Field Theory in Contemporary Gestalt Therapy, Part 1: Modulating the Therapist's Presence in Clinical Practice

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article is the first of two aimed at exploring the implications of field theory in contemporary Gestalt therapy. We present here the definition of field theory that we rely upon; in particular, we define the phenomenal field, the phenomenological field, and the psychopathological field. Then we explore the implications of these distinctions in psychopathology and clinical practice. We describe the guidelines to apply field theory in practice for therapists to modulate the way they are present in the session in order to support the process of change. We conclude with an illustrative clinical example. The theory that we present in this article is a way to address, from a Gestalt therapy perspective, the relational phenomena that psychoanalysis has called “transference and countertransference.” Our understanding, however, builds on a different epistemology, one that is radically relational and based on field theory, which considers the self and the other as incessant and unending emerging processes.