Vienna, capital of Austria and spiritual birthplace of psychoanalysis and many other schools of psychotherapy, was chosen as the location for the Tenth Scientific Convention of the international Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA). The conference was hosted by the Institute for Medico-Psychology of the University of Vienna and took place on the premises of the Psychiatric Hospital and of the General Hospital of Vienna under the auspices of the Austrian Federal Minister of Health, the Austrian Federal Minister of Science and the Mayor of the City of Vienna. One hundred and fifty people participated at this convention, coming from Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway and the United States and from such diverse fields of research and practice as psychology, psychotherapy, pedagogy, medicine, organization development, economic sciences and so on. "Problems of Genesis" (the title of a chapter of Wolfgang Metzger's comprehensive Gestalt theoretical book 'Psychologie') was the theme of reference for lectures and working groups.

This brief report gives only a short account of the proceedings of the convention. If you are interested in the main ideas presented the lectures mentioned below please follow the links to the abstracts. The full version of the lectures will be published in GTA's bi-lingual (German/English) multidisciplinary journal, Gestalt Theory .

The GTA and its bi-annual scientific convention are multidisciplinary, not merely covering the field of psychotherapy. The choice of Vienna as the location for this conference was reflected in its program; one of the main topics at the convention was the discussion of the historical and theoretical relationship between psychoanalysis and Gestalt theory and the exchange of views between Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapists and psychoanalysts:

Psychoanalyst Bruno Waldvogel (Psychatric Hospital of the University in Munich, Germany) and author of a remarkable book about psychoanalysis and Gestalt psychology (Psychoanalyse und Gestaltpsychologie, Stuttgart: frommann-holzboog, 1992), gave a lecture about historical and contemporary relationships between psychoanalytical and Gestalt psychological thinking: "The development of the phenomenal and the internal world - A topic of connection between Gestalt theory and psychoanalysis" .

Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapist Thomas Fuchs (University of Bonn, Germany) elaborated on "Psychoanalytic Concepts in the Light of Gestalt Theory", focussing on the analysis of selected defence mechanisms (projection, projective identification).

Psychoanalyst Oskar Frischenschlager (University of Vienna, Austria) gave a lecture on "The development of psychic structure from a psychoanaltic developmental perspective".

Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY), both eminent Gestalt psychologists from the United States, honored the convention by contributing a most knowledgeably commented 'Sampling of Gestalt psychologists' remarks on psychoanalysis' (soon to be published in GTA's journal GESTALT THEORY).

Giuseppe Galli, Gestalt psychologist and psychoanalyst (University of Macerata, Italy), gave a lecture on the relationship between "The scientific methodology of Kurt Lewin and psychoanalysis".

A joint workshop of psychoanalysts Bruno Waldvogel and Oskar Frischenschlager and Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapists Thomas Fuchs, Bernd Gerstner, Marianne Soff and Sabine Schmidt-Kutscha offered the opportunity for a thorough and vivid discussion of the lectures and for the development of a more differentiated understanding of common grounds and differencies between the two schools of thought and practice.

In some respects this thread of discussion at the convention was continued on the second day with the lecture of Hans-Peter Bilek, Integrative Gestalt Therapist and psychiatrist in Vienna, on "Psychosis from a Gestalt therapy theoretical view", followed by a joint workshop of Bilek and Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapist Michael Ruh (Germany). This workshop was also an opportunity for a vivid discussion of differencies and similarities between these two Gestalt therapy schools ("Integrative Gestalt Therapy", mainly based on Perls/Goodman; "Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy", based on the Gestalt theory of the "Berlin school" and integrating Perls' Gestalt therapy) in their views, theoretical concepts and practical experiences in their respective psychotherapeutical work with psychotic clients.

The keynote lecture of the conference was given by Karl H. Pribram (Stanford University, Radford University) on his "Holonomic Brain Theory and Gestalt: Recent Experimental Results" . In this impressive lecture Pribram presented recent research findings related to his famous holonomic brain theory which is highly compatible with Gestalt theory and bridges the gap between earlier assumptions of Wolfgang Kohler and modern brain research.

A second focus of the convention was Gestalt psychology and pedagogics:

Helmut Seel, Gestalt psychologist and professor for pedagogics at the University of Graz, Austria, gave a lecture on "Theory of Teaching and Gestalt Psychology", elaborating on both the development of ideas and concepts and the political impact of these ideas in the development of school education in Austria over the last forty years (Seel was for more than a decade member of the Austrian parlament and speaker for issues of science and education of the Social Democratic Party there).

After Seel's lecture the Italian Gestalt therapist and educationalist Mario Polito (Asiago, Italy) presented his concept of 'Gestalt Psychopedagogy', which aims at the putting to use of Gestalt therapy concepts in teaching and learning, integrating some basic concepts of Gestalt psychology: "How Gestalt theory can facilitate teaching and learning processes".

In a joint workshop of Seel and Polito participants from Austria, Germany and Italy discussed the ideas presented by the two speakers on the background of their own experiences in teaching and learning.

The third focus of the convention was Gestalt psychology in economic sciences and organizational development:

Bernd Runde (University of Osnabrueck, Germany), psychologist and assistant to editors of GESTALT THEORY, gave a lecture on "Leadership, organizational development and synergetics", followed by a lecture of Gisela Kubon-Gilke (University of Darmstadt, Germany) on "Institutional economics and the evolutionary metaphor" and a lecture of Ingar Roggen (University of Oslo, Norway) on "Connections, constitutive sets and Gestalt laws - theory, method and generalization."

A joint workshop of Kubon-Gilke and the Austrian Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapist and Organizational Advisor Wolfgang Doering gave the opportunity for discussion and exchange of experiences both of Gestalt-oriented economic theorists and practitioners in the field of organizational consulting.

Besides these presentations and workshops two more working groups were active during the conference, one focussing on Gestalt theory and psychodiagnostics (with Ernst Plaum, University of Eichstaett, Germany), the other on an introduction into Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy (with Marianne Soff, Germany, and Dieter Zabransky, Austria).

On the final day of the conference there were four more lectures and a concluding round table discussion:

Lucia Lumbelli, Rogerian psychologist and educational scientist (University of Trieste, Italy), presented a thorough investigation of the relation of "Gestalt theory and C. Rogers' definition of subject-centered interview".

Juergen Kriz (University of Osnabrueck, Germany), psychologist and psychotherapist, chief executive editor of GESTALT THEORY, talked about "The relevance of discontinuities for developmental processes", Ernst Plaum (University of Eichstaett, Germany) gave a lecture on "Permanency OF change or permanency AND change? Historical remarks on the problematic aspects of a philosophy of change", and Adlerian psychotherapist Walter Pieringer (University of Graz, Austria) concluded the series of lectures by presenting his ideas and concepts on "Problems of Genesis - Problems of Epistemology".

The final round table discussion (moderated by Hans-Juergen Walter, Germany) focussed on the guiding theme of the convention, Problems of Genesis, joining the various threads of discussion at the conference in an impressive and touching dialogue about basic issues and chances of a more human development of society.