Gestalt!
ISSN 1091-1766
Volume 1; Number 2
1997
Published by
Gestalt Global Corporation and the Gestalt Training Institute of Bermuda
Last updated 4/17/09
Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy
(click link to see inside)
Philip Brownell, Editor
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Many books have been written about gestalt therapy. Not many have been written on the relationship between gestalt therapy and psychotherapy research. The Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy is a needed bridge between these two concerns, and a timely addition to scholarly literature on gestalt therapy itself. In 2007 an international team of experienced gestalt therapists devoted themselves to create this book, and they have collaborated with one another to produce a challenging and enriching addition to the literature relevant to gestalt therapy.
"I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about practicing his or her craft better by supporting it with a broader base, one that demonstrates that merging existential phenomenology with phenomenological behaviorism can produce verifiable, replicable results for what is essentially an idiographic pursuit." – Edwin C. Nevis, Ph.D.
"I applaud Dr. Brownell's thoughtful perspectives on expanding gestalt therapy's dimensions. By his focus on the role of research he is creating the third leg of a tripod composed of thoery, practice and research, promising increased balance and support for gestalt therapy's procedural positions." – Erving Polster, Ph.D.
In This Issue:
Guest Editorial: Jay Uomoto on Soul Care
Jay M. Uomoto, Ph.D., ABMP
ABSTRACT
In recent times, there has been a renewed interest in the soul as more than a meaningful concept but as an organizing force in the lifeblood of the individual. The concept of the soul is not a stranger either to the field of psychology or the practice of psychotherapy, and its nature has been debated within philosophical circles for centuries. Yet, concern for the soul and its centrality to human suffering and functioning in this world seems to have touched numerous levels of society today including consumers of popular psychology and spirituality to those involved in medicine and biomedical ethics....Soul care has now come into vogue as a viable and vital means of healing emotional wounds, bringing a new perspective to human suffering, providing a context within which to understand suffering, and dissipating some of the meaninglessness that comes with human finitude...
Philip Brownell, Jay Levin, and Brian O'Neill
ABSTRACT
This is an initial call for a public discussion of two issues affecting the practice of Gestalt therapy. The first concern is that of ethical guidelines for practice and the second area is an exploration of the models utilized for training in Gestalt therapy. It seems to us that Gestalt therapy practice is associated with a variety of different values, ethics, and professional practices which find their origins in various forms of training and supervision, which are themselves derived from a number of different "schools" of thought. These have been likened to clans existing in the historical-cultural field. At times these differences may even give rise to conflicting ideas of what "is" Gestalt therapy, or what is "good" or "bad" Gestalt therapy. The lack of clarity and criteria regarding professional practice, ethical guidelines, and values inherent in Gestalt therapy make a coherent standard a seeming impossibility. This, however, is an attempt to open a discussion and clarify the wider field of professional practice and training.
Elias F. de Almeida
ABSTRACT
Describes the experience of enamourment–one of the expressions of positive transfer–in a way that this may become for the client a growth experience of consistent and solid change. Enamourment in psychotherapy often constitutes an element that can be embarrassing for the therapist, and which at times prompts him to use some techniques which allow him "to gain some time" in the expectation that the phenomenon will attenuate in the course of the therapeutic sessions. Rather, in order to face the phenomenon of enamourment in an efficacious and adequate way, that is by transforming the experience of enamourment into a therapeutic instrument and not by "neglecting" this purely human resource, it is necessary to understand which may be the elements that characterize the experience of falling in love.
Clausewitz Here and Now: Military Obedience and Gestalt Theory
Bruce Barrett
ABSTRACT
Gestalt Theoretical Psychology, including Gestalt Therapy, offers a variety of conceptual and practical insights into non-clinical life challenges and their solutions. Like other systems of psychology and personality theory, many of the applications and insights in Gestalt Theory remain pathology oriented. Unlike other treatment systems, Gestalt Therapy (as presented by Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman, for example) was also intended as a blueprint for understanding and expanding health and freedom of action in any sphere, not merely mapping and ameliorating behavioral suffering or abuse. By exploring the individual's total functioning in context, the Gestalt perspective offers a system capable of transcending mere problem resolution and for achieving prowess and joy in the art of life, with all of its many manifestations. In keeping with this outlook, I will use the phrase "Gestalt Theory" in many places where "Gestalt Therapy" has been the traditional (and sharply limiting) construct. Gestalt Theory provides a fruitful reasoning framework for any field of human endeavor. This includes activities that are startling to the assumed values, ethical stance, and social philosophy of its practitioners. Classical problems in the art of war and military history, practical problems in battlefield operations, and the identification and understanding of successful soldiering all can benefit from the holistic Gestalt theoretical perspective.
Ethical Considerations in Working with Religious Clients
Dan Carpenter
ABSTRACT
In order to remain ethical in their practices, clinicians should have a thorough knowledge and understanding of how to work with religious issues that arise in therapy. This article summarizes some of the dangers inherent in working with spirituality, while at the same time challenging the clinician to take advantage of religious issues in therapy. Gestalt therapists are seen as particularly equipped for this type of work, being focused on a dialogical relationship as opposed to a rigid challenging of the client's religious beliefs. Ethical guidelines are considered to be related to the client's position in the field as well as each client's individual organization of that field. Guidance is offered for Gestalt therapists in order that their work with religious clients might be enhanced.
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
You can find links for
all issues of Gestalt! at
http://www.g-gej.org.
If you click any issue link,
you will be taken to the
table of contents for
that issue, with titles,
authors, and abstracts
for the contents of that issue
(as you see to the left).
AAGT's 10th Biennial Conference
for
Gestalt Therapy
Philadelphia, PA, USA
June 3-6, 2010
Cathy Gray and Burt Lazarin,
Co-Conveners
See the conference website for a growing list of details concerning the pre-conference and general conference program.
Gstalt-L, An email discussion group devoted to Gestalt therapy and the community of its practitioners
GestaltResearch, a website describing research issues related to the study of gestalt therapy; it is also related to the social networking site for research oriented people interested in applications of gestalt therapy found at www.gestaltresearch.nin.com
Gestalt Bookmarks, a place to begin researching the field of contemporary Gestalt therapy on the world wide web
Gestalt!, ejournal of Gestalt therapy and the field of Gestalt practitioners