Here’s a 30-minute workshop idea for your Gestalt therapy group. It’s fun, creative, insightful, and encourages collaboration in pairs. The theme will be “Exploring Polarities in Ourselves and Our Relationships.”

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Workshop Outline: Exploring Polarities

Objective:

Participants will explore polarities within themselves and their relationships, fostering self-awareness, creativity, and connection.

Preparation:

1. Divide the group into breakout rooms, with 2 participants in each room.
2. Each pair will need a piece of paper and a pen (or a virtual whiteboard in Zoom for drawing).

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Workshop Flow:

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

• Briefly explain the concept of polarities in Gestalt therapy (e.g., “light vs. shadow,” “selfishness vs. selflessness,” “openness vs. guardedness”).
• Share that the aim is to creatively explore and embody these polarities through a simple exercise.
• Explain the structure: Participants will work in pairs, share insights, and return to the main room to discuss experiences.

2. Breakout Activity Instructions (2 minutes)

• Assign a polarity to each pair (e.g., “control vs. freedom,” “giving vs. receiving”). If you’d like, let them choose from a pre-prepared list of polarities.
• Each participant in the pair takes turns:
  • Person A will embody/role-play one end of the polarity (e.g., “control”).
  • Person B will embody/role-play the opposite end (e.g., “freedom”).
  • They will explore the following:
    • How does it feel to express this polarity?
    • How does it feel to interact with the opposite polarity?

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3. Breakout Room Activity (15 minutes)

• Pairs work together:
  1. Each person gets 3 minutes to role-play their assigned polarity.
  2. Afterward, they spend 4 minutes reflecting together:
     • What did they notice about their feelings?
     • How did they perceive the other’s role?
     • Where do these polarities show up in their own lives?

Encourage them to have fun with this exercise! They can draw, dramatize, or even use metaphors to express the polarities.

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4. Group Debrief (8 minutes)

• Bring everyone back to the main room.
• Ask a few open-ended questions:
  • “What surprised you about this exercise?”
  • “What did you learn about your own relationship to polarities?”
  • “What creative approaches did you discover?”
• Allow participants to share insights, but keep the pace brisk so everyone has a chance to speak.

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Why This Workshop Works:

• Fun: Role-playing encourages playfulness and creativity.
• Creative: Participants can express polarities in unique, personal ways.
• Insightful: The exercise naturally evokes self-awareness and deeper understanding of relational dynamics.

Here’s a list of engaging polarities you can use for your workshop:

1. Control vs. Freedom
2. Giving vs. Receiving
3. Openness vs. Guardedness
4. Logic vs. Intuition
5. Strength vs. Vulnerability
6. Patience vs. Urgency
7. Action vs. Rest
8. Selfishness vs. Selflessness
9. Chaos vs. Order
10. Past vs. Future
11. Dependence vs. Independence
12. Attachment vs. Detachment
13. Silence vs. Expression
14. Trust vs. Doubt
15. Acceptance vs. Change
16. Fear vs. Courage
17. Hope vs. Despair
18. Aloneness vs. Togetherness
19. Familiarity vs. Novelty
20. Harmony vs. Conflict