A teacher, a model, a legacy carried forward.
"I have worked and trained with Violet Oaklander from 1994 through 2021, and was a part of creating the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation, serving as Founding President from 2006 through 2018."
A pioneer of Gestalt therapy for children.
Violet Solomon Oaklander (1927–2021) was a leading figure in the field of child and adolescent psychotherapy. Her groundbreaking book, Windows to Our Children, introduced clinicians around the world to a Gestalt-based approach for working with young people — one built on relationship, contact, and creative expression.
Sue met Violet in 1994 and trained with her for nearly three decades, becoming one of her closest collaborators and one of the senior teachers carrying her model forward today.
Founding President, 2006–2018
Sue was a part of the small group that founded the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation in 2006 to ensure that Violet's work would continue to reach clinicians, children and families well beyond her lifetime.
As Founding President for twelve years, Sue helped shape the Foundation's mission, build its international training programs, and develop the curriculum that brings the Oaklander Model to therapists across the United States, Europe, Asia, South America and beyond.
Today she continues to teach — offering trainings internationally for clinicians who work with children and adolescents, and welcoming colleagues into the model through her practice in Agoura Hills.
Bringing the Oaklander Model to a new generation.
Trainings address Gestalt therapy for therapists who work with children and adolescents, utilizing the Violet Oaklander Model and the therapeutic use of creative projective techniques — clay, sandtray, music, puppets, imagery and fantasy.
Clinicians interested in training are warmly invited to be in touch. For more on the Foundation itself, visit vsof.org.
