As I’m here to speak about the special features of Gestalt therapy in Brazil, I thought that it would be interesting to start with the very first impressions I had, when, after living in the US for 5 years, I returned to Brazil with “Californian eyes.” I was told to present myself to Therese Tellegen, a Dutch therapist who immigrated to Brazil. She was the initiator of Gestalt therapy in our country, and, at the time, the head of the Gestalt group in São Paulo. She got in touch with Gestalt therapy in London in the early 70’s, and later worked with the Polsters in San Diego. When a Gestalt group started in Brazil, Maureen Miller ( O’Hara) and Robert Martin (from the L.A. Gestalt Therapy Institute) came to give several workshops and were the group’s first trainers.

When I arrrived back in Brazil, Therese invited me to give a workshop to the Gestalt community. To my surprise, contrary to the stereotyped image of Brazilians as very open and expressive people, participants were rather shy and careful in exposing their intimacy in groups, needing a lot of support for it. This experience was my introduction to the Gestalt community in Brazil, and as I began to have more contact with it, I realized that their Gestalt had other really valuable differences from the Gestalt I experienced in California and in Israel ( where I lived before for 6 years). So I want to speak about these differences.

Attention to Group Process

What very quickly got my attention when I arrived in Brazil in 1983, was the importance given to group processes. Therese was just writting a book on the Gestalt perspective to group work (Tellegen 1984).
In the late 70’s and early 80’s, I frequently experienced in the US intrapersonal processes as being the predominant focus in Gestalt therapy work . I remember that in some short trainings and workshops people got in imaginary lines of who was going to work first, second, third, and so on. People would come one after the other to work in the empty-chair with no consideration of group processes and interactions. In some intensive trainings there was even an explicit and demanded exclusion of interpersonal exchanges; you could express what you felt about somebody when your turn in the circle came up, but the person wasn’t allowed to answer you, in order to stress the intrapersonal dimension of what you felt, that it was “your thing.” But in Brazil, group and interpersonal processes were always an important part of Gestalt therapy, much due to the previous experience of the first Gestalt therapists in Psychodrama, and also, probably due to the nature of Brazilian people. Gestalt therapists in Brazil always read books on group therapy, frequently used group process terms, and always attempted to relate to what Kepner (1980) refers to as the intrapersonal, the interpersonal, and the systemic level of groups in her work Gestalt Group Processes, which I consider a “must” to everyone wanting to work with groups. However, I”ve been reading in Gestalt publications and heard much in this conference about field theory and field thinking, what leads me to believe that we are all heading in this direction.

Study of Philosophical and Epistemological Foundations

Another point that caught my attention, was the importance given to the study of the philosophical and epistemological foundations of our approach, i.e., to the concept of the human being and existence, to how the world is envisioned, and to the epistemic basis of our work . Since our schools have been modeled on the French standards of education since colonial times, our tradition was always to study the philosophy and theoretical basis of any field of knowledge. In the 60s, students and intellectuals used to study History, Philosophy, Marxism, training to detect the underlying ideology implicit in educational guidelines, laws, political acts and so on. But the dictatorship implanted in 1964 brought 20 years of repression in our intellectual endeavors, which ended up somehow smothering critical thinking in our youth; for this reason , we, the older therapists, have had the concern of transmitting this critical tradition to the new generations.

In Gestalt therapy, this tradition became present in the constant consideration of epistemic coherence of our theoretical references in thinking and practice . Thus, in almost all Gestalt therapy trainings in Brazil there are courses dedicated to the study of the philosophical foundations of Gestalt therapy, especially Husserlian and Heiddegarian phenomenology, Existentialism, and Oriental philosophy. We also teach Gestalt therapy theory in depth. We informally translated all the chapters of Perls Hefferline and Goodman’s book part II (recently published), and articles selected from several books and Gestalt publications. We have several Gestalt therapy authors already translated and published in Portuguese besides those of Brazilian authors . We have Gestalt Therapy Journals, Regional and National Meetings. As consequence, we do have a critical mind with what refers to incorporation of frames of thought that are epistemologically different from Gestalt -- or at least, we have the preoccupation with checking them. For example, we have been reading about attempts to incorporate neo-psychoanalytical concepts and frames of thought to Gestalt therapy, we have had information regarding Naranjo’s combination of the diagnostic categories of the Eneagram with Gestalt therapy -- but although some therapists are attracted by and are even studying them, our attitude is cautious; we analyze their epistemic contradictions and discuss them. Although in Brazil we have all sorts of religious spiritual practices, until now, whether for good or for bad, I haven’t heard of any Gestalt therapist mixing them with therapy, although a transpersonal dimension is present in some of the work we do. Also, a group of colleagues is working on creating a Gestalt model for understanding children’s developmental process, and although they are reading and studying authors from other areas, they have an underlying concern to filter what is coherent with our approach . Some of us have even been discussing which type of Phenomenology, and which type of Existentialism we refer to when we say that Gestalt therapy is an existential-phenomenological approach. Like you, we have different tendencies in Brazil in terms of the further development of the Gestalt approach. We have professionals working in different areas in Gestalt therapy: psychotherapy, psychiatry , education , organizations and so on. Among us, a few have been interested in Object Relations Theory , others in a strictly phenomenological approach , others in developing the body of knowledge of Gestalt theory itself , and most of us in the Dialogical approach . I think however, that the study of the philosophical and epistemic foundations and the emphasis on its coherence is a characteristic that permeates all these tendencies.

Attention to Socio-cultural and Economic Realities

Another characteristic of Gestalt therapy in Brazil, has to do with the fact that although Gestalt therapy’s most basic concepts speak of the individual as a being-in-relation, a being-in-the-world, an integral part of the individual-environment system, Gestalt therapy, specially in the 60’s and 70’s, has often restricted itself to the work on one’s closest relations and one’s inner world. Nevertheless, due to our political and economic situation, in Brazil it has been impossible to disregard the impact of social, cultural and political factors in people’s inner lives. In dictatorship times for example, the social so violently invaded people’s intimacies that it necessarily had to become figural for therapists’ attention. Economically, Brazil has been in a very difficult recession for years, with the consequent large scale unemployment problems. Therefore, this directed people’s interest in developing within Gestalt therapy, a way of thinking and practice that could effectively take into consideration the influence of the family, social-cultural and economic factors which affect people’s lives . Personally, I have been specifically involved in Feinstein & Krippner’s (1988, 1989) Personal Mythology as a possible contribution to this direction in Gestalt therapy, and the work published in The Gestalt Journal, "The importance of the Background" (Ciornai 1996b), partly speaks about it.

In line with this, we have developed community-related programs to attend the low-income population and groups with specific problems, in some of which our students work under our supervision. We also had programs such as weekly meetings for personal development, opened to the large community.

On the other hand, due to the extreme instability of our economy, which reached a inflation rate of 40% per month some years ago, and events like the unexpected blockage of people’s saving accounts imposed at the beginning of our last president’s administration, we had to develop a very creative and flexible way of survival, exercising a lot of “creative adjustments!” Recession for example, makes private practice much more difficult, and professional therapists are turning more and more to work in institutions that offer mental health services to their communities. It is my assumption however, that Gestalt therapy, exactly for its’ flexibility and creativity, is a good approach for our reality. On the other hand, I have to admit that the extreme preoccupation with survival, at times may have hindered intellectual contemplations and existential darings.

Nevertheless, extending the scope of vision beyond our physical borders, I see that we live in a world where social polarities are ever more accentuated. There’s a frightening rise in fanatic movements all over the world, and our planet in its ecological and biodiverse dimension is ever more threatened. Therefore I believe that it is necessary for all of us to consider the system person-in-the-world in its amplitude and diversity, as we for example, speak about organismic self regulation or about intrinsic evaluation as opposed to comparative or neurotic one (Perls, Hefferline & Goodman 1951 p. 288, 289). If in this post modern era there are no certainties anymore in terms of parameters besides ethics (Krippner, 1996), maybe this is one of our challenges.

The Brazilian Style of Contact

Another point I want to raise, has to do with our style of contact. Brazilians have a very affectionate, informal, lose, humorous and kind type of relating with others, much due to our African and Portuguese origin; contrary to other Latin American countries, we were the only country colonized by the Portuguese. Therefore, the harsh style of some Gestalt therapists in the 60’s and 70’s was never successful here. In Brazil, the preocupation in being really there with the other, practicing inclusion, empathy, giving people support, in a gentle and kind way, even if provocative, has always been present. In the U.S. I experienced this as a style some therapists had and others didn’t, it was a question of style, not of professional quality. A famous therapist could shame or humiliate a client and still be considered a great therapist - I’ve seen this. In Brazil this would surely be considered bad therapy, in the 60’s the 70’s or today, although we slipped into other sins and errors, such as the therapist’s narcissistic, projective, proflective, or confluent traits - and even, the other polarity : the error of being too receptive at times. It is true that in the US, Europe, and in Brazil, the interest in understandings from Object Relations Theories , and the interest in Dialogical therapy, began to repair some of this by calling attention to the frailties and special needs of each client’s inner world. But in Brazil, in spite of this, we have always had the quality of contact in the therapeutic relation as something we teach and train in our Gestalt training programs -- which, by the way, is one reason why Hyckner’s books have been so successful in Brazil.

Other Cultural Differences

In comparing Brazilian Gestalt therapy to the work developed in other countries, cultural differences must also be taken in account. For example, since Brazilians are very family-oriented, often a behavior considered “dependent” and therefore “not healthy” in the US, in Brazil is considered not only normal but quite healthy; what is considered “assertiveness” in the US, is often considered pure rudeness in Brazil; behaviors considered “invasive” in the US, many times are considered just friendly behaviors in Brazil. And these cultural differences need to be considered. Since few people read our language, I guess that by having to read and speak in other people’s tongues for the need to have all kinds of interchange with other countries for economic, political and cultural reasons, and also due to the large miscigenation of different immigrations in our culture, we were obliged to became flexible and specially tunned to the relativity of cultural differences.

I think that in Brazil we have somehow united the French taste for intellectual sophistication and depth, dobless also present in some of the modern Gestalt therapy American theoreticians, coupled with the creativity, looseness and permission to use intuition which we learned from the American Gestalt therapists we had contact with. These are the ingredients of the Gestalt salad in Brazil, although the dressing is Latin -- and whenever I meet Gestalt therapists from Italy, Spain, and from other countries in Latin America, there’s a communality that comes forth.

Moving Towards the Future

I want to close by re-stating Marshal Macluhan’s words that today, with all the facilities in communication and information, we live in a Global village. Gestalt therapy in Brazil with all its characteristics, has followed the questionings and transformations that Gestalt Therapy had in the 80’s and 90’s in the US and abroad. In our last national conference, I presented a work titled: Considering Longings: Gestalt Therapy Yesterday, Today , and Tomorrow (Ciornai 1996a). In it, I stated that I perceive Gestalt students today as more supportive than before, and more carefully tuned to the need of considering each ones’ unique inner realities in their therapeutic relations, while, on the other hand, these students appear to be much less creative, loose, spontaneous and at ease in the use of experiments and expressive resources that so characterized Gestalt therapy in the 60’s and 70’s. I stated that I wished that these attitudes could be combined in a way that could integrate the most positive aspects of both.

I also spoke of my longings for what I metaphorically named the “Gestalt of Hope.” Gestalt therapy from the 60s to the early 80s, was impregnated with the libertarian energy of the counterculture movements of the time, with its emphasis on people’s possibility of experimenting and choosing ways of being, contrary to the socially established rules; and in its emphasis on the possibility people had of freeing themselves from inner ties and limiting patterns of relating to themselves and to others, thus expanding their existential possibilities in the world .

This liberating energy impregnated with hope and vitality most therapeutic experiences of the time -- even those with extremely painful focuses, or those that, looking back, I consider that were mere “acting -out” that didn’t lead to any insights, as for example screaming, tearing apart pillows, and things of the sort. I miss this energy.

On the other hand I pointed to what I metaphorically called “The Gestalt of Pain,” not as a dominant characteristic of contemporary Gestalt, but as something that I see at times as happening, a movement of digging in the past or present history looking for painful spots, in sessions sometimes somber, heavy, in which humor doesn’t have a place, without the hope and vitality I spoke of.

What I want to stress is that I speak about this with care. I ask for a careful listening, since I do see as extremely positive the possibility of pain having space in the therapeutic relationship, without hurrying to find “solutions” that many times alleviate more the therapist’s anxiety than the client’s pain itself -- which, paradoxically, is many times alleviated exactly by the presence and attentive listening of the other.

Today’s Gestalt is characterized by a valuable and delicate attention to the person’s occult inner child or inner adolescent hurt aspects, which allows the therapist to access what Chico Buarque, one of my preferred popular song composers called, the “space of delicacy.” Today, work with anger, hurt, resentment, fear, assertiveness, existential inner limitations, the setting of limits and so on, are being more related to the life background from which the figures of a person’s present life emerges; that is, to one’s developmental history, crystallized patterns of relationships, past experiences, beliefs and inner myths. These are connected to their present manifestations, often in long term processes. So, it is my belief that also in this regard Gestalt therapy needs to integrate the positive aspects of both tendencies.

Serok (1992), an Israelian Gestalt therapist I met in Mexico, stressed the fact that we should pay attention not only to the unfinished and crystallized Gestalts, but also to the presence or lack of presence of “unstarted gestalts”, i.e., to future dreams and projects. In this line, Rehfeld (1991), a Brazilian colleague, speaking on Heiddeger’s existential perspective, said that “cure is the pre-occupation with what’s still to come, and that in this sense, is the capacity to become impassioned with future perspectives”. Thus, “the therapist walks side by side with the other, without a pre-determinate point of arrival, towards the new.” Its under this perspective that I claim the recovery of the “Gestalt of Hope.” For me these are challenges we have today , as citizens of the “ Global Gestalt community”, regardless of country of origin.

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