I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear friends! Dear Colleagues!

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, which we all look forward to.

2020 turned out to be difficult and even extraordinary. Despite this, the Riga Gestalt Institute continues to live and to work. In this traditional New Year’s letter, I would like to talk only about the good things, but I do not want to be two-faced, so I will talk also about the joyful and the sad things, but still, first of all, about the good things.

This year the Riga Gestalt Institute is 21 years old. During this year, many different events were held.

• The 18th conference of the Riga Gestalt Institute. We may be one of the first to host an international digital (online) conference on gestal therapy. This conference was attended by about 117 participants from different countries (Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, etc.). This gave us great experience in using modern technologies in gestal therapy.
• In the summer we managed to conduct our traditional intensive course. It also brought together many participants. As part of the intensive, a summer school was held on the theme “From protection to contacts”.
• We managed to transfer all educational projects to a digital (online) format. But I will note right away that I do not believe that this is the future of education in psychotherapy, this is only a measure for an extraordinary situation, and at the first opportunity, we will move on to live, human contact.
• Also during this year we held a student conference, which also had many participants.
• Back in the difficult 2020, we had 2 and 3 level graduation.  3 level finished – Ekaterina Vlasova, we sincerely congratulate the new gestalt therapist! As Aesop said in one of his fables: “One, but a lion.”
• We also congratulate the graduates of the 2nd level – gestalt practitioners: Nataļja Čekanova, Anna Gnatčenko, Aiga Gavare, Anna Hudorožkova, Elīna Leimane, Marija Kormanova, Lana Puntusa, Sandra Krupenko, Brigita Miesniece, Kristuna Skredeile. We wish you strength and perseverance in continuing your studies!
• The international supervisor training program continues.

During this year, we also had to go through many unpleasant emotions, conflicts, betrayals and difficulties. Some people had to leave our institute and this leaves made a very heavy imprint on our hearts.

I and my colleagues and friends are optimistic about the future and hope that next year will open the doors to a new era. We plan to continue our work and implement all our traditional projects. Without fail, there will be: a conference, an intensive, a summer school, a new student enrollment and, of course, another graduation of new gestalt therapists.

We will look for new ways of learning and new ways of development. In 2021, we plan the following specializations: work with couples, work with groups, work with eating disorders, work with psychosomatics, work in OH cards.

And also there are several promising ideas that will remain secret for now, but which could be a wonderful gift for the new year.

Dear friends, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I wish you good health, wisdom, reliable friends, love and awareness. All difficulties can be overcome when there are close people with you and you believe in what you are doing!

Happy New Year!

Arthur