Psychopathology of the Situation in Gestalt Therapy: A Field-oriented Approach

317 Pages·2023·4.1 MB·English

by  Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, Pietro Andrea Cavaleri

“Psychopathology of the Situation in Gestalt Therapy presents a tour de force of
innovative thinking in the field of Gestalt therapy. Editor Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb
and Pietro Andrea Cavaleri have assembled a gifted group of clinicians, theoreticians
and researchers who tackle a daunting task: the reimagining of Gestalt therapy from
a thoroughly relational and field-oriented perspective, wherein human suffering is
treated in its situational, relational context. With intellectual rigor and innovation, deep
humanism and clinical relevance this book reflects the many years of international
teaching, training, writing and mentorship that Spagnuolo Lobb has given to the
Gestalt therapy field. I highly recommend this collection to all who wish to expand
their understanding of current thinking and methodology in psychotherapy.”
Peter Cole, LCSW, Co-Director, The Sierra Institute
for Contemporary Gestalt Therapy
“This excellent book pinpoints the central psychotherapeutic task today. In a
demanding world that changes with bewildering force and speed, the meeting of
therapist and client becomes a healing microcosm of situational possibility – an
energised sanctuary and rehearsal space for relational, embodied, and experimental
development. The writers describe their holistic encounters with suffering and
confused others, the aesthetic qualities of their ‘dances’ together, and how these
can support, en-courage, and re-energise the clients’ life situations. The book is a
powerful reminder to continue exploring way beyond the ‘intra-psychic’ realm.”
Malcolm Parlett, PhD, author of Future Sense: Five Explorations of
Whole Intelligence for a World That’s Waking Up
“As the author/editors of this valuable new collection point out, our Gestalt therapy
were visionary in laying out the primacy of field, embodiment, relationship and
ground in human nature and process; yet often reverted to reified, dichotomous
terms in applying their radical ideas to actual persons in clinical and life situations.
This exciting, much-needed new collection revises that primacy in our post
pandemic time, offering us a complex vision based in aesthetics and reciprocity,
encompassing self and other, relationship and embodiment, identity and diversity,
neuroscience and experience and more. Essential and exciting reading.”
Gordon Wheeler, President, Esalen Institute, author of Gestalt
Reconsidered, Beyond Individualism, Gestalt Therapy and other titles
“Psychopathology of the Situation in Gestalt Therapy makes a substantial
contribution to the field of therapeutic treatment in the uncertainty of a world
in crisis. Drawn from the combined years of these authors’ expertise, skillful
and practical applications offer indispensable ways for therapists to attend to the
suffering of their patients. This book, essential for both therapist and layperson,
will help diverse groups of individuals navigate themselves in this fast-changing
world.”
Ruella Frank, PhD, author of First Year and the Rest of Your Life:
Movement, Development and Psychotherapeutic Change, Moving
Self: The Bodily Roots of Experience in Psychotherapy
“The world situation for us clinicians and those whom we treat has taken
on urgency in the face the global pandemic. This book is a blend of practical
wisdom and thoughtful insights as Gestalt psychotherapists address this urgency
at the psychological, anthropological, sociological, phenomenological, and
neurobiological levels – all within a phenomenological, aesthetic and field
perspective, the hallmarks of a contemporary approach.”
Dan Bloom, JD, LCSW, Psychotherapist, Fellow,
Past-President, New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy
Psychopathology of the Situation
in Gestalt Therapy
Reaching beyond standard textbook logic, this collection explores the impacts
of difficult life situations on human development, experience, and functioning,
through a phenomenological field-oriented lens.
Each author offers a Gestalt-centered perspective on the circumstances of
those whose lives are lived in pain – a situational window, which includes the
therapist and avails itself of tools configured to modify the entire experiential field.
Through clinical case studies and theoretical reflections, the book examines the
experience of children, difficult childhood situations (such as separations, abuse,
neurodevelopmental disorders, adolescent social closure), the experience of
dependency, couples and family therapy, the condition of the elderly and the end of
life, interventions for degenerative diseases, and the trauma of loss and mourning,
all of which are considered according to two cardinal points: first, the description
of the relational ground experiences of those who are in pain, and second, a field
perspective which allows the presence of the therapist to be modulated.
Psychopathology of the Situation in Gestalt Therapy: A Field-oriented
Approach is essential reading for Gestalt therapists as well as other mental health
professionals with an interest in Gestalt approaches and the relationship between
individuals and society.
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, PsyD, is a Gestalt psychotherapist, director of Istituto
di Gestalt Human Communication Center Italy (www.gestaltitaly.com); Scientific
Director of International Training Programs in “Gestalt Therapy Psychopathology
and Development”; and “Gestalt Therapy Supervisors”. Editor of the Journal Gestalt
Therapy Journal, and of the Gestalt Therapy Book Series (Routledge). Author of
The Now for Next in Psychotherapy: Gestalt Therapy Recounted in Post Modern
Society. She has received the Lifelong Achievement Award from AAGT (2018).
Pietro Andrea Cavaleri, PhD, PsyD, is a Gestalt Psychotherapist and Trainer at
Istituto di Gestalt HCC, Italy. He has taught at the University of Palermo, at LUMSA
University and at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium”. He
has been psychologist in chief at the Public Health Service and counselor for social
policies of Caltanissetta. Author of Living with the Other: Contribution for a Culture
of Relationship; The Depth of Surface: Introduction to Gestalt Psychotherapy.
The Gestalt Therapy Book Series
Scientific Board
Vincent Béja, Dan Bloom, Bernd Bocian, Phil Brownell, Pietro Andrea
Cavaleri, Scott D. Churchill, Michael Clemmens, Peter Cole, Susan L.
Fischer, Madeleine Fogarty, Ruella Frank, Pablo Herrera Salinas, Lynne
Jacobs, Natasha Kedrova, Timothy Leung, Alan Meara, Joseph Melnick,
Myriam Muñoz Polit, Antonio Narzisi, Leanne O’Shea, Malcolm Parlett,
Peter Philippson, Erving Polster, Jean-Marie Robine, Jan Roubal,
Adriana Schnake, Peter Schulthess, Christine Stevens, Daan van Baalen,
Carmen Vázquez Bandín, Gordon Wheeler, Gary Yontef.
Editorial Board
Billy Desmond, Annette Hillers-Chen, Ann Kunish, Fabiola Maggio,
Max Mishchenko, Georg Pernter, Rafael Salgado, Silvia Tosi, Jay
Tropianskaia, Andy Williams, Jelena Zeleskov Djoric.
Coordinator
Stefania Benini
Editorial Assistant
Serena Iacono Isidoro
General Editor
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb
The Istituto di Gestalt series of Gestalt therapy books emerges from the ground of a
growing interest in theory, research and clinical practice in the Gestalt community.
The members of the Scientific and Editorial Boards have been committed for
many years to the process of supporting research and publications in our field:
through this series we want to offer our colleagues internationally the richness of
the current trends in Gestalt therapy theory and practice, underpinned by research.
The goal of this series is to develop the original principles in hermeneutic terms:
to articulate a relational perspective, namely a phenomenological, aesthetic,
field-oriented approach to psychotherapy. It is also intended to help professions
and to support a solid development and dialogue of Gestalt therapy with other
psychotherapeutic methods.
The series includes original books specifically created for it, as well as
translations of volumes originally published in other languages. We hope that
our editorial effort will support the growth of the Gestalt therapy community;
a dialogue with other modalities and disciplines; and new developments in
research, clinics and other fields where Gestalt therapy theory can be applied
(e.g., organisations, education, political and social critique and movements).
We would like to dedicate this Gestalt Therapy Book Series to all our mentors
and colleagues who have sown fruitful seeds in our minds and hearts.
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Gestalt-
Therapy/book-series/GESTHE and www.gestaltitaly.com

Psychopathology of the
Situation in Gestalt Therapy
A Field-oriented Approach
Edited by
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb and
Pietro Andrea Cavaleri
Designed cover image: Rafael Megall, The Shelves of Kaspar Utz,
(detail) 2020 Triptych
Oil, acrylic on canvas, 260 x 510 cm (260 x 170 cm each one). Courtesy
of the Artist and MoMA, Moskow. Copyright Rafael Megall, Yerevan
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Margherita Spagnuolo
Lobb and Pietro Andrea Cavaleri; individual chapters, the
contributors
Translated by Joyce Myerson
The right of Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb and Pietro Andrea Cavaleri to
be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors
for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Spagnuolo Lobb, Margherita, editor. | Cavaleri, Pietro
Andrea, editor.
Title: Psychopathology of the situation in Gestalt therapy: a
field-oriented approach/edited by Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb
and Pietro Andrea Cavaleri.
Other titles: Psicopatologia della situazione. English
Description: First English edition. | New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. |
Series: Gestalt Therapy Book Series | “First Italian edition
published by FrancoAngeli 2021” – title page verso. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022047728 (print) | LCCN 2022047729 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032322032 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032322025 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003313335 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Gestalt therapy.
Classification: LCC RC489.G4 P7913 2023 (print) | LCC RC489.G4
(ebook) | DDC 616.89/143 – dc23/eng/20221007
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047728
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047729
ISBN: 978-1-032-32203-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-32202-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-31333-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003313335
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To our friend Georges Wollants,
to whom credit is due for having recognised and described
the unique relationality of Gestalt Therapy