Martin Buber regarded the I–Thou meeting as the most vital dimension of human experience, emphasizing that it is through authentic relationship that we become fully human. The I–Thou relationship is marked by mutuality, directness, presence, intensity, and a sense of the ineffable.
In therapy, the client–therapist relationship is seen as the foundation for all meaningful growth. It affirms the essential human need for connection, validation, and participation. Understanding the client's subjective inner world is not a one-sided effort; therapists must remain aware of their own presence and influence, recognizing that both participants shape the psychological encounter. The I–Thou experience is a co-created relational event—it does not belong to either person alone, but arises in the space between them. This depth of encounter offers a transformative potential that goes beyond mere conversation.
In this 120-minute live webinar, Dr. Lynne Jacobs will guide participants in exploring how therapists can embody and model the I–Thou relationship in clinical practice. Drawing on Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy, the session will highlight how this relational stance enriches therapeutic engagement.
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Overview & Instructions
Video Lecture: I-Thou Moment: Dialogue in Gestalt Theory
Assessment Component
Lynne Jacobs Ph.D., is a both Gestalt therapist and a relational psychoanalyst based in Los Angeles. She is a co-founder of Pacific Gestalt Institute and has long been interested in the relational dimension of psychotherapy, and in integrating humanistic theories with contemporary psychoanalytic theories. Lynne teaches at Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles and teaches gestalt therapists in the United states, and internationally. She has published numerous articles in both realms, and her most recent work is Relational Approaches in Gestalt Therapy (co-edited with Rich Hycner).
