Instituto Personas Gestalt training

1. Introduction

Version followed: general Gestalt couple and family practice, as described in the Gestalt family literature (Silveira; Teixeira; Gorenstin & Pinheiro), with Zinker's and Kempler's family texts cited at second hand. The named institute is documented, but its method is not. Anatolio Freidberg was in the first cohort of the Universidad Iberoamericana's postgraduate programme in Desarrollo Humano, took part in founding the Tarango centre with Jorge Derbez, began practising Gestalt under the supervision of the Gestalt therapist Aaron Hillman, studied for over thirty years including a specialisation in family therapy, and years later founded the Instituto Personas to train therapists in that current [source: Ortiz Lachica 2020, Revista Electrónica de Psicología Iztacala 23(4), based on a 2017 interview with Freidberg]. Myriam Muñoz Polit, founder of the IHPG, learned Gestalt with Freidberg [source: Ortiz Lachica 2020]. No published source describes the Instituto Personas's curriculum, methods or training format, so nothing in this guide reproduces them. [uncertain]

Source status. The institute and its founder are known from one academic source, Ortiz Lachica (2020), a study of three early graduates of the Desarrollo Humano programme. It does not describe the institute's programmes or methods; in the source's context, "that current" is family therapy, with Freidberg's own grounding in Gestalt and the humanistic Desarrollo Humano tradition [source: Ortiz Lachica 2020]. Freidberg's stated view of training is that empathy is something the trainee has to develop [source: Ortiz Lachica 2020]. The Mexican Gestalt training institution documented in more detail is the Instituto Humanista de Psicoterapia Gestalt (IHPG), founded in 1985 by Myriam Muñoz Polit, who also wrote on couple relationships. That source does not describe the IHPG's curriculum or any family-work method [source: Muñoz 2025, Quaderni di Gestalt]. Gestalt therapists have been trained in Mexico for about 25 years through diplomas, specialisations, master's and doctoral programmes [source: Caloca Olmos 2014, UNAM]. Every section below gives general Gestalt couple and family practice, not the institute's own model. If you hold the institute's own materials, check every step against them.

What this is. The entry names a training institute and tradition rather than a single manualised therapy. So the guide gives the clinical procedures that Gestalt authors describe for working with couples and families, as a clinician trained in such a programme would use them. Treat the family adaptations of individual Gestalt techniques as [synthesis].

How change happens. Gestalt family work treats a symptom as an expression of the family's interaction, not of one member's pathology. It treats the couple or family as a system in which each person's behaviour is part of a shared pattern [source: Silveira]. Change means finding new responses to old events. Suffering and rigidity come from repeating outdated patterns, and from unfinished situations that distort how members see each other in the present [source: Silveira]. The therapist works experientially in the here-and-now of the session. The aim is to raise awareness of how members make contact, avoid it or merge. Members then try new ways of contact through experiments rather than advice [source: Silveira; Teixeira]. One background idea is the "paradoxical theory of change": change occurs when people become more fully what they are, rather than trying to be what they are not. This idea is standard in Gestalt training; no primary text is cited for it here. [uncertain]

2. Framework

The sources used describe no formal phases for Gestalt family work; Silveira says explicitly that she offers no stepwise method [source: Silveira]. Gorenstin & Pinheiro present Zinker's cycle of organismic self-regulation as a reference map for the therapist, not as rigid stages [source: Gorenstin & Pinheiro 1994]. No published step-by-step protocol was found; the arc below is the writer's own organisation of the sourced elements. [synthesis]

Map used within each session (Zinker's cycle, at second hand). The cycle runs: sensation, then awareness, then mobilisation of energy, then action, then contact, then withdrawal/closure. In family work the therapist watches where the shared cycle breaks down. For example, the family may notice a feeling but never act on it, or act without contact, or never close an issue. Watching for these breaks lets the therapist choose an experiment. [source: Gorenstin & Pinheiro citing Zinker; uncertain: the detail of family use is not checked against Zinker 1994]

Arc of treatment [synthesis]:

Phase A, joining and contracting (about 1–3 sessions). Goals: receive the family's request respectfully, since their wish for help is the motivation that carries treatment [source: Teixeira]. Hear each member's view with comparable time, agree who attends, and set clear session limits [source: Teixeira]. Move on when each member has spoken and some shared figure (a concern the family agrees on) has emerged.
Phase B, awareness of process (variable length). Goals: shift attention from the content of complaints to how members interact in the room. That means who speaks for whom, who withdraws, who merges, and where contact is blocked. Bring out both healthy contact and blocks [source: Silveira; Teixeira]. Move on when members can name their own part in the pattern without blaming.
Phase C, experimentation (main working phase). Goals: use verbal, non-verbal and creative experiments to try new responses to old situations, and work through unfinished situations between members [source: Silveira]. Move on when new contact patterns appear spontaneously in session, and members report them at home.
Phase D, integration and closure. Goals: consolidate the family's own capacity to reorganise itself [source: Teixeira], acknowledge what changed, and complete the withdrawal phase of the cycle. End when the presenting concern has eased and the family can catch and repair its old pattern without the therapist.

Format. Conjoint sessions with the whole family or the couple are the core, with the therapist working with everyone present [source: Silveira; Teixeira]. None of the sources used specifies session count, length or frequency. Weekly or fortnightly sessions of about 60–90 minutes are common in family practice. [synthesis; uncertain]

Training format of the named institute. The institute was founded to train therapists, in context in family therapy [source: Ortiz Lachica 2020]; its programme format, length and curriculum are not published. [uncertain]

3. Guiding principles

[source: Silveira and Teixeira, unless marked]

Relational view of the symptom. The symptom belongs to the interaction. Do not let one member be cast as "the patient", and look for the pattern each person helps maintain.
Here and now. Work with what happens in the room. Teixeira quotes Miriam Polster: sensory and motor systems "só podem funcionar no presente" ("can only function in the present").
Contact and boundaries. Boundaries both separate and connect self and other, the couple's "we", and the family. Watch how members come together and pull apart.
Rhythm of union and separation. Health is the ability to move between closeness and separateness. Being stuck at either pole (confluence or isolation) is the target.
Creative adjustment. Members adjust actively, changing their environment and being changed by it. Treat old patterns as once-useful solutions, not defects.
Unfinished situations. Unresolved past experiences drive repeated couple patterns, such as submission, confluence or complementary "sick" roles. Notice repeats and invite completion.
Self-support and self-regulation. Health depends on moving between the known and the unknown with one's own resources. Build members' self-support rather than dependence on you.
Experience over prescription. Offer experiments, not advice. Silveira rejects directive, pedagogical advice because it undercuts the family's own capacity to find solutions.
Trust in the family's capacity. Believe the family can transform and reorganise itself, and help members recognise that capacity [source: Teixeira].
Respect for the request. Receive the family's wish for help with respect, because that motivation sustains them through therapy [source: Teixeira].
Equal voice. Give each member comparable time, and make sure the quietest one feels included [source: Teixeira].
Use the between. Treat what happens between members in session as the main resource for intervention [source: Teixeira].
Clear limits. Hold clear session boundaries, and use the feelings that arise within them to explore the family's dynamics [source: Teixeira].
Responsibility. Invite each member to own the part of the shared space they choose to shape [source: Teixeira].
Curious, open presence. Stay attentive and curious, and avoid early interpretation [source: Silveira].
Whole and parts. See the family as a whole while staying in contact with each individual. Do not let the system view erase persons. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Scope: this covers the interventions named in the Gestalt couple and family sources used, plus core individual Gestalt techniques (named in Caloca Olmos 2014) as they are commonly adapted for conjoint work. No published inventory belongs to the named institute [uncertain]. All example language is illustrative and labelled as such. Step sequences are [synthesis] unless tagged otherwise.

4.1 Phenomenological tracking of the interaction

Purpose / when: Moves attention from the content of complaints to the live pattern of contact. Use from the first session onwards, especially when members argue about "what really happened" [source: Silveira; Teixeira].
Steps: (1) Let the exchange run briefly. (2) Notice observable process: who speaks first, who answers for whom, interruptions, gaze, posture, distance, and who goes silent. (3) Describe what you saw in plain, non-blaming terms. (4) Ask each member what they notice in themselves right now. (5) Let the family name the pattern in their own words.
Example language (illustrative): "Let me pause you. When Ana began to cry, Luis turned to me and Sofía looked at the floor. What are each of you aware of right now?"
Watch for: Members hearing your description as an accusation; keep it to descriptions of behaviour. Working when members start noticing the pattern before you name it.

4.2 Equalising voice and inviting the quiet member

Purpose / when: Gives each person comparable presence and stops one voice from standing for the family. Use when one member dominates or another withdraws [source: Teixeira].
Steps: (1) Notice who has not spoken. (2) Ask that member directly, while respecting their right not to answer yet. (3) Hold the space by gently stopping interruptions. (4) Ask the others what it is like to hear this person.
Example language (illustrative): "We haven't heard from you, Diego. You don't have to say anything, but I'd like to know what it's like sitting here."
Watch for: Pressure that makes a child or a dependent partner unsafe to speak. If a member seems afraid, assess privately (see 5.6). Working when the quiet member takes part spontaneously.

4.3 Direct dialogue between members ("talk to each other")

Purpose / when: Turns talk about each other, routed through the therapist, into direct contact in the room. Use when members address the therapist instead of each other. [source: Teixeira, on using what happens between members; uncertain: the specific form is credited to Kempler-style experiential family work at second hand]
Steps: (1) Redirect: ask the speaker to say it to the person concerned. (2) Ask them to look at the other and speak in the first person. (3) Invite the listener to reply with what they felt hearing it. (4) Track the contact. Is it reaching the other person or bouncing off? (5) Explore what makes direct contact hard.
Example language (illustrative): "You're telling me about her. Could you turn to Marta and tell her?"
Watch for: Escalation. Slow it down if the exchange turns into attack (5.3). Working when members can stay in contact through disagreement.

4.4 Awareness and ownership statements

Purpose / when: Builds responsibility and self-support. Use when members speak in blaming "you" statements, generalities or "we" statements that hide individual positions. [source: Teixeira on responsibility; first-person phrasing is a general Gestalt convention: synthesis]
Steps: (1) Notice the deflection, such as "you always", "one feels" or "we all". (2) Invite the speaker to restate it as "I notice / I feel / I want". (3) Ask how saying it that way feels. (4) Ask the listener what they heard differently.
Example language (illustrative): "Try starting with 'I': 'When you come home late, I feel…'"
Watch for: Turning this into a mechanical rule; use it sparingly. Working when members begin owning their wants and feelings unprompted.

4.5 Verbal experiments

Purpose / when: Lets members try a new response to an old situation in safety. Use once a stuck pattern has become clear [source: Silveira, on verbal experiments; specific forms are my synthesis].
Steps: (1) Pick a moment where the pattern shows. (2) Propose a small, optional experiment. Examples: repeating a key sentence more slowly; saying the opposite of the usual line; one partner asking for something they usually only hint at; a parent saying aloud what they usually leave unsaid. (3) Get agreement first, because it is an experiment, not an instruction. (4) Run it, then ask each member what they noticed. (5) Keep whatever is new and drop the rest.
Example language (illustrative): "Would you be willing to try something? Instead of explaining, just tell him what you want from him tonight, in one sentence."
Watch for: Experiments that are too large (grade them down) or that one member could use as ammunition. Working when the experiment produces surprise, a fresh feeling or a new response from the other.

4.6 Non-verbal and body experiments (position, distance, posture)

Purpose / when: Makes closeness, distance and alliances visible and open to change. Use when words loop, or with children and less verbal members [source: Silveira, on non-verbal experiments and dramatisation; arranging members in space resembles Satir's sculpting, which Silveira cites among her influences; this form is my synthesis].
Steps: (1) Ask a member to arrange family members (or chairs or objects) to show how close or far each feels. (2) Ask each person what it is like where they stand. (3) Invite small changes of position, distance, facing or posture. (4) Ask what changes in their sensation and feeling. (5) Link this to the everyday pattern.
Example language (illustrative): "Without words, could you place everyone where they feel they are in the family right now?"
Watch for: Physical touch or proximity that is unwelcome; ask consent for every move. Watch for exposure of a member who is in an unsafe position at home. Working when bodily shifts bring out new statements or feelings.

4.7 Creative and artistic expression (drawing, painting, modelling, dramatisation)

Purpose / when: Gives non-verbal access to experience and engages children. Use when verbal exchange is defended or stuck, or when children are present [source: Silveira].
Steps: (1) Offer materials and a simple prompt, such as drawing the family as animals or modelling "our home". Keep it to one or two minutes of instruction. (2) Let each member make their own piece, or make a joint piece. (3) Ask each person to describe their work in the first person and present tense. (4) Invite responses between members. (5) Watch the process of making it together: who leads, who gives way, who is left out.
Example language (illustrative): "Each of you draw the family as you see it today. There's no right way."
Watch for: Interpreting the products yourself. Ask what they mean to the makers. Working when the shared process mirrors the family pattern and they recognise it.

4.8 Working with boundaries and the union–separation rhythm

Purpose / when: Addresses confluence (merged, undifferentiated positions) and isolation (cut-off) in couples and families. Use when partners speak as one, a parent and child are fused, or a member is walled off [source: Silveira].
Steps: (1) Point out signs of merging, such as "we feel", finishing each other's sentences or no visible disagreement. (2) Ask each person to state their own view separately. (3) Explore what each fears about difference or about closeness. (4) Try a small experiment in moving apart and then coming back, verbally or spatially. (5) Name the rhythm as healthy.
Example language (illustrative): "You've both said 'we' a lot. Could each of you tell me what you want, even if it's different?"
Watch for: Anxiety when differences appear; go slowly. Working when partners can differ and stay connected.

4.9 Working with unfinished situations and complementary roles

Purpose / when: Completes old situations that still steer present interaction, such as a past betrayal, a loss, or a role taken on in childhood. Use when the same fight recurs whatever its content, or when roles are rigidly complementary, for example rescuer and helpless, or pursuer and distancer [source: Silveira].
Steps: (1) Notice the repeat: "this is the same scene". (2) Ask what old situation it echoes for each person, whether in this relationship or in their family of origin. (3) Invite the person concerned to address what was left unsaid in the present tense, to the partner or (see 4.10) to an absent figure. (4) Let the other partner respond from the present. (5) Mark any closure that happens.
Example language (illustrative): "This argument sounds very familiar to both of you. When did you first feel this way?"
Watch for: Opening material that is too big for conjoint work, such as trauma or abuse; refer for individual work if needed. Working when the recurring fight loses its charge.

4.10 Empty chair with an absent family member

Purpose / when: Gives voice to unfinished business with someone absent, deceased or estranged, such as a grandparent, an ex-partner or a parent of origin. This is a core individual Gestalt technique attributed to Perls [source: Caloca Olmos 2014; Suárez García 2005]. Using it in conjoint sessions is my synthesis [synthesis].
Steps: (1) Check readiness and consent, and say that the others will witness. (2) Place an empty chair and invite the member to imagine the absent person there. (3) Ask them to speak to that person directly in the present tense. (4) Optionally, have them switch chairs and answer as the other person. (5) Return them to their own chair and ask what they are aware of. (6) Ask the witnessing family members what they experienced, while protecting the speaker from comment or judgement.
Example language (illustrative): "If your father were in this chair now, what would you want him to hear?"
Watch for: Flooding, and family members taking sides or correcting the speaker's memories. For heavy material, do the work individually instead. Working when the speaker reaches and expresses the feeling and shows some relief or a new perspective.

4.11 Polarity work between members

Purpose / when: Polarities of the self are a core individual Gestalt theme [source: Caloca Olmos 2014]. In couples, partners often each carry one pole, for example the spender and the saver, or the expressive one and the controlled one. Use this to help each person own the disowned pole [synthesis].
Steps: (1) Name the split as a polarity both partners share. (2) Ask each partner to voice their own pole, then briefly try out the other's pole. (3) Ask what it is like to hold the opposite side. (4) Look for how each can hold both poles.
Example language (illustrative): "For two minutes, could you argue for saving, and you for spending? Just notice what happens."
Watch for: Mockery. Keep it respectful and brief. Working when positions soften and each partner admits some of the other pole in themselves.

4.12 Highlighting healthy contact and competence

Purpose / when: Balances the focus on blocks by bringing out where the family already makes good contact. Use throughout, and especially with demoralised families [source: Silveira, on bringing out healthy contact as well as blocks; Teixeira, on trust in the family's capacity].
Steps: (1) Notice moments of real contact in session, such as a shared laugh, a moment of being heard or a repair. (2) Name the moment concretely. (3) Ask how they did it. (4) Invite them to repeat or extend it.
Example language (illustrative): "Just now, when you said 'I'm sorry', your shoulders dropped, Pedro, and she looked at you. What happened there?"
Watch for: Hollow praise. Describe the moment rather than evaluating it. Working when members begin to notice their own good moments.

4.13 Images, metaphors and analogies for the system

Purpose / when: Gives the family a shared picture of its pattern that is less blaming than a description. Zinker is described as using analogies, images and metaphors to understand couples and families [source: Silveira citing Zinker; uncertain: secondary].
Steps: (1) Let an image arise from what you observe, or ask the family for one. (2) Offer it tentatively. (3) Invite members to correct or develop it. (4) Use the agreed image as shorthand in later sessions.
Example language (illustrative): "It looks a bit like a dance where every time one of you steps forward the other steps back. Does that fit?"
Watch for: Imposing your image. Drop it if it does not resonate. Working when the family uses the image itself to catch the pattern.

4.14 Therapist presence and use of self

Purpose / when: The therapist's own reactions are data about the family field, and sharing them can unblock contact. This is associated with Kempler's experiential family therapy [source: Silveira cites Kempler 1970; uncertain: secondary].
Steps: (1) Notice your own reaction, such as boredom, tension or a pull to rescue. (2) Check whether it relates to the family's process. (3) If it is useful, share it briefly in the first person as your own experience. (4) Ask how it lands.
Example language (illustrative): "I notice I'm getting tense as the voices rise, and I'm wondering what it's like for you, Laura."
Watch for: Disclosure that serves you rather than the family, and taking sides. Working when disclosure leads to more direct contact between members.

4.15 Session limits and closure (withdrawal phase)

Purpose / when: Holds the frame, and completes the cycle so members leave integrated rather than raw [source: Teixeira, on clear limits; Gorenstin & Pinheiro citing Zinker's cycle].
Steps: (1) Signal the end about 10 minutes beforehand. (2) Stop opening new material. (3) Ask each member for one thing they are taking away or aware of now. (4) Name any unfinished issue as something to come back to. (5) Optionally, agree a small at-home awareness task, such as noticing when the pattern starts, framed as an experiment, not homework to be graded [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "We're near the end. In a sentence, what are you leaving with today?"
Watch for: Leaving a member exposed or flooded. Steady them before they leave. Working when sessions end calmer than they began and members bring observations back.

4.16 Dream and individual figure work within the family session

Purpose / when: Dream work is a core Gestalt technique attributed to Perls [source: Caloca Olmos 2014]. When one member brings a dream or a strong personal figure, it can be worked on briefly with the family witnessing [synthesis].
Steps: (1) Ask the member to tell the dream in the present tense. (2) Invite them to speak as one or two elements of the dream. (3) Ask what fits their present life and family. (4) Ask the family what they understand now about this member.
Example language (illustrative): "Tell it again as if it's happening now. Then be the locked door: what do you say?"
Watch for: Others interpreting the dream for the dreamer. Working when the dreamer finds personal meaning and the family responds with empathy.

5. Handling problems

The sources used say little about problems. Silveira's title, "walking the tightrope", conveys how hard the work is but gives no protocols. Everything below is [synthesis] unless tagged.

5.1 Stuck: the same fight every session. Stop working on the content. Name the repeating process (4.1), offer an image of it (4.13), then ask which unfinished situation it echoes (4.9). If it is still stuck, run a small experiment that changes the form rather than the topic: slower speech, a changed seating distance, or one partner only listening (4.5, 4.6).
5.2 Identified patient / scapegoat. The family brings one "problem" member, often a child. Reframe the symptom as part of the interaction [source: Silveira]. Ask every member what they contribute and what they would lose if the symptom vanished. Protect the scapegoated member's voice (4.2).
5.3 Escalation and overwhelm in session. Interrupt firmly but kindly. Slow the pace. Return members to sensation and breathing in the present. Shift from direct dialogue to speaking through you for a while. Reduce the size of experiments. Close with grounding (4.15). If one member floods repeatedly, offer an individual session.
5.4 Refusing an experiment. Treat refusal as information about boundaries and self-support, not as non-compliance. Experiments are optional by design [source: Silveira, experiment over prescription]. Ask what the "no" protects, offer a smaller version, or let the refusal itself be the figure ("Say no to me again, and notice how that feels", illustrative).
5.5 Non-attendance and partial attendance. Work with whoever comes. Name the absent member's place in the system, and use an empty chair for the absent member's position cautiously (4.10). Do not form alliances against the absent member. Invite them again directly.
5.6 Violence, coercive control or abuse. Gestalt sources stress trust in the family's capacity [source: Teixeira], but conjoint sessions can put a victim at risk. Screen each partner or member privately at intake and whenever you suspect harm. If there is current violence, coercion or child maltreatment, stop conjoint experiments, prioritise safety planning and individual work, and follow mandatory reporting duties for child abuse in your jurisdiction. In Mexico, NOM-046-SSA2-2005 governs health-sector response to family and sexual violence [uncertain: the standard's text is not checked here]. Do not run confrontational experiments (4.3, 4.5) when there is a power imbalance based on fear.
5.7 Suicide or self-harm risk in a member. Assess privately using standard risk-assessment practice. Involve family members in safety planning and lethal-means counselling (secure storage, removal) only with appropriate consent and confidentiality judgement. Pause experiential work that heightens affect until the member is safe.
5.8 Rupture: a member feels the therapist has taken sides. Name it openly and in the first person, own your part (4.14), and ask that member what they need. Repair in front of the family, because repair is itself a model of contact. Then rebalance time and attention (4.2).
5.9 Over-intellectualising or "talking about". Ask for direct first-person statements (4.3, 4.4). Bring attention back to the body and to the here-and-now [source: Teixeira, quoting Polster on the present]. Use creative media (4.7).
5.10 Children and adolescents. Prefer non-verbal and creative experiments (4.6, 4.7). Keep turns short. Do not ask children to take sides or to carry adult secrets. Hold some parent-only sessions for couple or parenting conflict.
5.11 Cultural context. This applies to Latin American families, and to Mexican families in particular. Respect family hierarchy and the extended-family role (for example grandparents and godparents), and invite them where relevant. Pace confrontation of elders, and adapt first-person, individual-voice experiments so that they do not shame members. [synthesis]
5.12 Therapist pulled into the family pattern. Signs are becoming the rescuer, the judge or the silent one. Use your reaction as data (4.14), take it to supervision, and consider a co-therapist for large or highly reactive families.
5.13 Practising without the institute's training materials. The institute's own model is not published. If you were trained there, follow its supervision and curriculum where they differ from this guide, and record which version you use. [uncertain]

Sources

Web pages

Books cited (at second hand) [uncertain]

Zinker, J. (1994). In Search of Good Form: Gestalt Therapy with Couples and Families.
Zinker, J. (1977). Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy.
Kempler, W. (1974). Principles of Gestalt Family Therapy. Silveira cites Kempler (1970) in Portuguese translation.
Perls, F., Hefferline, R., & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt Therapy.
Muñoz Polit, M. (2008). La sensibilización Gestalt.

Instituto Personas: Ortiz Lachica (2020), above, is the only source cited for the institute and its founder; no institute website or published training material is cited. [uncertain]

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