Letter from the President, Sue Ellen Talley

Dear Friends of the Foundation,

Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement of the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation. Welcome to the first quarterly publication of The Windowsill newsletter!

I am honored to be a part of a community of unique and talented individuals who share a common goal: to support, promote and preserve the theoretical and practical aspects of Violet Oaklander's work with children and adolescents.  Each founding member brings a valuable set of personal and therapeutic skills to the table, creating a gestalt of energy and dedication to the goal of enriching childrens' lives.

We look forward to a long and productive relationship with each of you who supports this endeavor, and we truly appreciate all of your contributions.

Sincerely yours,
Sue Ellen Talley
President

Framing Windows
By: Peter Mortola, Ph.D.

A Little Background

In 1989, I was handed a copy of Windows to Our Children by a roommate from Germany who said to me, “You should read this book. You would love it!” This summer, seventeen years later, I will be publishing my own book about Violet’s work called Windowframes: Learning the Art of Gestalt Play Therapy the Oaklander Way. In this column, in future editions of this newsletter, I will be excerpting pieces of my text to share with you. Let me give you a little more background first.

I was so taken with Violet’s text when I first read it in 1989 that I called her up on the telephone and told her so, and then I invited her to lunch. With a level of approachability that I have since learned is standard for her, she accepted.  At the time, I was trying to write a book about Jane Fonda’s performing arts camp in the Santa Barbara mountains, a camp that served inner-city L.A. kids in a two-week exploration of the performing and visual arts. As art director of the camp, I had used Violet’s book to help those kids develop, in Violet’s words, “a better sense of self” and to use the arts as a contactful and healing expression of that self. Jane was all signed on for the book, and Violet was going to write a chapter, and then Jane married Ted and moved away and so did my project.

Years later, in 1994, Violet graciously offered for me to be the “scholarship person” (i.e. schlepper) in her amazing, two-week summer training. I cherished that role of schlepper for those ten days, watching closely as Violet created a learning environment that allowed participants from six different countries (Germany, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, the U.S. and Australia were the countries represented that year) break down linguistic and cultural barriers and dive into her approach of working with children with a natural ease that spoke to me of something universal. It was after those first two weeks with Violet that I decided I wanted to study her ways of teaching adults as my dissertation topic.
Eventually, I would assist and study in nine of Violet’s “Intensive Summer Trainings” and spend the bulk of my scholarship efforts as a professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon focusing on her work (you can download a copy of my first article about Violet’s work from the Gestalt Review website: http://www.gestaltreview.com/Default.aspx?tabid=57). When Windowframes is published later this year by the GestaltPress, it will be the fruition of my efforts to document, analyze, and understand the powerful work of a therapist and trainer who has been largely overlooked by the academic world, even though Violet’s book is now published in twelve languages and still commands a devoted following twenty-five years after its initial publication.

In the next edition of this newsletter, I will be sharing with you an interview that I did with Violet in which she describes the evolution of her approach of working with children. Stay in contact…

Peter Mortola, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Counseling and School Psychology
Graduate School of Education and Counseling
Lewis and Clark College
Campus Box 86
Portland, Oregon   97219-7899
503 768 6072

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WE HAVE LIFT OFF!
by Claire Mercurio Ph.D.

Purple balloons filled the room, underscoring the festive spirit at the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation (VSOF) launch party, held September 9, 2005 at La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, California. Dozens of Violet's friends, family and colleagues gathered to celebrate, sharing good food, drink and conversation.

Against a live folk music backdrop, partygoers caught up with old friends, watched a video of Violet's training at Valley Child Guidance Clinic, and bought raffle tickets for a two-night stay at the elegant Andalucia Hotel in downtown Santa Barbara.  Many people signed up to be official "Friends of the Foundation."

Violet expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the volunteer effort involved in creating VSOF and establishing its non-profit status. I feel like it's my wedding!" she proclaimed.

July 10-21 – Violet’s Two-Week Summer Training – Santa Barbara, CA

August – AAGT Conference – Vancouver, BC

View Calendar
 

Violet’s New Book

Violet Oaklander has a new book coming out!!!   “HIDDEN TREASURE:  A Map To The Child’s Inner Self” will be out in the Fall of 2006, published by Karnac Books in London, England.

Santa Barbara Workshops
Violet did two local workshops recently:  one sponsored by the Jewish Family Service and Santa Barbara LCSWs, and the other sponsored by New Beginnings Counseling Center.

From Around the World
Violet’s annual two-week Summer Training program, to be held in Santa Barbara July 10-21, 2006 is full.  Half of the 25 participants are coming from outside the U.S. For more information about the Summer Training, contact Violet at armisa.com.

BAM! Boys Advocacy and Mentoring

VSOF founding member Peter Mortola and two of his colleagues have published a manual to accompany their Boys Advocacy and Mentoring (BAM) groups. The curriculum is based in Gestalt oriented “contact” work as well as Violet’s “hands on” methods. BAM groups have been offered at a Portland, Oregon elementary school for six years. Through the use of strategic storytelling and physical challenges, the groups expose boys to new perspectives on what it means to be male while helping them to build the relational skills to be good men.

Handbook of Body Therapy
VSOF founding member Felicia Carroll authored a chapter in a book published this year in Germany. The chapter, Gestalt-Korperpsychotherapie und das ratselhafte Wesen ‘tween’ (Gestalt Body Therapy with the Enigmatic Tween), describes Felicia’s experience with a 13-year-old girl who hated her body type. During a sandtray session the girl described herself as a Neanderthal figure. Using movement and musical instruments, she began to demonstrate her experience of her body sense, moving from the awkward movements of the Neanderthal to fluid, graceful movements of her own.  The editors of Handbuck der Korperpsychotherapie (Handbook of Body Therapy) are G. Marlock and H. Weiss. It is scheduled for US publication in 2007.

Gateway to Gestalt
VSOF founding member Lynn Stadler is offering a series of Gestalt therapy workshops in Santa Barbara. The June 10th  workshop will focus on Gestalt therapy with children and adolescents. Participants will have the opportunity to experience theoretical and practical aspects of the Oaklander Model, including a series of creative projective techniques and exercises. For more information about Gateway to Gestalt contact Lynn at lstadler@silcom.com.

Gestalt Play Therapy
Marjorie Mapes is offering a training program on Gestalt Play Therapy: the Oaklander Model, sponsored by the Gestalt Institute of Central Ohio. It will meet for five weekends beginning Oct. 20, 2006 and ending March 16, 2007. email: mmapes@businessofpeople.net for more information.