A Somatic/Gestalt Approach to Authentic Dialogue

With Melody Schaper, RSMT and Mark Putnam, MD

 

The Body Speaks First

A Somatic/Gestalt Approach to Authentic Dialogue

(AKA) Say what you mean and mean what you say

Dialogue is not something you do.
Dialogue is something that happens through you with another.

Before a word is spoken, your body receives an impulse; a shift of weight, a change in breathing, a subtle shift in your tissues.

The question is, Are you listening?

In this workshop, you will enter the living realm of dialogue through your body. Rooted in Gestalt therapy and enriched by somatic practice, you will listen for how your sensations, breath, movement and the quiet organization of the self in relation to another is experienced and understood.

You will begin to notice…
how a sentence starts long before it reaches your mouth,
how listening reshapes your body from the inside,
how contact is impacted in the spaces between impulse and expression.

With increasing sensitivity, participants will learn to track micro-movements of experience—the almost-imperceptible shifts that signal emerging contact, hesitation, longing, protection, or reaching towards another.  These bodily responses become companions in awareness, offering guidance toward more honest and responsive dialogue.

We will explore:
• The felt sense of listening through your whole bodily being
• Your body’s preparation for your authentic response 
• The patterns of contact expressed through your posture, gestures, and breathing
• How the enhanced awareness of your body through dialogue can support your choices, clarity, and authenticity

Through guided experiential exercises, relational explorations, and live process work, you will cultivate a way of being in dialogue that is less performative and more revelatory—less constructed and more of a discovery.  You will begin to sense the truth that is beneath sensation and listen with greater presence and acceptance.  Dialogue becomes a living, breathing process of discovery allowing us to make deeper and more authentic contact to ourselves and one another.

Date: Saturday, July 25th, 2026 from 9:00am-5:00pm.

Location: Camphill Soltane, 224 Nantmeal Rd. Glenmoore, PA 19343 United States

Cost: $190 for the day. Lunch will be provided. 

Melody Schaper, RSMT, a Somatic Therapist in private practice in Kimberton, Pennsylvania. She is certified in Gestalt Therapy from The Pennsylvania Gestalt Center and The Gestalt Training Institute of Philadelphia and is a Laban Movement Analyst and Teacher of the Alexander Technique.

Melody has been integrating these modalities into all of her work to help anyone become more comfortable, safe and at home in their own skin. As a teacher and therapist Melody focuses on the subtle language of the body encouraging deep listening and expression as ways to heal and grow.

Mark Putnam, M. D., is board-certified in child and adolescent, adult, and administrative psychiatry and has been faculty co-leading workshops and training at the Center since 1991. He is Medical Director for the Department of Psychiatry at Penn State Saint Joseph, and Chief Medical Officer for Berkshire Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Services, PLLC. His interests, in addition to teaching and mentoring, include integration of Gestalt as practiced in the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center with music, movement, and expression.

CEUs: The Pennsylvania Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors has approved this workshop for 8 contact hours of continuing education toward licensure renewal.

Learn more about our workshops on the Workshops page.

Cancellation Policy: In the event that we receive notice after 6pm on the Tuesday before the workshop that you wish to cancel your participation, a cancellation fee of $50 will be invoiced to you. If you had already paid for the workshop, you will be refunded all but this cancellation fee and the online processing fee if you paid that way. The cancellation fee covers the catered food and facility fee that the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center must pay in advance for this workshop. This fee will be charged regardless of the reason for cancellation. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.