Since I had not spoken with Jerry or Willy since, I decided to look them up. It was then that it became apparent that Jerry had passed almost two years ago.
One would have to know how unspeakable that training experience was, as provided by these 3 gifted psychotherapists.
It is actually wrenching not to go into detail about the training and its mark upon my life, personally and professionally, but this is in memory of Jerry, whose professional life is detailed below, so it is surely best that Jerry 'speaks'.
I am posting it, because it reveals to me, my own experience of Jerry. His being a mensch (a person of integrity and honor; a good person) came alive again for me in this brief video, particularly his discussions about aging and permission.
Jerry speaks about teaching. My experience of him for those days, was that he was a teacher even when he wasn't. In viewing this, I hope your intuition and experience of Jerry is as rich as I encountered in viewing.
This life summary was on Facebook, and written by Rainer Geissler, MA, MFT, on March 18, 2014, subsequent to Jerry's transition:
In memory of Gerald Kogan Ph.D., Gestalt therapist, mentor, trainer, and ongoing inspiration in my work.
Gerald was co-founder and co-director of GENI (Gestalt Educational Network International), Frankfurt, Germany, co-founder of the German Association of Gestalt Therapy (DVG) and the European Association of Counseling.
Gerald was a psychotherapist, teacher and poet, who began learning about people by riding the subways of New York as a kid and traveling around the United States as a teenager. He later had the good fortune to study with Fritz and Laura Perls, Eugene Sagan, Virginia Satir, Carl Rogers and others. After working with people for nearly four decades and living on three continents, he continued to be interested in consciousness and learning about healing practices. He is the author of a book of poetry, a book on bodywork and various articles on Gestalt Therapy. He was a co-director of Gestalt Education Network International (GENI) in Frankfurt, Germany, where he also held a psychotherapy practice as Independent Mental Health Care Professional.
