To infinity and beyond . . . the hot seat: musings on twenty-eight years of changes in the Gestalt approach to groups

Abstract

"Abstract: This article is a reflection on the changes in our practice of groups in Gestalt as evidenced by the two editions of Beyond the Hot Seat – the original 1980 edition (Feder and Ronall, 1980) and the new 2008 ‘revisited’ edition (Feder and Frew, 2008). The last thirty years have seen exciting developments in the Gestalt approach to groups, not only in our move away from Perls’ hot seat but in the spread of Gestalt in groups to social and organisational settings. What is the definition of a group in Gestalt? Can we have a developmental model of groups based on Gestalt theory? What are the key challenges of group facilitation? These are some of the questions tackled in this article along with a touch of speculation around Gestalt’s future challenges in terms of group work. Key words: groups, group work, field theory, systems thinking, organisational consulting."