Sharing Our Work

Conferences in Ireland and Beyond

Conference banner for Gestalt Institute of Ireland with the theme 'Moving Sensing Feeling Bodies' and the subtitle 'Renewing Hope in a Fracturing World', dated October 14-15, 2023.

Moving-Sensing-Feeling Bodies;

Renewing Hope in a Fracturing World

First GII conference - 14-15 October 2023 - Limerick, Ireland

Meet the Presenters

Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb

Peter Philippson

Peri Mackintosh

Two smiling people leaning into each other at a presentation or conference, holding a sign with the text 'Moving Sensing Feeling Bodies: Renewing Hope in a Fracturing World'.
A woman standing in front of a projection screen at a conference. The screen displays a presentation slide for the Gestalt Institute of Ireland Conference, titled 'Self in War Conditions: How to Survive, Live and Grow,' presented by Larysa Didkovska.
A person speaking at a conference or seminar, standing at a podium with a microphone. A large screen displays a presentation slide titled 'Conflict: When Contact Hurts' by Peter Philippson, M.Sc., England. The room has patterned curtains and a table
Screenshot of a virtual meeting with three participants. The top left shows a woman with curly hair and glasses in a white shirt, the top right shows a large audience in a conference room with a speaker at a podium, and the bottom shows an older man

International Dialogues & Workshops

At the Gestalt Institute of Ireland, we value bringing our research and practice into dialogue with the wider psychotherapy community. Over the years, our colleagues have presented at international conferences, led experiential workshops, and contributed to panels on embodiment, migration, sexuality, supervision, spirituality, ethics, and more. What follows is a selection of these contributions, reflecting our evolving journey of inquiry and practice.

Embodiment and the Lived Body

  • Desmond, B. & Kallner, H. (2025). Foregrounding the Lived Body in Psychotherapy Research: A Dialogue on Qualitative Inquiry. International Gestalt Research Conference, Birmingham, England.

  • Barry, M. (2025). Grief in the therapeutic encounter: Gestalt Psychotherapists in the midst of personal grief encountering disenfranchised grief in their therapeutic practice. International Gestalt Research Conference, Birmingham, England.

  • Desmond, B. (2023). Moving, Sensing, Feeling Bodies; Cultivating Hope in a Fracturing World. International Gestalt Conference, October.

  • Desmond, B. (2017). Framing Practitioner Research as a Form of Somatic Inquiry. Gestalt Research Conference, Paris.

  • Desmond, B. (2017). Embodied Gestalt Group Supervision: A Collaborative Inquiry. Poster Presentation, Gestalt Research Conference, Paris.

  • Desmond, B. (2016). Soma-aesthetic Group Therapy: Moving Bodies, Changing Lives. AAGT International Conference, Taormina, Sicily, September.

Migration, Exile, and Belonging

  • Desmond, B. (2024). Migrant as Exile: Moving across thresholds in search of ‘home’ in Gestalt group therapy. International Online Conference for Psychology and Psychotherapy Practitioners.

  • Desmond, B. (2024). Exploring the phenomenon of the exiling through our lived bodies in Gestalt Group Therapy. EAGT Conference, Madrid, March.

Sexuality, Gender, and Culture

  • Desmond, B. (2023). Clinical Issues about Human Sexuality: Beyond Labels. International Conference, Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy, June.

  • Desmond, B. (2018). Panel: Sexuality, Politics, Religion: Meeting between client and practitioner when values clash. AAGT International Conference, Toronto, Canada, August.

  • Bak, D. & Desmond, B. (2018). Embodying culture: An experiential exploration of gender, sexuality and sex (our gendered and sexual self) emergent at the contact-boundary. 8-hour pre-conference workshop, AAGT Conference, Toronto, August.

  • Desmond, B. (2015). (Re)Connecting Cultural Bodies: Honouring our lived inter-embodied experience(s). Relational Coaching Conference: Culture Clashes, Ashridge Business School, July.

Ethics in Psychotherapy

  • Cadogan, A. & Power, C. (2024). Devoted to issues of ethics in psychotherapy. Ukraine Summer School Online, July.

Supervision, Research, and Professional Practice

  • Desmond, B. & Nemcova, K. (2022). Stages and Phases of the Psychotherapeutic Process: Completion. Ukraine Summer School Online, July.

  • Desmond, B. & Tobin, A. (2016). Personal Leadership. National Institute of Health Research Conference (Trainees), Leeds.

  • Desmond, B. & Hodgson, D. (2014). Creative Group Supervision: Rejuvenating, Resourcing and Reigniting our relational practice. AAGT International Conference, Asilomar, California, September.

  • Desmond, B. (2010). Evaluating the Impact of Experiential Learning and Action Learning Groups in a Tailored Professional Development Programme. EABIS Experiential Learning Congress, Berlin, November.

  • Jowitt, A. & Desmond, B. (2010). Experiencing Different Ways of Knowing: A Holistic Approach to Experiential Learning. EABIS Experiential Learning Congress, Berlin, November.

Ecology, Spirituality, and Wider Contexts

  • Desmond, B. (2014). Gestalt Therapists Look at the Need for Sustainability in a Fragile Ecological Era. Invited panelist, AAGT International Conference, Asilomar, California, September.

  • Desmond, B. (2014). From Surviving to Thriving in a Time of Austerity. Invited panelist, UKAGP Conference, September.

  • Desmond, B. (2012). Spirituality: A Creative Process that may Enrich our Search for Meaning. Relational Coaching Conference, Ashridge Business School, July.