The Improbable Organization The Early Years of the

The Improbable Organization The Early Years of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland Emergence of OSD Programs 6/25/04 Edwin C. Nevis

Origins of GIC and Gestalt-Oriented OSD Backdrop of Social and Intellectual Developments • Social Ferment of 1930 -1950 Era • Outpouring of Seminal Intellectual Works and Scientific Achievement • Boulder Conference 1947

Beginnings of Gestalt In Cleveland • Discovery of Fritz Perls in New York 1952 • First Workshops in Cleveland in 1953 -55 • Led by NY Institute People: Fritz Perls Laura Perls Paul Goodman Paul Weisz Isadore From Elliott Shapiro • Handful of Therapists Meet Monthly Call Themselves Ohio Institute for Gestalt Therapy • Isadore From Begins Monthly Visits

Emergence of Cleveland Leaders • Participants in First Workshops 1953 -55 Marrie Creelman Erving Polster Richard Wallen Rainette Fantz William Warner Elaine Kepner • Joined by: Edwin Nevis, Joseph Zinker, Sonia Nevis, Miriam Polster, Cynthia Harris; 1956 -58 • Ohio Institute for GT Develops By-laws: 1956: Four Categories of Membership for 30 Members • Concern/Conflict Around Accreditation as a Gestalt Therapist/ Fellow: “Being Stamped on the Ass”

Characteristics of the NY & Cleveland Founders • Well-Grounded in Psychology and Philosophy • Tolerant of Different Life Styles, yet Stubborn in Holding On to Their Ideas • Politically and Sexually Liberal • Centrality of Powerful Women • Change the World Through Psychotherapy/ Social Action • Mindset of an “Outsider” • Marginally Interested in Making Money

The Emerging Culture • Before Teaching Others, Must Assimilate That Which You Wish To Teach • Personal Growth is Professional Development • A Place to Learn, Not for Economic Gain • Create Programs Out of Interests of Members • Supportive versus Aggressive Way of Working • A Family Model • Work Hard, Play Hard, Live Well

Development of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland • Name Changed to Cleveland Institute of Gestalt Therapy (1958) • Edwin Nevis Joins Board (1957) and Becomes President (1959 -1972) • Erving Polster, Elaine Kepner, and Edwin Revise By. Laws: Two Categories of Membership (1960): Promoted People to Higher Status • Isabel Fredericson Becomes Executive Secretary, 1958

The Leap Forward • Cleveland Leaders Begin to do Workshops and Seminars: 1960 • Erv Polster Becomes Faculty Leader • Starts a Course In His Home 1962 • First Brochure Published: 1962 -63 • Cleveland Institute for Gestalt Therapy Incorporates as 501(c) 3 Entity: 1963 • CIGT Rents Office at 11328 Euclid Ave. - on a Floor of Psychoanalyst Offices

THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE FOR GESTALT THERAPY PROGRAM 1963 -1964 The Cleveland Institute for Gestalt Therapy (CIGT) is an organization of psychotherapists, related professionals and lay persons. We believe that the problem of psychological growth and mental health is too broad for our society to solve by treating only those people who view themselves as ill and seek help. Thus, in addition to offering programs for enhancing the skills of therapists and related helping professionals, the Institute offers programs for nonprofessional people interested in their own development even though they do not have a personality emergency. This brochure describes some of our offerings for 1963 -1964.

Emergence of Organizational Application • Dick Wallen and Edwin Nevis Do Awareness Exercises With Executives In Sensitivity Training: 1960 -7 With General Motors Executives: 1962 -8 • Herb Shepard Starts Case Tech OB Department: 1965 Case OB Students Come to CIGT: 1968

Movement to Professional Training • Creation of Three-Year Post-Graduate Program: 1966 -68 • The First Teaching Faculty • Harriet Schenker Becomes Executive Secretary • Purchase House on Euclid Avenue: 1968 • Name Changed to Gestalt Institute of Cleveland: 1968

The Roaring Seventies • Professional Staff Created: 1970 • Fran Baker, Wes Jackson, Elaine Hammond, Mary Ward, Sylvia Evans (1971) • Isabel Fredericson, Len Hirsch, John Carter, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Tom Cutolo (1972 -4) • Sonia Nevis Becomes Chair of Training Programs (1972) • Claire Stratford, Mwalimu Imara (1979 -81) • Lynne Kweder, Gwen Wade, Francis Baldwin, Rick Day, Jonno Hannafin (1985 -8)

New Programs and A New Home • 1970 Intensive Post-Graduate Program for Educators • 1972 Work-Life Program Adolescent and Family Workshops • 1974 Organization Workshops Humanism In Action (Undergraduate Students) • 1975 Center for Study of Intimate Systems • 1977 Hazel Road Home Dedication

Tomorrow the World Training in Other Locations • Chicago: 1968 -70 • New Haven: 1976 -78 • Boston: 1970 -72 • Pittsburgh: 1977 -78 • Grand Rapids: 1973 -75 • Twin Cities: 1977 -1980 • Curacao: 1974 -75 • Brussels: 1978 -80 • Schenectady/Albany: 1974 -77

OSD Comes of Age • Gestalt Introduced into NTL: 1972 • Cape Cod Workshops on Gestalt & OD: 1974 -76 Carolyn, Leonard, John, Edwin • Design OSD Program: September 1976 • First OSD Program: June 1977

Full Speed Ahead • International OSD Program: 1993 • Becoming A Better Interviewer: 1998 • International Coaching Program: 2003 • OSD Week-End Format: 2005 • OSD Conferences 1981, 1999, 2004

Legacy of the GIC/OSD Founders • Awareness is Worth the Price • Every “Presence of One” Can Make a Difference • One Cannot Enjoy a Good Life Without Healthy Relationships & Belonging to a Community • If You Create a Supportive Container, Gather into it Good People, Learning/Growth Will Occur • A Need to Learn to Blend a Family Model to an Organizational Model • Do Not Lose Your Social Activism Because of Professional Success • Work Hard, Play Hard. Eat, Dance, and Love Well