Gestalt therapists started out very cautious with regard to the internet. At first we were doubtful that contact and anything remotely similar to a Gestalt process could be carried out in a text-based environment. Likewise, when Gestalt therapy literature began to flourish and new professional journals emerged, along with an outpouring of Gestalt-related books, few imagined it would result in anything but the hard-copy variety of publishing. Well, things change. The virtual community known as Gstalt-L allowed people to participate in one another's lives as well as to debate the subtleties of Gestalt therapy theory. We learned through experience that we could, indeed, develop meaningful relationships with people all over the world, many of whom we had never met face to face. We also saw the creation of electronic, web-based publishing as an augment to the traditional, hard copy press. This journal is an example of that.
Now, it is time to extend the growing edges a little futher. Two new developments warrant a little discussion. On the one hand, it is time for Gestalt therapists to enter the new field of on-line services. On the other, it is time to produce and distribute widely the electronic alternative to traditional publishing. Each of these will be explained.
As this issue of Gestalt! goes into publication contracts are being finalized between the Gestalt Global Training Center and two traditionally established Gestalt journals for the purpose of providing electronic formats for their relative journal articles, and then selling them on-line. Both Gestalt Review and the Australian Gestalt Journal will offer whole-journal subscriptions, back issues of of individual journal numbers, and individual articles. All these will be rendered in Study Tool format, an eBook technology developed by Gizmotron Graphics and the Gestalt Global Training Center, which will enable the reader to highlight portions of the text, tag them with relevant Gestalt therapy contstructs, and then call back in various searches the fruits of their reading. For the first time students will have immediate access to journal articles, because the purchasing and downloading will be accomplished within minutes using a secure server capable of handling international currency exchange rates for credit card transactions. The Study Tool also offers an individual notepad for each page of an article. Gestalt Global Training Center has established an on-line disucssion group devoted to the Study Tool; as this medium becomes more utilized users can suggest creative ways to use the technology, suggest improvements, and ask questions. One possibility which already seems rather simple would be to organize international reading groups in which people agree to read and discuss an issue of one journal or another, or a grouping of articles from among several journals. Gestalt training institutes could merely suggest a reading list for students, since virtually everyone would be able to gain access to the articles in question.
It is hoped that in the near future other journals and book publishers will also begin to utilize this format. Talks with their respective publishers have been initiated for this purpose.
The second major development is the movement into on-line services by Gestalt-informed counselors. On-line counseling, psychotherapy, and assessment (even research), has begun to flourish. Psychologists writing under the auspices of the American Psychological Association have identified on-line psychological services as one of the top two or three growth areas for mental health professionals in the coming decade. Indeed, initial studies suggest that on-line services are no less credible in some of their outcomes as face-to-face, cognitive-based therapies. Since cognitive therapy is one of the most widely accepted approaches, and since on-line services are more convenient and efficient, it is not a great leap of fantasy to imagine that many mental health professionals will be migrating to the virtual therapy office. Indeed, on-line therapy organizations already exist, with stables of counselors ready to handle the needs of the on-line public.
With only a casual consideration it might not seem that Gestalt therapy, with its emphasis on here-and-now, experiential, face to face process would be a good fit for on-line service. However, the experiences of members of the on-line Gestalt community called Gstalt-L would suggest otherwise. The text-based environment is a different context, but it provides the means for relationship, support, an adapted phenomenological method, exploration of field dynamics, and contactful dialogue. Gestalt therapists familiar with the dynamics of a text-based environment would be capable of utilizing their understanding of process, informed by Gestalt therapy theory, to carry out a Gestalt-based, on-line counseling practice. There is no reason that a cognitive-based therapist could do that any better than a Gestalt-based therapist.
As of now, the Gestalt Global Training Center is employing its Study Tool technology to publish electronic texts and market Gestalt literature. Consulting with Gizmotron Graphics, it is currently developing a secure messaging service called "Winged e-Messenger," which will allow therapists and clients to communicate with one another using encrypted text. A dedicated program has been developed to allow therapists to also utilize forms and obtain credit card payments. All this is being checked against the requirements for electronic data transfer contained in the regulations of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), recently created by the federal government in the United States. The goal is to create resources to support the full movement of Gestalt therapists into the growing field of on-line services, thus further expanding the influence of Gestalt therapy and helping it keep pace with both the profession and the general culture.
Those interested in exploring either the Study Tool of the Winged e-Messenger can find information about them at the web sites for the Gestalt Global Training Center (http://www.g-gtc.com) and Gizmotron Graphics (http://www.gizmotron.org/winged).
Call for Papers for Gestalt!:
We are always looking for good writing, interesting developments to share with the Global Gestalt community, and ways of sharing the wealth of Gestalt therapy with a wider audience. If you have an idea for an article, a piece of news, or if you have a bug in your bonnet and need to unload with a letter to the editor, please contact Philip Brownell, Sr. Editor, to discuss it (phil@g-gej.org).
Authors will find useful information at the Masthead (http://www.g-gej.org/masthead).
