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In diesem Klassiker der Gestaltliteratur untersucht und revidiert Gordon Wheeler zentrale Konzepte der Gestalttherapie. Bei aller Wertschätzung für die Begründer der Gestalttherapie stellt Wheeler fest, dass das vorherrschende Gestalt-Modell zu figurzentriert sei, also mehr der Veränderung der Kontaktfiguren im Augenblick diene als der Neuorganisation der Strukturen des Grundes. Durch eine Akzentverlagerung vom Vordergrund des Kontaktgeschehens auf die Strukturen des Grundes wird ein Neuverständnis der Widerstandsformen im Kontaktprozess möglich. Anhand ausführlicher Falldarstellungen aus dem Bereich der Psychotherapie, der Organisationsberatung und der therapeutischen Ausbildung verdeutlicht Wheeler, wie mit Hilfe dieses Neuverständnisses Verzerrungen in der Entwicklung der Gestalttherapie überwunden und damit ganz neue Möglichkeiten für theoretische und praktische Probleme gefunden werden können.

Gestalt Therapy provides an introduction to the theory, historical evolution, research, and practice of this process-oriented approach to psychotherapy. Gestalt therapy arose as a reaction to psychodynamism and behaviorism, the dominant approaches of the mid-twentieth century. Its major tenets — a rejection of traditional notions of objectivity, a radical (for the time) focus on building rapport between therapist and client as a relationship of equals, careful attention to the bodily sensations that accompany strong emotions, and a guiding belief in the therapy room as a problem-solving laboratory in which experimental approaches towards interpersonal relations can be attempted in a safe setting — have been widely incorporated into a broad range of approaches today. Open-ended and inquisitive rather than a rigid, manualized set of techniques, Gestalt is a set of guiding principles that inspire an active, present-focused, relational stance on the part of the therapist. This essential primer, amply illustrated with case examples featuring diverse clients, is perfect for graduate students studying theories of therapy and counseling, as well as for seasoned practitioners interested in understanding how this approach has evolved and how it might be used in their own practice.

In this original and penetrating work, the origins of the Gestalt psychotherapy model are traced back to its roots in psychoanalysis and Gestalt cognitive and perceptual psychology. Drawing new implications for both Gestalt and psychotherapy in general from these origins - and with special emphasis on the neglected work of Lewis and Goldstein - Wheeler develops a revised model that is more fully'Gestalt'and at the same time more firmly grounded in the spectrum of tools and approaches available to the contemporary psychotherapist. Along the way, a number of new insights are offered, not just in Gestalt, but in the working of the psychoanalytic and cognitive/behavioral models. The result is an integrated approach giving a fresh perspective on the universal processes of contact and resistance, both in psychotherapy and in social systems in general. The practitioner is given these tools for'addressing problems at the intra- and interpersonal level and wider systematic levels at the same time, and in the same language.'Each chapter stands alone, and makes a fresh and significant contribution to its particular subject. Taken together, they constitute a remarkable excursion through the history of psychotherapy in this century, weaving powerfully through social psychology, behaviorism, and Gestalt itself, yielding a masterful new synthesis that will interest the practitioners of Gestalt and other schools alike.