John Gillespie – Diploma Tutor

John Gillespie is a tutor on TAC’s Diploma in Integrative Counselling. He is a NCPS-accredited Gestalt therapist whose specialisms include working with early life trauma. He practices therapy through a social justice lens – that is, believing it is impossible to support individual healing without engaging with wider systems of oppression – such as race, class, patriarchy; and with disconnect from the natural environment. In addition to therapy, John offers organisational consultancy in the fields of difference and diversity. He is the author/editor of a number of recently published books

John’s experience suggests that it is impossible to learn Gestalt therapy from a book, or a training, without experiencing it first-hand. Therefore some of what John endeavours to create as part of his training approach is a space in which trainees’ awareness can be developed through careful experiment, relational honesty, an awareness of safety and the impact of trauma. A part of this involves looking at how our individual stories show up in the process of contacting each other, and the impact of individual stories in shaping the kind of contacting possible.