Gestalt therapy during coronavirus: Sensing the experiential ground and “dancing” with reciprocity.

Abstract

Building on the social experiences that have formed the backdrop to the pandemic, some of the relational dimensions that have come to the forefront today are described. The need for a new set of values in humanistic psychology is addressed, from support for individual potential to building a sense of "being-with" the other, embracing a more relational perspective. The author proposes looking to the paradigm of reciprocity, applied through an aesthetic approach and inspired by gestalt hermeneutics (phenomenological and field oriented), and presents aesthetic relational knowledge (Spagnuolo Lobb, 2018a) as a means of working through the suffering of the client in a contextualized way, considering the resonance of the therapist as part of the experiential field of the client. This new humanistic value can be realized by focusing on the "dance" of reciprocity between the therapist and the client (a model under research that considers mutual perceptions and reactions to the perceptions of the other, supported by the vitality that each one places in being-with the other). In this way, therapeutic change can include both figure and ground experiences. A consequence of this new value is a turn in the ethical position of the psychotherapist: from a narcissistic effort to be a "good therapist" to an aesthetic attitude that doesn't deny limits and puts the presence of the other in the foreground. An important consequence for therapists is to take care of themselves so that they are able to deal with the trauma of the pandemic, which is also strengthened through constant dialogue with the professional community.

A measure for psychotherapist’s intuition: Construction, development, and pilot study of the Aesthetic Relational Knowledge Scale (ARKS).

“…In conclusion, this research allowed us to validate the ARK as a construct that expresses the therapist’s ability to identify with the patient’s body feeling and to resonate with field elements that allow a broader sensitivity not only on the patient’s experience but also, above all, on the field from which that experience emerged (Macaluso, 2020a, 2020b; Parlett, 1991, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2018; Spagnuolo Lobb, 2020a, 2020b). Moreover, this study allowed us to validate the ARKS as a scale useful to evaluate the ARK.…”

“…Previous studies have shown the importance of the therapist’s presence in aesthetic terms (Polster, 1987, 2021; Zinker, 1987). ARK is a contemporary evolution of the concept of intersubjective awareness (or countertransference) defined as the way in which a psychotherapist, via their senses, uses the tools of both embodied empathy and resonance to understand the client’s situation (Spagnuolo Lobb, 2013, 2017a, 2017b, 2018, 2020a, 2020b).…”

Dialogues on psychotherapy at the time of coronavirus: An introduction.

“…Ruella Frank (2020) then explores the moving-feeling foundation required for a developing presence online. In my report (Spagnuolo Lobb, 2020), I describe the ground experience of people who have gone through the global pandemic experience, and how the clinical lens of psychotherapists needs to address the relational ground where the sense of safety can be born. Therefore, the “dance” of reciprocity between therapist and client represents a crucial turn in therapeutic values to cure the disorientation and fear of isolation of “post-COVID” patients.…”