Description
Book SynopsisLynne Jacobs and Richard Hycner assemble an international group of Gestalt theorists and clinicians for an engaging and insightful investigation into the integration of relational approaches within Gestalt therapy.
The book is divided thematically into three sections. The first section speculates on the history and development of relationality in terms of Gestalt therapy. Chapters that discuss the patient-therapist relationship comprise the second section, and include explorations into uncertainty in interpretation and understanding, attunement and optimal responsiveness, working with shame, and negotiating individuality and betweenness. The last section opens up to groups and organizations, applying relational approaches to Gestalt therapeutic encounters with more than one patient.
Trade Review"An amazing book - in chapter after chapter the authors show how natural the development of radically relational work can be, when grounded in a field/relational Gestalt approach. If you're like me you'll find yourself coming back to these authorss and their ideas again and again for fresh stimulation and reflection." - Gordon Wheeler, President and CEO, Esalen Institute, USA
"This important new book, grounded in history, development, clinical practice, and current theoretical perspectives, is itself a 'community of essays,' each one in relationship to the other, providing us an integrated one-volume resource for the praxis of relationally-oriented Gestalt therapy - an essential reading for Gestalt therapists." - Dan Bloom, Editor-in-chief, Studies in Gestalt Therapy
"An amazing book - in chapter after chapter the authors show how natural the development of radically relational work can be, when grounded in a field/relational Gestalt approach. If you're like me you'll find yourself coming back to these authorss and their ideas again and again for fresh stimulation and reflection." - Gordon Wheeler, President and CEO, Esalen Institute, USA
"This important new book, grounded in history, development, clinical practice, and current theoretical perspectives, is itself a 'community of essays,' each one in relationship to the other, providing us an integrated one-volume resource for the praxis of relationally-oriented Gestalt therapy - an essential reading for Gestalt therapists." - Dan Bloom, Editor-in-chief, Studies in Gestalt Therapy
"I thoroughly recommend this book not only to trainees and practising Gestalt therapists but also to those outside the Gestalt world. This book and the ideas expressed within it contribute to an important dialogue with the broader therapeutic community about contemporary (relational) Gestalt therapy." - Richie Robertson, Gestalt Journal of Australia and New Zealand, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2010
Table of ContentsSection I: Overview and Explorations.Introduction. Hycner, Preamble to the Relational Approach. Stawman, Relational Gestalt: Four Waves. Yontef, The Relational Attitude in Gestalt Theory and Practice. Section II: The Crucible of the Consulting Room. Introduction. Staemmler, The Willingness to be Uncertain: Preliminary Thoughts about Understanding and Interpretation in Gestalt Therapy. Lobb, The Therapeutic Relationship in Gestalt Therapy. Jacobs, Attunement and Optimal Responsiveness. McConville, Shame, Interiority, and the Heart-Space of Skateboarding: A Clinical Tale of ADHD. Swanson, The Scarf that Binds: A Clinical Case Navigating Between the Individualist Paradigm and the "Between" of a Relational Gestalt Approach. Section III: A Wider Embrace: Groups and Organizations.Introduction. Fairfield, Dialogue in Complex Systems: The Hermeneutical Attitude. O'Shea, Exploring the Field of the Therapist. Denham-Vaughn & Chidiac, Dialogue Goes to Work: Relational Organizational Gestalt. Matson, Surviving Group.
