Chair’s Update
by Ruth Nightingale
So, as the summer months disappear … a reflection on the last few months and thoughts of what’s next.
On July 1st this year we met for the UKAGP Day of Connection in London and what a delight the day was. We spent time exploring our experiences of connecting together and I know I came away from the day nourished by the experience. Thank you to those who were able to be there.
At our AGM, I shared that moving towards a more inclusive organisation was figural for me in this role. I know this is supported by the Organising Committee (OC) and seemed to be accepted at the AGM. I am keen to involve the membership in our activities, whether that be organisation-wide, specific interests or locally based activities. I know that some may be overwhelmed by the thought of stepping forward with ideas and I want to assure you that the OC will be there to support you and connect you to others with a similar interest. Working together is so much more fun than feeling like you are talking to an empty room. Hmm – that’s an interesting phrase I have just come up with… I can appreciate that this is my preference coming out!
We said thank you and farewell to Nika Jelendorf from the OC although she is still carrying forward the development of our process for Equity. This process will be designed to hear and reflect back equity and inclusion in the field to the membership. We want to create something similar to an ‘irrigation field’ where members are nourished in a form of learning/information and therefore the ‘whole’ grows because we are attending to the parts. We would love to hear from you if you have an interest in supporting this endeavour in some way. It will be a living, ongoing process that we can all support in some way.
I am aware that as I write this report there are a lot of Gestalt events about to happen. The EAGT Conference in Madrid, a Gestalt Congress in Malta, Women and Gestalt Gathering in Ireland and Marianne Fry Lecture are all being held this week. I hope that they all are successful and I am sure many of you will be attending one of these. If you are willing, I invite you to share some of your experiences of these international Gestalt events for the next newsletter.
In my role in this organisation, my thoughts are drawn to the EAGT Conference. Unfortunately, I was unable to book a place in person though will be attending the General Board Meeting (GB) online to represent UKAGP. I have recently become involved in a working group to look at future EAGT conferences following some concern from the EAGT membership and EAGT GB that the continuity and inclusivity aspect of their conferences can be lost. If a member of EAGT, you may be aware of difficulties that EAGT are currently facing. I want to share with you that, through this working group, I have been involved in meetings (online) with many members from across Europe who are keen to create as much stability within the organisation as possible.
We at UKAGP are also setting our thoughts to our next residential conference which will be June 14-16th 2024 in Woodland Grange, Leamington Spa. We hope to see many of you there so please look out for more information from us as we develop this.
I wish you all well and encourage you to continue to send us your thoughts and ideas for UKAGP, your organisation.
