Tracks a particular understanding of self, philosophically, from research evidence and in its implications for psychotherapy. This book includes at each stage the theory that the author is working from, the clinical implications of the theory, followed by some links to the philosophical outlook inherent in the theory, and finally a case example.
"I am presenting here by own map of Gestalt therapy, from its first principles in philosophy to its expression in specific methods of psychotherapy."". . . While this is a book about Gestalt therapy, it is also a book about the emergence of life, and human life in particular, from the complexity of the universe. It is a tribute to the early Gestaltists, Fritz and Laura Perls, Paul Goodman, and Paul Weiss that these two themes can coexist and support each other so easily. My hope is that both therapists and philosophers will find much that will interest them, and feel free to ignore that which does not. In places in this book there are suggestions for experiments in awareness, which will hopefully illustrate the theory. There are also episodes from work with a the client is fictional, but the interactions are ones I encounter frequently in my therapy work. The client could thus be seen to be a composite of a large number of people. I also include a more speculative chapter on the early self-development of this client, which I hope will further give body to the theory. I also include as appendices (with permission) some writing from two clients giving some flavor of how such a therapy appears from their perspectives." - Peter Philippson