Reimagining gestalt therapy in an age of AI chatbots

Key details

Date | Monday 20 July, 2026

Time | 5.30pm - 8:30pm

Where | Elie, 27 Royal Parade, Parkville.

Cost | $45 VAGP members. $55 non-members.

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About this event

Psychotherapy chatbots have quickly gained remarkable proficiency. It now seems reasonable to imagine a near future where anyone who wants it has 24/7 access to sophisticated AI therapists that can assume convincingly humanoid forms. What would become of us – human therapists – in this future? If there is unique value in human-to-human therapeutic relationships, it is up to us to articulate and protect this value; the tech bros aren’t going to do this for us because they’re caught in a race to accelerate AI technology at whatever cost. Nor can the bros be trusted to identify possible ways AI could promote, or even deepen, the humanness of the psychotherapeutic process. In this interactive workshop, participants will be supported to examine their own feelings and orientations towards AI, to consider whether AI has a place in different domains of their therapeutic practice, and to reimagine gestalt therapy for a future psychotherapeutic field radically reshaped by technologists and their thinking machines. (Please note this seminar will be a modified and extended version of the workshop presented at the VAGP “30” Conference.)

What will participants gain from this workshop?

• Develop a clearer sense of their feelings about AI in psychotherapy
• Clarify the uniquely human qualities that are important in psychotherapy
• Consider whether AI has a place in different domains of their psychotherapy practice
• Prepare for a future psychotherapeutic field reshaped by AI

About your facilitators

Dr Rhys Price-Robertson and Lina Patel

Rhys Price-Robertson is a psychotherapist in private practice, a member of the GTA teaching faculty, and the Vice-Chair of the VAGP. He has published widely on topics such as psychotherapy, mental health, fatherhood, family life, and social theory. Before landing on psychotherapy, Rhys completed a Master of Bioethics, which reflected his longstanding interest in the intersections between emerging technologies and human values. He is both fascinated and terrified by recent advances in AI technology. He can be contacted at rhys@hereandnowcounselling.com.au.

Lina Patel is a facilitator and collaboration designer whose mission is to alleviate needless workplace suffering and sow more kindness into teams.

Prior to becoming a full-time facilitator, she worked in the tech sector for twenty years. Starting at KPMG, checking how well technology systems worked for government, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, manufacturing, defence, and financial services organisations. She then worked at NAB on payment systems and how they met banking regulations. Later, she was Chief Operating Officer at Code for Australia, an Australian B-Corp that helps government work better by bringing tech experts into government teams to solve public problems together and teach digital skills to public servants.

Lina is currently in the Process Work Diplomate Training Program with ANZPOP, and an occasional student of Gestalt. This workshop is Lina's first time bringing her lifelong love for technology to the therapy community.

Parts of this bio were drafted with the use of Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 large language model with final edit by Lina.

About the Gestalt Centre

The Gestalt Centre is the heart of Melbourne’s Gestalt community. We offer a four-year psychotherapy training program through Gestalt Therapy Australia, staying true to the experiential roots of Gestalt while embracing cutting-edge developments in contemporary Gestalt thinking and practice worldwide.

We also operate ConnectGround, a community-based counselling and psychotherapy clinic. ConnectGround serves as both a training facility for psychotherapists and a provider of low-cost individual and group therapy for clients. The clinic emphasises the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist as a key support for building awareness and adaptability. Psychotherapy interns and volunteers gain valuable hands-on experience, enhancing their skills and professionalism through client work.