Open Floor Encounter

Open Floor Encounter is a structured group process that draws on the lineages of Gestalt therapy, somatic psychology, psychodrama, and conscious movement to create something increasingly rare: a space where we can meet the moment and be genuinely known.

This is a closed group meeting over 5 months, beginning with three days in late July then every three weeks on Saturdays until late November. Places are limited.

About Open Floor Encounter

Encounter is a practice that is easier to experience than to describe. At its heart it is a group therapeutic process — one that works at the intersection of movement, creativity, relational awareness, and honest presence. It asks a deceptively simple question: what actually happens when we meet?

Developed by Andrea Juhan over 30 years of clinical and teaching practice, Open Floor Encounter draws on the encounter group tradition pioneered at Esalen in the 1960s, weaving it with contemporary somatic psychotherapy, Gestalt awareness practice, and conscious dance. Henry has trained directly with Andrea Juhan through a mentorship program and is the only practitioner currently bringing this work to Australia.

In the Encounter process, participants practice four relational roles — working as the one who brings something forward, witnesses, joins with another, and honestly responds. Together we learn the process and embodied practices that support us to expand our presence. The group becomes a living field of contact. What you discover in how you move, withdraw, reach, and react — on the dance floor and in the group — becomes the material of the work.

"Imagine a world where we could express opinions, feelings, discontent, and appreciation skillfully, while remaining wholeheartedly open to outcome and change." — Andrea Juhan

How we use the dance?

The dance — Open Floor movement practice — runs through the whole program as the integrating thread. A free-form resource-based somatic practice, it gives the body space to process and deepen what emerges in the group work. The dance and the Encounter are not separate. They speak to each other across the whole arc of the program.

Who Is This For?

This group is for people ready to explore movement and group process as a doorway to deeper self-understanding. For those wanting to get honest and creative with the patterns that shape how they relate to themselves and others.

Those working in the helping professions — therapists, teachers, bodyworkers, facilitators — will find particular value in deepening their therapeutic presence and capacity to hold others.

If you've been dancing and working on yourself and wondering what's next, this may be it.

The Program

The program opens with a 3-day intensive where we build the group container and learn the Encounter process. We then generally gather every three weeks on Saturdays — each with a morning of Open Floor dance followed by an afternoon of Encounter group work.

3-day opening intensive: Fri 31 Jul – Sun 2 Aug

Saturday sessions run 10am–6pm.

15 Aug · 5 Sep · 26 Sep · 17 Oct · 7 Nov · 28 Nov

Kangaroo Ground Hall, Nillumbik, Victoria — approx. 45 mins from Melbourne CBD.

Investment

$1,100 — single payment or two payments of $550

$825 alumni (past Encounter participants) — single payment or two payments of $412.50

If cost is a barrier, reach out to Henry directly to discuss.

Testimonials from Past Participants

"When big stuff came up for me in my role as initiator, I wanted to check out. But Henry gently and skilfully held the space for me to go deeper and follow the emotion and the discomfort. This really allowed for me to get to the next stage — it was a really big moment of healing and understanding."

"Having a closed group seemed very important to this practice. Stays in my body and mind long after. Remarkable."

Apply to Join

To join, participants are required to have prior experience in psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic work, and conscious dance experience — ideally some directly with Henry. Places are limited and full commitment to attending all sessions is required.