This workshop explores how contemporary culture — shaped by materialism, individualism, and an emphasis on speed and intensity — influences both our relationship with ourselves and with the wider natural, non-human world. Such cultural conditions tend to favour forms of engagement that are fast, stimulating, and often superficial, including the way we relate to nature as something to be used or consumed.
This workshop will focus on the concept of “hungers,” examining the contrast between high-intensity, adrenaline-driven stimulation and the quieter, more subtle forms of low-intensity contact that nature can offer. It will consider how these differing modes of experience impact regulation, awareness, and relational depth, and how they may either support or constrain physis — our innate tendency toward growth and integration.
Drawing on Pat Ogden’s understanding of inner and outer resources, the workshop invites participants to reflect on how their practice can create conditions that support low-intensity, grounded, and reciprocal forms of contact with self, others, and the non-human world.
Tatjana Gjurković
CTA-P, TSTA-P, MA, Psychologist
Tatjana Gjurković, MA psychologist, CTA-P, TSTA-P, is based in Zagreb, Croatia, where she lives and works at Center Proventus, a company she co-founded. She specialises in Transactional Analysis and play therapy, working with both adults and children, and develops educational programmes for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals.
Working across developmental stages allows Tatjana to continuously observe and reflect on patterns that emerge in both children and adults. With a strong commitment to socio-emotional development and promoting radical acceptance, she has co-authored 28 therapeutic children’s books with her colleague Tea Knežević, translated into several languages. She is also the author of a book for parents on play therapy and co-author of several manuals for parents and professionals. Together with her mentor, Keith Tudor, she has published an article in the Transactional Analysis Journal.
Over the past decade, Tatjana has focused on supervision work with psychotherapists and on leading introductory and advanced TA training programmes. She also leads a specialised programme in child and adolescent psychotherapy, integrating TA and play therapy. She particularly values her role as Leading Course Director of advanced programmes, which supports ongoing learning through work with groups and continuous reflection on programme development in line with contemporary theory and practice, alongside her interest in the distinctions between qualification, socialisation, and subjectification as described by Gert Biesta.
Tatjana is co-president of the Croatian TA association (UTA) and a board member of EAIATSCYP. She works internationally as a trainer and supervisor, currently collaborating with institutes in Serbia and Romania.
Contact:
tatjana.gjurkovic@gmail.com