Summer Residential Faculty

Summer Residential Senior Faculty

Liv Estrup, M.A., is a Gestalt Therapist in private practice since 1971. She divides her time between Los Angeles and Atlanta. An AAMFT Approved Supervisor, Liv supervises/consults via Internet. She co-wrote (with Rita Resnick) Supervision: A Collaborative Endeavor, Gestalt Review (Vol 4, No 2), where she is an Associate Editor. Liv created the films What’s Behind the Empty Chair? Gestalt Theory and Methodology and Flying Without Wings: Life with Arnold Beisser, both available at Vimeo On Demand. Liv paints and writes and loves special moments with her grandchildren.

Stephanie Goldsmith, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Claremont, California in the United States since 2014. She is the current CEO of GATLA and Co-Director for the Los Angeles program. She obtained her certification in Gestalt therapy from GATLA in 2019 and joined the Summer Residential faculty in 2023. Stephanie’s specialty areas of focus include working with trauma, queer identities, and eating disorders. Stephanie is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and has specialized training in Animal Assisted Play Therapy, EMDR, and EFT-Tapping. She is the creator and host of the All Gestalt Podcast and is also an Associate Clinical Professor at Loma Linda University. Stephanie is a proud bibliophile, Renaissance Faire improv actor, concert-goer, and spouse and parent.

Helen Kennedy, BA (Hons.), has been in private practice in Edinburgh, Scotland since 1985. She is a founding partner of Teamwork Edinburgh Gestalt Institute where she works as a trainer, supervisor, consultant and psychotherapist. Helen is qualified as a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer with GPTI (UK). She has a particular interest in creating community to enhance creative, spiritual, and psychological growth.

Jay Levin, M.A. (Clin. Psych.), has practiced and taught counseling and psychotherapy for over 35 years. His interest is in how values shape personal behavior and therapeutic interventions. This is mirrored in published articles that reflect his vision of a more hospitable world. Jay has been trained in Gestalt therapy by Erving and Miriam Polster and is certified by the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles. He is a Professional Member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and an Accredited Supervising Member of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT), as well as Training Director for the Gestalt Institute of the Gulf Coast (GIGC). A major aspect of his professional life is his ongoing affiliation with Gestalt Associates of Los Angeles (GATLA) where he has been Faculty for over 25 years. Jay now lives in Sarasota, Florida having immigrated to the USA from South Africa.

Email: jaylevin@jaylevin.net

Nadia Luyabitskaya, M. Psych., graduated in Clinical Psychology from Moscow State University. She is the Director of the Moscow Institute of Gestalt and Psychodrama. Nadia has been teaching gestalt for more than 18 years. She runs many educational groups and has a busy private practice. Her special interest is group dynamics from a Gestalt perspective.

Juraj (George) Rektor, M.D., psychiatrist, founder and director of the Psychosocial Centre in Prerov, Czech Republic. Originally trained as a psychoanalyst, later trained and certified as a gestalt therapist by GPTI (UK) and GATLA. Co-founder and co-director of the Czech Gestalt Therapy Training Institute “Dialogue”. Interested in personality process and structure, and neuroscience.

Claudia Rosenbach-Ziembinski, Diplom. Psych., Fellow of APS College of Clinical Psychologists, originally trained and then worked as a high school teacher in Berlin for ten years. She then completed and graduated from the four-year Berlin Gestalt Centre training program in 1982, and the GATLA Summer Residential in 1987. Claudia also completed psychology studies in Berlin before moving to Australia, where she has been registered as a clinical psychologist in private practice since 1989. As well as her work as a gestalt psychotherapist in practice, Claudia has been a co-director of the Gestalt Training Institute West Australia since 1989. She has run training workshops throughout Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Europe, joining GATLA’s Summer Residential as a faculty trainer in 1998. When not working, Claudia dedicates her life to her grandchildren, her garden, practicing yoga, swimming, and running with her dog Luigi.

Zish Rosenbach-Ziembinski, M.Psych., Fellow of APS College of Clinical Psychologists, graduated in Clinical Psychology in 1976 from UWA and then trained as a gestalt therapist with the original Gestalt Institute of Perth. He was certified as a gestalt therapist in 1983. After graduating from university, he worked in large psychiatric clinics and hospitals for ten years before starting his own private practice in 1987. As well as his ongoing work as a psychotherapist, Zish has been an active co-director of Gestalt Training Institute West Australia’s four-year training program since 1990. Over the years, he has run gestalt training workshops throughout Australia, in New Zealand, in the USA, and throughout Europe as a faculty trainer with GATLA’s European Summer Residential since 1995. His professional interests have gradually moved from specific clinical issues to a broader consideration of human behaviour, especially in relation to understanding human conflict. His personal interests include regular bike riding, gardening, learning guitar, and learning how to play from his dog Luigi.

Anna Tanalska-Duleba, M.A., Anna Tanalska-Duleba is a Psychotherapist and Supervisor in Warsaw, Poland. She is one of the founders and a member of a team of Pracownia Terapii i Rozwoju [Psychotherapy and Development Studio; www.pratir.pl] w Warszawie. She studied physics and graduated in philosophy from Warsaw University. She is a graduate of the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles’ European program.

She has 46 years of experience in individual, family, and group therapy. She also supervises and teaches therapists in Poland and abroad (Lithuania, Scotland, Australia, Ukraine).

She likes most working with big families and offers workshops on this mode of working. Her special interest in psychotherapy is a therapist’s presence and the role of language in therapy.

Apart from being a psychotherapist and supervisor, she has translated books from Russian and English into Polish (among others, she has translated quite a few books by Irvin Yalom).

Each group will work with three of the above senior faculty.

Summer Residential Faculty

By invitation, faculty from many different countries will be added to the staff. In 2026, additional faculty will be selected from the following list:

Steven Elkind, Ph.D. (USA)

I am a Clinical Psychologist living and practicing in Madison WI. I trained at the Gestalt Institute of Los Angeles during my four years of graduate school and was awarded my certification in 1976. I am grateful for all the goodwill and efforts of my teachers at the Institute. In particular, the ones I spent the most time with, who I consider my primary mentors, were Robert Resnick, Robert Martin, and Janet Rainwater. My appreciation and love for their generosities towards me, known and unknown, is more than my capacity to express.

Vitalija Lepeskiene, Ph.D. (Lithuania)

I am a clinical psychologist and Gestalt psychotherapist, also an international trainer. I graduated from Vilnius University, earned a doctoral degree in psychology. My first Gestalt studies were with Norwegian trainer Nils Magnar Grendstad. I was certified by GATLA. With a colleague Viktoras Keturakis we founded a Gestalt Psychotherapy institute Dialogas (Dialogue) in Vilnius. I have been in a harmonious marriage for many years, have two grown-up children and four grandchildren, who are the greatest joy of my life. My favorite leisure activities are reading, attending concerts and theatre, and traveling.

Kristen Myers, Psy.D. (USA)

Kristen R Myers, PsyD, DrPH, MA, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and GATLA-certified Gestalt psychotherapist. She works as a clinic Site Director, Co-director of the Seattle GATLA training program and owns a private practice. She completed doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology (with a specialization in Health Psychology) and in Public Health (with a specialization in Preventive Care) at Loma Linda University. Kristen has trained in and practiced Gestalt Therapy since 2005 and joined the faculty in 2016. She is passionate about self-acceptance, connection, interdependence and agency. She approaches her professional life and personal life with core values for inherent growth, wholeness-orientation of all living beings, non-pathologizing, anti-oppression and the crucial impact of one’s developmental and current environment on well-being. She works with individuals, couples, families and groups. Experience includes extensive work and training with trauma, grief and loss, eating disorders, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and attachment difficulties.

Michal Pernicka, Ph.D. (Czech Republic)

Michal Pernicka, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist based in the Czech Republic. He received his training from the Dialog Institute in the Czech Republic (2006) and the Gestalt Associates Training Los Angeles (2011). He runs a private practice in Zlin, Czech Republic since 2008, he provides, teaches, and supervises Gestalt psychotherapy. In addition to his therapeutic work, he is active in forensic psychology and psychodiagnostics, with a particular focus on the Rorschach inkblot test. He is happily married and has two daughters. Having grown up as an orienteering runner, he finds peace in the woods.

Svetlana Vasilyeva, M.D. (Canada/Russia)

Svetlana Vasilyeva, M.D. (Russia), M.C. (Canada), RCC, is in private practice in Vancouver, Canada working with individuals and couples. Trained with GATLA since 2009. Certified as a Gestalt therapist in 2015. Since 2016, Group Leader at GATLA Summer Residential Program. Since 2023, trainer and director of GATSEA (GATLA Gestalt Therapy training program in Seattle, WA). Her professional interests are in Gestalt group leadership, psychosomatics and psychopathology from Gestalt therapy perspective. She is a passionate skier, hiker and city-biker. Practicing Tai Chi since 2009.

Additional Faculty

Viktoras Keturakis, Ph.D. (Lithuania)
Andrew Price, MSW (USA)
Svyatoslav (Slava) Rumanov, M. Psych. (Russia)

Each group will work with one of the above faculty.