When Fritz Perls said “loose your mind and come to your senses,” he intended to right a structural imbalance in the world of psychotherapy, not to create a world in which persons would avoid being whole in a new way. On September 4 through 7 a small group of persons engaged in or interested in the research potential of Gestalt therapy attended a conference designed to help maintain that delicate balance that is Gestalt theory and therapy. The invitational conference was convened under the sponsorship of the Gestalt International Study Center in Wellfleet, Massachusetts (a breath-taking setting) and chaired by Joe Melnick, editor of the Gestalt Review and Todd Burley, from Loma Linda University and GATLA. |
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[ Last updated, Gestalt! Volume 8 ; Number 1
Gstalt-L, An email discussion group devoted to Gestalt therapy and the community of its practitioners (www.g-gej.org/gstalt-l). Gstalt-J, An email discussion group devoted to research on Gestalt therapy, theory and practice (www.g-gej.org/gstalt-j). Supported by the Gestalt Research Consortium (GRC) (www.g-gej.org/grc). Gestalt Bookmarks, a place to begin researching the field of contemporary Gestalt therapy on the world wide web (www.g-gej.org/gestaltbookmarks).
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The topics were divers, ranging from in depth studies of individual treatment cases (presented by Daryll Kim) to the factor analysis and meta-analysis of a large group of studies containing construct data and supervised over a number of years by Ansel Woldt during his tenure as Professor at Kent State University. Other topics included research related to schizophrenia and Gestalt methods of treatment, short term and crisis oriented Gestalt therapy and outcome evaluation (Todd Burley), and research methodology appropriate to Gestalt questions. Still another topic involved the analysis of data gathered in assessing administrators for large national and multinational corporations (Joe Melnick). One of the highlights of the conference was a discussion of data gathered by Willi Botullo (of Leopold Maximilian University in Munich) on the identification and treatment of women with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia. Here was a project directly affecting the quality of life in one of the worlds’ most troubled spots.
A lot of discussion was devoted to new qualitative methods of research and its use in Gestalt research (Iris Fodor). It was exciting to see that there are alternatives to what some have considered dry and marginally useful statistical studies. There are now a number of dissertations in Gestalt therapy using qualitative methods and the number seems to be growing. To be sure the conference was not turning its back on more traditional research but rather expanding the range of methodology within Gestalt research. The conference generated a great deal of excitement (to quote one participant, “We had a great meeting and left with a lot of energy.”) and discussion about holding such conferences in the future. The purpose of these conferences is to provide a forum where Gestalt inspired research can be planned, findings discussed, multi-site studies launched, nascent ideas can be nurtured and supported, and new researchers can be mentored and given support. Your project can be in any stage of development ranging from a vague and not fully formulated idea to a finished piece of your research work. The Second Annual Gestalt Research Conference is already being planned to begin Thursday 14, 2004 starting at 3:00 and ending on October 17, 2004 at 12:00. So mark you calendars now! Individuals interested in being involved in these activities in future conferences are encouraged to contact Todd Burley at the following address: Todd Burley, Ph.D. This article first appeared in the AAGT Newsletter, Fall 2003;
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