Handbook For Theory, Research, And Practice In Gestalt Therapy (World Of Contemporary Gestalt Therapy)

Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy (World of Contemporary Gestalt Therapy)

Many books have been written about gestalt therapy. Not many have been written on the relationship between gestalt therapy and psychotherapy research. The Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy is a needed bridge between these two concerns, and a timely addition to scholarly literature on gestalt therapy itself. In 2007 an international team of experienced gestalt therapists devoted themselves to create this book, and they have collaborated with one another to produce a challenging and enriching addition to the literature relevant to gestalt therapy. The book discusses the philosophy of science, the need for research specifically focused on gestalt therapy, and the critical realism and natural attitude found in both research and gestalt praxis. It provides discussions of qualitative and quantitative research, describes the methods of gestalt therapy as based in a unified theory, and illustrates the application of research in the contexts of emerging gestalt research communities. The discussion contained in this book is needed at a time when warrant for the practice of psychotherapy is increasingly sought in the empirical support available through psychotherapy research-the so called evidence-based movement-and at a time when public policy is increasingly driven by the call for what works.About the AuthorPhilip Brownell, M.Div., Psy.D. is the Director of the Gestalt Training Institute of Bermuda. He is a registered psychologist, organizational consultant, and coach in practice in Bermuda and a licensed clinical psychologist in Oregon and North Carolina, USA. He is the author of Gestalt Therapy: A Guidebook for Mental Health Professionals, consulting editor for The European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy and has contributed to numerous books and journals in Australia, the UK, and the USA. He is the founder and facilitator of Gstalt-L, an eCommunity started in 1996 for gestalt therapists, trainers, trainees, theorists, and writers, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy, an international community.