Gestalt Therapy Research Articles

Aesthetic Relational Knowledge of the Field: A Revised Concept of Awareness in Gestalt Therapy and Contemporary Psychiatry

AbstractThis article supports the need for psychotherapy and psychiatry to overcome the fragmentation of scientific knowledge. The author focuses briefly on the evolving relationship between psychotherapy and society, providing a brief overview of today's clinical needs. She then proposes a new development in the clinical concept of awareness from the optics of the field: aesthetic relational knowledge as a clinical tool that emerges from the phenomenological, aesthetic, relational, and process-oriented approach that is the Gestalt method. Therapeutic competence, in other words, is empathic and resonates with the client in a cocreated field. A clinical example will demonstrate how the concept of aesthetic relational knowledge can be used in a Gestalt therapy setting.

Support and tools for preparing for birth

There are a thousand and one ways of preparing to be a parent. Specific support is offered to pregnant women or the couple in order to take the time to prepare for this personal transformation. Haptonomy, sophrology, shiatsu and massage, acupuncture or gestalt therapy are some of the methods helping parents to prepare to welcome their future child with peace of mind.

Современный педагогический дизайн профессиональной подготовки исполнителя-вокалиста

The study reveals several aspects of modern vocalists’ performing skills, in particular the instructional design of their professional training. The psychological training of singers for performance on stage, their spiritual and creative development are the relevant issues of music pedagogy. The author proposes to introduce the development techniques of stage abilities, an aptitude for improvisation both in performance and in stage behavior. The training model of pop singers studying at Samara State Institute of Culture for effective performance includes motivational, energy, reflexive aspects, movement towards inner freedom. The reflexive aspect of training reflects the unique psychological ability of vocalists to internalize the ambivalence of performance. The author proves that the instructional design of the vocalist’s professional training should include psychological classes based on Gestalt therapy, photosynthesis, body-oriented psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis. This fact will enable vocalists to prepare for spectacular scenic behavior in stressful public appearance.

RESEARCHING GESTALT THERAPY FOR ANXIETY IN PRACTICE-BASED SETTINGS: A SINGLE-CASE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Despite the proven efficacy of CBT treatments for anxiety disorders, between 33% and 50% of patients do not respond or drop out of these treatments. Gestalt therapy has claimed to be an effective alternative, but there is little empirical evidence on its efficacy with anxiety. The Single-Case Experimental Design with Time Series Analysis was used as a practice-oriented study of efficacy. Evidence on ten clients diagnosed with anxiety disorders is presented, supporting the claim that Gestalt therapy can be a useful treatment for this. Detailed analysis of one case illustrates the changes in symptom and well-being scores, indicating turning points during the therapy. The paper discusses the use of this methodology for creating a practice-oriented research network.

The (dis)connection child and nature depicted by gestalt-therapy and ecopsychology

espanolEn este articulo se presenta una reflexion basada en la terapia Gestalt y la Ecopsicologia sobre la conexion natural y espontanea entre los ninos y la naturaleza - una actitud YO-TU -y el proceso de introyeccion de los valores culturales que llevan a la desconexion y a la perdida de la reciprocidad y de la relacion de dialogo entre ellos, convirtiendola en una actitud YO-ESTO. Se utiliza como sustrato para esta reflexion un cuento para ninos - El arbol generoso - el cual, con el lenguaje de la imaginacion, transmite facilmente a los ninos los valores de la sociedad urbano-industrial-capitalista, que han creado raices en su forma de sentir, pensar y actuar; consumiendose, poco a poco, la salud fisica y mental del hombre y de la sociedad en la cual opera. En el articulo se destaca la importancia del awareness acerca de la relacion de interdependencia entre el hombre y la red de la vida para el desarrollo de una nueva etica, capaz de nutrir la reconexion entre los dos y volver a establecer una relacion de respeto, apoyo mutuo y cooperacion entre todos los seres vivos. EnglishThis article presents a reflection based on Gestalt therapy and Ecopsychology on the natural and spontaneous connection between child and nature - an I-THOU attitude - and the process of introjection of cultural values that lead to disconnection, loss of reciprocity and the dialogical relationship between both, transforming it into an I-IT attitude. A children's story is the starting point for this reflection: The giving tree. Using the language of imagination, it easily transmits to the child values of an urban-industrial-capitalist society, which have been rooted in their way of feeling, thinking and acting, depleting, little by little, the physical and mental health of man and society. The article highlights the importance of awareness about the interdependent relationship of man and the life web in the development of a new ethic, capable of nurturing the reconnection between both and reestablishing a relationship of respect, support and mutual cooperation amongst all living beings. portuguesEste artigo apresenta uma reflexao com base na Gestalt-terapia e na Ecopsicologia sobre a conexao natural e espontânea entre a crianca e a natureza - uma atitude EU-TU - e o processo de introjecao dos valores da cultura que conduzem a desconexao, a perda da reciprocidade e da relacao dialogica entre ambos, transformando-a em uma atitude EU-ISSO. Utiliza como substrato para esta reflexao uma historia infantil - A arvore generosa - que, com a linguagem da imaginacao, transmite facilmente a crianca os valores da sociedade urbana-industrial-capitalista, os quais tem se enraizado no seu modo de sentir, pensar e agir; definhando, pouco a pouco, a saude fisica e mental do homem e da sociedade em que se insere. Evidencia a importância da awareness acerca da relacao interdependente do homem com a teia da vida para o desenvolvimento de uma nova etica, capaz de nutrir a reconexao entre ambos e reestabelecer uma relacao de respeito, apoio e cooperacao mutua entre todos os seres viventes.

Orígenes de lo concepto de la agresión en terapia gestalt: Freud, Reich y otros

Orígenes de lo concepto de la agresión en terapia gestalt: Freud, Reich y otros

The origins of the aggression concept in gestalt-therapy: Freud, Reich and others

espanolEl concepto de Agresion esta en la base de la construccion de la Gestalt terapia, siendo central para el primer trabajo de Fritz Perls, Ego, Hambre y Agresion, de 1942. El tema fue desarrollado por Fritz y Laura Perls, a partir de un trabajo de esta de observacion de ninos. Se objetivo rescatar los origenes del concepto, que se remonta a las primeras experiencias con el psicoanalisis, buscando esclarecer los eslabones entre esta y la Gestalt terapia. El trabajo se baso en un analisis de fuentes primarias - obras de Fritz, de Freud y de Laura - y secundarias pertinentes. Se evidencio la necesidad de reanudar un vinculo claro entre la Gestalt terapia y su fuente psicoanalitica, asi como aclarar las influencias de otros nombres, como Reich, Goldstein, Horney y Nietzsche, en la construccion de ese concepto. EnglishThe concept of Aggression, is in the basis of the construction of Gestalt therapy, and being central to the first work of Fritz Perls, Ego, Hunger and Aggression, of 1942. The theme was developed by Fritz and Laura Perls, from a work of watching children of this. The objective of the paper was to recover the origins of the concept, which goes back to the first experiences with psychoanalysis, seeking to clarify the links between this and Gestalt therapy. The work was based on an analysis of primary sources - works by Fritz, Freud and Laura - and relevant secondary sources. It points to the need to re-establish a clear link between Gestalt therapy and its psychoanalytic source, and clarified, as well, the influences of other names, such as Reich, Goldstein, Horney and Nietzsche, in the construction of this concept. portuguesO conceito de Agressao esta na base da construcao da Gestalt terapia, sendo central para o primeiro trabalho de Fritz Perls, Ego, Fome e Agressao, de 1942. O tema foi desenvolvido por Fritz e Laura Perls, a partir de um trabalho desta de observacao de criancas. Objetivou-se resgatar as origens do conceito, que remonta as primeiras experiencias com a psicanalise, buscando esclarecer os elos entre esta e a Gestalt terapia. O trabalho se pautou por uma analise de fontes primarias - obras de Fritz, de Freud e de Laura - e secundarias pertinentes. Evidenciou-se a necessidade de se retomar um elo claro entre a Gestalt terapia e sua fonte psicanalitica, bem como clarificar as influencias de outros nomes, como Reich, Goldstein, Horney e Nietzsche, na construcao desse conceito.

The perspective of Gestalt therapy in social work practice

The paper analyzes social work integrating the principles of Gestalt therapy, such as dialogue and phenomenological approach, internalization, responsibility and creative adaptation. The main perspectives of Gestalt therapy, which are related to the cases of social work, contexts and possibilities of therapeutic work, are highlighted. The article also reveals obstacles (e.g. dominant, patronizing, controlling and expert model of client assistance, isolated and restricted by directives the reality of social work, institutionalized social work practices and bureaucratic dependence of social security) that impede the development of therapeutic social work in Lithuania. It can be argued that the perspective for Gestalt therapies is available to social workers who seek therapeutic social work practice methodologies, help relationships, and empower clients for change.

Estudio de caso en la terapia Gestalt: lecturas fenomenológicas de dibujo infantil

Estudio de caso en la terapia Gestalt: lecturas fenomenológicas de dibujo infantil

Case study in gestalt therapy: phenomenological readings of children's drawing

espanolEste estudio se ocupa de dibujo infantil como una caracteristica que revela el nino. Su objetivo es ilustrar el proceso psicoterapeutico de un nino de 6 anos de edad con la lectura fenomenologica de siete dibujos realizados por el durante su tratamiento. Ademas, se pretende reflexionar sobre las contribuciones del caso para la comprension e intervencion en la clinica de los ninos desde la perspectiva de la terapia Gestalt. Para este proposito, se realizo un estudio de caso descriptivo documental a posteriori del diario de campo de psicoterapeuta, que contiene dibujos de lo participe y sus respectivas notas. La metodologia fenomenologica favorecio el acceso a vivido a traves de las descripciones de los clientes que podrian ampliar el contacto con su experiencia. El autor de la produccion grafica esta disenada, por lo tanto, como unico titular del significado de su obra. Este estudio muestra que el diseno puede favorecer la expresion de algunos ninos con el fin de contribuir al proceso psicoterapeutico en la terapia Gestalt. EnglishThe present study approaches children's drawing as a revealing feature of the child. It aims to illustrate the psychotherapeutic process of a boy of 6 years from the phenomenological reading of seven drawings made by him during his visits. In addition, it intends to reflect on the contributions of this case to the understanding and intervention in the children's clinic from the Gestalt therapy perspective. To do so, he carried out a documentary case study ex post facto descriptive from the field diary of the psychotherapist, which contained the drawings of the participant and their respective notes. The phenomenological methodology favored the access to the lived one through descriptions of the client that could extend the contact with its experience. The author of graphic production is therefore conceived as the sole holder of the meaning of his work. This study shows that the design may favor the expression of some children in order to contribute to the psychotherapeutic process in Gestalt therapy. portuguesO presente estudo aborda o desenho infantil como um recurso revelador da crianca. Tem por objetivo ilustrar o processo psicoterapeutico de um menino de 6 anos por meio da leitura fenomenologica de sete desenhos realizados por ele ao longo de seus atendimentos. Ademais, pretende refletir sobre as contribuicoes desse caso para a compreensao e intervencao na clinica infantil na perspectiva da Gestalt-terapia. Para tanto, realizou um estudo de caso documental ex post facto descritivo com base no diario de campo da psicoterapeuta, que continha os desenhos do participante e suas respectivas anotacoes. A metodologia fenomenologica favoreceu o acesso ao vivido por meio de descricoes do cliente que puderam ampliar o contato com sua experiencia. O autor da producao grafica e concebido, portanto, como detentor unico do sentido de sua obra. Esse estudo evidencia que o desenho pode favorecer a expressao de algumas criancas de modo a contribuir com o processo psicoterapeutico na Gestalt-terapia.

Defense Mechanisms in Case of Repeat Offenders

Recurrent crime in Russia over the years remains stable and is at least 50 %. With rare exceptions, rehabilitation programs do not have a significant impact on recidivism. After being released the professional criminals return to the previous criminal activity and everything goes in a vicious circle. It is assumed that the system of excessive or deficient functioning of defense psychological mechanisms, to a certain extent, interferes with corrective action and affects the psychological development of this type of offenders. Based on the concept of psychological defense mechanisms developed by Anna Freud, we understand the psychological defense mechanisms aimed at achieving the consistency of the inner world and the realistic adaptation of the subject to the surrounding world in order to avoid affect in a particular situation. The study involved males repeatedly convicted under various articles of the Criminal Code, i.e. convicted offenders who are in various correctional institutions of the penitentiary system of Russia. Sample size - 381 males (aged 25 to 55 years). The diagnostic questionnaire used was the Life Style Index (LSI) test, created by R. Plutchik and intended to measure the basic mechanisms of psychological defenses associated with the eight basic emotions in accordance with in the psycho-evolutionary theory of emotions. According to the theory, the defense mechanisms are understood as derivatives of the basic emotions, for the containment of which the defense mechanisms develop in the process of ontogenesis. The study identified the most primitive and the least recognized projective defense mechanism. A strategy of correction of this fixed defense based on the ideas of gestalt therapy is discussed in the article.

Articulação entre o Psicodrama e a Gestalt-terapia como uma possibilidade de intercâmbios a partir do olhar de psicoterapeutas

The epistemological multiplicity of psychotherapies raises the issue of how to articulate the diversity of knowledge implied. Despite the growing concern of mapping the possibilities of communication between different approaches, doubts remain about the scope of integration and secure criteria for conducting interdisciplinary dialogue. This article aimed to examine possible benefits and pathways to the integration between Psychodrama and Gestalt therapy from the perspective of 22 professionals of conboth approaches. These approaches were chosen based on the perception of possible epistemological affinities between them. The contents of the interviews indicated great confidence in the exercise of interdisciplinary practice in psychotherapy, and provided clear pathways for integrations that are different from those described in the literature. From a Grounded Theory analysis emerged the idea that studying other models increases the feeling of safety and competence in the face of the complex realities therapists need to deal with. The awareness that the historical development of both schools of psychotherapy involved migration of concepts fosters the hope to overcome present day difficulties through an interdisciplinary dialogue. Criteria for the articulation of integrative dialogue include the proximity between epistemological theories, the therapist’s in-session needs and the pragmatics of clinical situations. The study suggests the need for a change in the field of psychotherapy to promote better communication between these approaches. Keywords: Gestalt therapy, Psychodrama, interdisciplinarity.

Influence of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy

Abstract The literature on the influence of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy is controversial because its founders did not clarify its philosophical and epistemological foundations. However, we understand that various influences exerted on Perls and his collaborators during the development of the Gestalt therapy led to a phenomenological-existential approach. The possible influences of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy are discussed based on literature review focusing on the influence of Gestalt psychology, through Goldstein, Laura Perls, and Goodman, and the approaches to the phenomenological ideas of Brentano, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Similarly, with regard to existentialism, we address the combination of Gestalt concepts with the philosophies of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Buber, and Sartre. It was concluded that the influence of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy resulted in the conception of man as a being-in-the-world and an emphasis on past experiences.

"‘Suspended from shaky scaffolding, we secure ourselves with our fixations.’ A phenomenological and Gestalt exploration of obsessive-compulsive disorder "

"Abstract: This article presents an approach to obsessive–compulsive disorder based on Gestalt therapy theory, Gestalt psychology, and psychiatric phenomenology. After establishing a diagnostic framework, the experiences of clients are explored, starting from the experience of space and time, of the relationship between details and the whole, of boundaries, and of materiality. In the light of the Gestalt theory of perception, the obsessive– compulsive symptom is framed as a creative adjustment able to protect the client from much worse suffering, in a situation in which the bodily sensorial ground is permeated with terror. After describing how the obsessive–compulsive field is aesthetically actualised in therapy, a number of issues and passages are highlighted that can help therapists in their journey with the sufferers. Keywords: obsessive–compulsive disorder, Gestalt therapy, phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, perception, psychopathology, psychopathological field, language, aesthetics."

Aesthetic Diagnosis in Gestalt Therapy.

The diagnostic process in psychotherapy using the aesthetic evaluation is described in this article. Unlike the classical diagnostic process, which presents a result of comparing clinicians´ observations with a diagnostic system (DSM, ICD, etc.), the aesthetic evaluation is a pre-reflexive, embodied, and preverbal process. A Gestalt Therapy theoretical frame is used to introduce a concept of the aesthetic diagnostic process. During this process, the clinicians use their own here-and-now presence, which takes part in the co-creation of the shared relational field during the therapeutic session. A specific procedure of the aesthetic evaluation is introduced. The clinical work with depressed clients is presented to illustrate this perspective.

La psicoterapia pianificata (White Institute New York, 1947)

This is the text of a paper delivered by Fritz Perls at the White Institute in New York. That institute was founded by H.S. Sullivan as an interpersonal psychoanalytic institute, an alterna-tive to mainstream Freudian institutes. It was still relatively conservative at that time. Today it is one of the centers of relational psychoanalysis. Before founding Gestalt therapy with his wife and Paul Goodman, Perls hoped to find at the White Institute a group of psychoanalysts with whom he could be welcomed and feel at home. For example, he already knew Erich Fromm and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, members of the White Institute. Perls’s approach shared with interpersonal psychoanalysis its focus on relation, on the present moment, and on the integration of the personal and social field perspectives. The principal differences were in Perls’s radical idea of creative adjustment and his concrete and very creative way of integrating spontaneity, awareneness, sensation, and reason. In the clinical cases he presents, you can also see Perls at work, following a dialogic and relational method that he used in his later years.

Reflexões acerca da formação em Gestalt-terapia no Brasil

O primeiro instituto de Gestalt-terapia foi fundado em 1952 nos Estados Unidos. Com o passar dos anos, a Gestalt-terapia se difundiu em diversos países no mundo incluindo o Brasil. A sua larga difusão trouxe também formas variadas para a formação de Gestalt-terapeutas. Este trabalho é uma revisão narrativa de literatura acerca das formações em Gestalt-terapia. Buscamos compreender esta diversidade na literatura gestalt-terapêutica especificamente no solo brasileiro. Inicialmente a Gestalt-terapia ganhou bastante visibilidade nos EUA a partir dos workshops ofertados por Fritz Perls. Contudo, sua consistência teórica e sua difusão sistemática foram realizadas a partir da criação de institutos e de associações. Concluímos que a formação em Gestalt-terapia no Brasil parece acontecer por, pelo menos, duas vias: 1) cursos livres/especializações; 2) a partir de estudo e supervisão clínica com Gestalt-terapeuta mais experiente; Contudo, é comum encontrar “Gestalt-terapeutas autointituladas/os” que tiveram contato com a Gestalt-terapia apenas em cursos de graduação.

The politics of reflexivity: Subjectivities, activism, environmental conflict and Gestalt Therapy in southern Chiapas

Through the analysis of Gestalt Therapy workshops organised by a local NGO in southern Chiapas, Mexico, I explore the ways in which psychotherapeutic practice sheds light on indigenous and peasant subjectivation processes. Based on the analysis of testimonies from 23 workshop participants and personal observation, I discuss the role of psychotherapeutic practice in facilitating individual and collective reflexivity, and in fostering political fellowship and participation in community matters. Empirical evidence points to how healing interventions like the one here analysed – especially when implemented in contexts of conflict, material and symbolic dispossession – need to explicitly include work on structural issues of power in order to move beyond decontextualised, and thus depoliticised, reflexivity. This case study aids political ecologists interested in the subjective, emotional and embodied aspects of grassroots activism to comprehend how psychotherapy contributes to the construction of a private-public continuum of emotional expression, and its implication for understanding relationships between subjectivities, emotions and generative political processes.

The child and the parents in psychotherapy: expanding the Gestalt therapy view

"Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to approach the relevance of caring for parents during the psychotherapeutic process of the child, since the family system as a whole is stronger than its parts. The family field contributes to the formation of the child’s subjectivity and identity and also to symptoms and pathologies. Disturbances reside in the organism/ environment field. For Gestalt therapy, an emotional problem is not exclusive to the individual, but arises from a field that may contain dysfunctional relationships. Children’s psychological and behavioural disruptions may emanate from unsolved childhood tragedies and dramas in their parents. When ruptures and conflict arise, seeds of psychopathologies are sown. The therapist works to gain access to each one’s pain, to promote the contact of parents with their hurt inner child, to re-establish awareness of each person’s place, role and significance within their family, and to integrate polarities and alienated parts. Key words: Gestalt therapy, family, child, inner child."

Attempting reconciliation with cross-examination in couple therapy

Many traps and conflicts can be encountered by the therapist trying to facilitate communication and to promote agreement between couples or between an angry teenager and his/her parent. The cross-examination technique is a useful tool in such situations. It involves humour but it is also confrontational, it shifts the burden of initiating and continuation of the dialog onto the parties involved, it teaches responsibility, respect and sensitivity to the other's points of view and, after exposing the “sore points”, it leaves the couple in a position to discuss possible solutions. Elements of other psychotherapeutic approaches (mirror technique, paradoxical intentions, empty chair technique, Ericksonian approach) are included as well. Elements of logic aimed at recognizing the fallacies and assumptions between the couple are also used.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.