You’re right, we don’t know how to call such format in English ? In Paris School of Gestalt (EPG), our staff run 12 such ongoing monthly groups in different towns, since many years and they received some thousands participants since we began.

Of course, the residential setting allows more involvment and the various shared life moments between the official sessions are also a part of the “ work ”. The therapists have frequent unformal individual and group contacts with clients during these “ free time ”.

Unfortunatly, we are not equipped for a scientific research with a control group and external neutral researchers from a university. The appreciation is clearly intersubjective : feelings of the client him or herself, of the two therapists and of the group. Quite often, we have also a feed back of friends, collegues or partners, especially when they ask to participate in another such therapeutic group because they have been struck and impressed by the improvement of their friends or partner — which is not exceptionnal.

In France, it’s difficult to practice physical contact within an individual session, because of ethical concerns, but it’s allowed within a group setting — where clients can experiment tenderness and aggression within their bodies and then express verbally their deep or repressed feelings around their needs. Different neuroscientific research have shown the impact of such emotional experiences on neurotransmitters and brain functionning (Laborit 1979, Changeux 1983, Vincent 1986, Jouvet 1992, but also Rossi 1987, Damasio 1993, 1999, etc.).

We have been touched by your attentive reading of our hypothesis.

This unique video uses visual images to illustrate the complexity of Gestalt's holistic, process theory in an understandable way. The theory is presented as a set of lenses through which the therapist explores the world of the client.

Part I

• An INTRODUCTION to Gestalt theory includes a brief history of the
  development of Gestalt therapy and descriptions of three major elements:
  field theory, phenomenology, and dialogue. Suitable for teaching, training,
  and demonstrations.
  

Part II

• This OVERVIEW of Gestalt theory includes field theory,
  phenomen-ology, organismic self-regulation, contact processes and
  interruptions, existentialism, theory of change, and dialogue. Suitable as a
  review or can be used in segments to introduce topics for discussion in
  ongoing classes or training sessions. It is particularly valuable for
  grasping the theory as a whole.