, and in English. His most recent books include Transforming Emotional Pain in Psychotherapy: An Emotion-Focused Approach (2015), Transforming Generalized Anxiety: An Emotion-Focused Approach (with James McElvaney; 2018); Essentials of Descriptive-Interpretive Qualitative Research: A Generic Approach (with co-author Robert Elliott); Transdiagnostic Emotion-Focused Therapy (with co-author Daragh Keogh); Essentials of Qualitative Meta-Analysis (with Mary Creaner) and Transforming Emotional Pain: An Emotion-Focused Workbook. with several co-authors. He maintains a part-time private practice.

Marketplace and Curiosity Cafés

Research is Structured Curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose (Zora Neale Hurston 1942, Jan Roubal 2018) .

The marketplace and cafés are where we go to assimilate the conference in semi-structured space. Places for discovery, emergence, audacity of imagination and platforms of connection. Places where we can discuss the conference and its themes, browse market stalls, find out about projects, meet friends and strangers, develop ideas, be heard and listened to. There will be three sessions for this, over the conference.

We are looking for people who can be on the committee organising the cafés and marketplace. If you would be interested in this, you would need to be able to come to meetings roughly once a month, and be able to support at the conference. Please contact:

Claire Asherson Bartram clairebartram21@gmail.com or

Anne Garrety garretya@gmail.com with your offers and suggestions.

We would like suggestions of themes for discussions. Please send them to: Claire Asherson Bartram or Anne Garrety at the above emails.

We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham.

Venue, Accommodation and Travel

Conference Venue

Millenium Point

Curzon Street

Birmingham

B4 7AP

Accommodation tips

As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has many accommodation options available. We've provided a selection of hotels near to the venue based on venue and organisers recommendations. More accommodation options are available.

The venue offers discounts with the following hotels:

Clayton hotel: code M1LLPT23 (0.2 miles) www.claytonhotels.com - no availability at time of checking.
Staybridge Suites: code AXCOC (0.5 miles) £144 per night without discount* www.ihg.com

Alternative hotels near the venue:

Conference Aston (0.5 miles) from £44 per night* ** conferenceaston.co.uk
Travelodge Birmingham Central Moor Street (0.5 miles) £65 per night* travelodge.co.uk
Premier Inn Birmingham City Centre (Exchange Square) hotel (0.3 miles) £72 per night* www.premierinn.com
Aloft Birmingham Eastside (0.3 miles) £133 per night* magritte.com

* prices displayed provided for indicative purposes only and are subject to change. Accurate at time of writing only. Based on single occupancy.

** based on single occupancy in a single room. Twin Rooms, Double Rooms etc also available.

Getting to Birmingham

By Car

The nearest motorways are the M6, M5 and M42. If you are using sat-nav or Google Maps, please use Millennium Point Multi-Storey Car Park postcode B4 7AP.

By Train

The conference venue, Millennium Point, is located only 0.7miles from the Birmingham New Street train station, the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre. It connects Birmingham with London Euston, Preston, Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Waverley and Liverpool Lime Street stations amongst many others.

The other two train stations within walking distance of the conference venue are: Birmingham Moor Street (0.5miles) and Birmingham Snow Hill (0.6miles) - both with direct links to London Marylebone station.

By Air

Low cost airlines like Ryanair and Wizz Air operate to/from the Birmingham International Airport alongside other Airlines flying to/from Birmingham airport.

From Birmingham New Street train station there are also frequent services to Birmingham International Airport, with direct trains taking approximately 10 minutes.

Find out more about things to do in the area: https://visitbirmingham.com

Sponsorship Opportunities

There is a lot of work and cost involved in hosting an international research conference for our Gestalt Community and the success is dependent on volunteers, sponsorship and ticket sales. We have a number of volunteers, but there is always space for more … and our ticket sales are now live . Where we’d love your support is to showcase our offering in the UK through financial sponsorship.

Please note EAGT, UKAGP, GANZ and IAAGT have provided significant up front sponsorship funding and will have the largest footprint in terms of visibility of brand.

There are a range of sponsorship options to get involved with this conference and support research in Gestalt Therapy including full or partial funding of the following:

Full Event Sponsorship - advertising space in the programme, conference web page, branding on general marketing materials and optional marketplace stall (Saturday evening).
Welcome Celebration Sponsorship (Friday Evening) - co-sponsorship with GANZ - costs vary e.g. £3,000 for canapes. The degree of contribution will be reflected in the branding and advertising of the event.
Cloth Bags for Delegates - c£800 - A cloth bag will be provided to delegates on arrival along with their programme and a pen. Sponsors logo will be made clear on the bags above the main event sponsors.
Advertising space in the printed programme - A printed programme is being provided for the participants and you are invited to place advertisements of your events or organisations as follows:
- Small box - £100
- Quarter page - £250
- Half page - £500
Marketplace - £250 - we will have a marketplace available throughout the conference with dedicated time for participants to explore during breaks, lunch and on Saturday afternoon. A marketplace stall includes a table and stand for you to display/advertise your organisation and offerings.
Offer scholarship placements - There is an opportunity for any organisation to offer places at the conference as part of their own scholarship programme. These would be dealt with directly with each organisation as per their own conferences/events. We would be delighted to advertise the availability of these on the conference website.
To offer or discuss sponsorship further please contact finances@ukagp.org for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to book a conference ticket if my submission was accepted for the conference?

Yes, all presenters and participants need to have a valid conference ticket to gain access to the conference venue and be able to present their work.

Do I have to be physically present at the conference if my accepted submission is a poster presentation?

For a poster presentation you do not have to be present in person at the conference. You need to have a supporter at the conference who can set it up, be responsible for the poster and ideally will be able to direct interest back to the author, yourself. You will not need to purchase the conference ticket however any of your supporter(s) will have to have valid ticket(s) to be able to set-up and support the poster during the conference.

Are you able to support my visa application process by issuing an official conference invitation letter?

Please email us at conference@ukagp.org.uk with your specific requirements and your relevant information for the applicable visa process, and we will aim to support you to the best of our abilities.