Introduction
I became aware of research when working for my doctorate at Metanoia Institute where I focused on mothers in stepfamilies. As a researching Gestalt practitioner, I was excited to discover qualitative research methods that were based on the same understandings and philosophy as Gestalt therapy. Through research and the heuristic methodology I employed (Moustakas, 1981), I was able to make sense of what was happening in my own work and become more knowledgeable, confident and aware of personal identifications that restricted and/or liberated me (Asherson Bartram, 2012, 2013).
Hamburg was the fifth Gestalt research conference, with previous conferences held in Cape Cod, Rome, Paris and Chile, and the third I had attended personally. I go to these conferences for several reasons: to keep my understanding of research fresh, to be aware of how Gestalt research is developing (that is both in the research conducted by Gestaltists and research on Gestalt practice), to actively be part of a worldwide network of Gestalt practitioners and to take the opportunity of seeing the world beyond where I live in London, UK.
When going to a conference I try to explore the city and country in which it is hosted. Thus, in Chile, myself and four other attendees took the time to visit the Atacama Desert, a landscape of salt lakes and volcanoes, alpacas and flamingos. In Paris, I visited my former sister-in-law, and walked every day to the conference venue. In Hamburg, I shared a large flat with five friends and again walked the city.
The sense of being part of the wider community supports me in my relatively quiet working life. Conferences enable connection with other Gestalt practitioners. Much of this happens in those in-between spaces where chance conversations take place; when delegates spill out of conference halls and the regime of timetables and agendas to reception areas, streets and cafés. Through these unplanned meetings, I have gained valuable long-lasting friendships. People who I meet year after year in a variety of places, and others who I work and create with.
An example is the formation of my writing group, which happened at the Paris conference where, when overloaded with information from presentations and speeches, I took a break. In a small café I met with others attending the conference and, over croissants and coffee, enjoyed talking about how, in the Gestalt community and beyond, research can seem daunting and dull; how it can be presented in ways that are difficult to take in and which appear antithetical to a Gestalt spirit of creativity, liveliness and experiential immediacy. We considered how we might promote a fresh spirit and flavour at these conferences and present Gestalt-informed qualitative research to be included alongside quantitative explorations. We espoused research methodologies arising from the same school of thought as Gestalt, valuing detailed observation, mutual relating and recognising the influence of the researcher on all aspects of research, data, participants and collaborators. Creative research explorations which focus less on measurement and more on description; where the researcher might change their perspective or understanding as part of an illuminative (Moustakas, 1981) and often personal process.
Several of us were writing and we decided to support each other. Since coming together in Paris, we have been meeting regularly online and helping each other develop our writing and research projects, resulting in us collaboratively presenting at conferences. Our continued relationship is an unexpected outcome arising from our meeting.
A delayed event that eventually happened
At Santiago, Chile in 2019 it was announced that the next research conference would be held in Hamburg. The conference was due to take place in 2021, however, the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of Europe and travel restrictions, lockdowns and fear of infection caused it to be delayed. It was uncertain whether the conference would take place at all, and if it did, in what form: face-to-face, online, or with some form of compromise? A date was eventually decided for September 2022 but, in the meantime, many delegates and presenters had withdrawn and cancellations due to illness continued up to the start of the conference. The organisers, therefore, worked with a situation that changed and changed again. When people actually began arriving they expressed a mixture of excitement, relief and disbelief that it was now happening. About 100 people attended and presentations were either in person, online or a combination of both – less than imagined but enough for a lively gathering.
Conference setting
Hamburg is a city with many beautiful and grand buildings, large lakes, graffiti-covered walls, multi-national eateries and flea markets. The scruffy, trendy area of bars and restaurants where my colleagues and I were staying contrasted with the actual conference site: a wide street a mile away with a river and park on one side and impressive buildings on the other.
The Hamburg Chamber of Crafts (Handwerkskammer)[1] is a building in the Art Nouveau style. It has an enormous marble-floored central court open to five floors, with cast iron railings and an ornate drinking fountain in the centre. Statues and carvings feature on all floors; large leaded windows, picturing symbols for various crafts provide the light. The rooms in which the pre-conference meeting and workshops took place all have similar windows and wooden floors. The stylish small detail to be found everywhere is wonderful. It is a place worthy of a visit in its own right as an example of its architectural genre.
Pre-conference
Before the conference began there was a day’s meeting for those who were interested in building a research base within the European Gestalt community and in Gestalt training. Members of the EAGT (European Association for Gestalt Therapy) research committee were there, the president of IAAGT (International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy), along with the leaders of German Gestalt training organisations and a few trainees and independent practitioners such as myself. The meeting, at which three presentations were offered, was chaired by Vincent Beja with the aim of considering structures for the support and development of Gestalt research.
Vincent Beja presented two online resources for Gestalt researchers, both funded by EAGT. The first was The Gestalt Research Network[2], a social media network which has been developed as a hub for Gestalt Research. Here researchers can connect with others, seek collaborators and participants for their projects, and provide information on resources. Groups can be open or closed and the EAGT Research Committee is an example of a closed group, using the network as a base. At present on the site, there are four research projects inviting participants and several discussion groups. The network has the potential to be a valuable resource and central connection point for developing research and hosting communication between researchers.
The Gestalt Research Database[3] has been developed over several years by David Pico, a Gestalt therapist from Madrid. Linked with the GTRN, this is a developing resource, currently holding 250 listings and information from past Gestalt research conferences, the programme of presenters and videos of keynote speeches. This is a work in progress with the potential to be expanded with the addition of many more publications. It has already proven to be a valuable resource for researchers and writers.
The second presentation was a video made by Philip Brownell from his home in Wyoming. He has been hampered by an illness that has prevented him from travelling to the last two conferences, which is why he appeared in video form. Philip has thought through the stages of development for a Gestalt Research Organisation in detail, and this was what he presented. I felt heartened to hear him enthusiastically expressing enjoyment of his environment.
Finally, Peter Schulthess identified the resources necessary for research to take place: money, time, supervision and collaboration. He suggested creating networks beyond the Gestalt community, collaborations with universities, applying for grants and seeking professors who would be interested in supporting Gestalt Research projects. Also, the possibility of the EAGT forming an Ethics Committee that could approve independent research projects.
The remainder of the meeting was taken up with discussing these options and other thoughts around research in small groups and as a whole. I enjoyed being part of this and welcomed the opportunity to contribute my ideas in the smaller and larger groups.
Main conference
The plenaries were held in a room large enough to hold all the delegates, with space for at least twice as many as those who attended. Large windows made the room light and chairs were set out in rows, with a small stage at the front. The first thing to attract my attention was a colourful map of the world laid out on the floor. Little folded paper boats dotted the map, each representing a delegate, with a flag for the country they came from. There were people present from many different countries, with relatively few attending from the UK. I became obsessed with making my own paper boat and was enjoyably distracted for a while.
Workshops
As well as providing a focus for research taking place that validates and explores Gestalt practice, the conference served as a showcase for a variety of research projects that are currently taking place in the Gestalt world through a program of workshops.
These were listed daily on boards in the conference reception so that delegates could sign up for them. Crowds gathered round these boards in a lively, competitive atmosphere. Although there was some confusion due to many last minute changes and cancellations, there was an interesting variety of presentations. The venue provided plenty of good spaces for the workshops to take place in some of which were face-to-face, some online and some hybrid.
Keynote presentations
The conference keynote presentations – five in all – provided a lively and enthusiastic perspective on research into Humanistic Psychotherapy and Gestalt in particular; what has already taken place, and potential for future projects.
Wampold and Elliott
Bruce Wampold, author of The Great Psychotherapy Debate: The Evidence for What Makes Psychotherapy Work (Wampold & Imel, 2015) and Robert Elliot, author of Emotion-Focused Counselling in Action (Elliott & Greenberg, 2021), are both professors of counselling psychology. They featured throughout the conference as keynote speakers and part of panel discussions. These bright-eyed, senior, erudite men attracted me from the start. They frequently sat together engaged in enthusiastic conversation.
For his keynote speech, Wampold summarised his work, referring to ‘social healing in many contexts, the power of placebos, medicine and cultural healing practices’ (Wampold, 2022). His conclusion from many years of research is that psychotherapy effectiveness is largely due to qualities of the practitioner to be ‘competent, caring, attentive, genuinely empathic’ irrespective of modality.
Elliott, whose passion and excitement around research into psychotherapy seemed irrepressible, stated in the conference programme that, ‘research and practice can help each other … throughout my career I’ve loved both doing therapy and doing research on therapy’ (Elliott, 2022). He described research into his own practice to ‘make him a better therapist’ (ibid) which involved numerous research projects including case studies, clinical trials, meta-analyses and research.
Peter Schulthess
Past president of EAGT and SVG, board member of ASP (Association of Swiss Psychotherapists) and the Network Gestalt Therapy Switzerland and chair of the Science and Research Committee of EAP, Peter Schulthess presented the difficulties of setting up a control group for psychotherapy studies. He described in detail a Swiss process and outcome research project which resulted in a manual with ‘100 interventions from 10 different modalities, including Gestalt’. This has been written up and published in British Gestalt Journal (2021). He also discussed controversies around fidelity scales (Fogarty, Bhar et al., 2016).
Margherita Spagnuola Lobb
Researcher, international trainer and Director of the Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy and writer of The Now for Next in Psychotherapy (2013), Margherita Spagnola Lobb outlined characteristics of Gestalt therapy research based on its three epistemological root: phenomenology, aesthetics of contact and the organism/environment field. Her focus was on ethical aspects of Gestalt therapy research, and the need for outcome research and the responsibility to show what we do while discovering new territories to advance our humanity (ibid, 2022).
Christine Stevens
Editor of British Gestalt Journal, Christine Stevens was the final keynote speaker. Recognising that researchers need support, critical feedback and peer collaboration she proposed a network model, which consists of small case study research groups that can provide Continued Professional Development (CPD)[4]. Her vision is of a practical approach to research that is doable within a psychotherapists’ working life. It would require minimal resources, and people could make use of the online network that is already in place as a platform for networking.
Final comments
This was a rich conference, with an overall theme of supporting practitioners to become researchers, to validate our work and to generate new understandings. It satisfied me in my love of travel, inspiration and continued involvement with both research and the Gestalt community.
I left with the inspiration to consider how I might find the motivation to do research of my own and what that would be. As an independent private practitioner, not connected with a school or training organisation, I find little support or incentive for creating research projects. It is also hard to imagine how others such as myself would find the motivation to engage in research, which takes time, money and effort. Why would we want to? Individually it is probably unlikely to happen, however, with the support of a collaborating group, as suggested by Christine, there seems more possibility. For me the questions remain: is it desirable to integrate research into our practice? And, if it is, how can we open our Gestalt practice and culture to incorporate it?
References
(2022). Gestalt for Future - Creating a Network for Research: Conference Program. from https://research-conference-hamburg2021.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/program-international-conference-gestalt-28-08-22.pdf.
Asherson Bartram, C. E. (2012). Gestalt and Heuristic Research. British Gestalt Journal, 21(1).
Asherson Bartram, C. E. (2013). Narratives of mothers in stepfamily situations : an exploratory investigation. Middlesex University.
Elliott, R. (2022). Gestalt for Future; Creating a Network for Gestalt, Conference Programme. 2022.
Elliott, R. & Greenberg, L. (2021). Emotion-Focused Counselling in Action. London, SAGE Publications Ltd.
Finlayson, L. (2022). Art Deco Roots in Hamburg. Retrieved 13th September 2022, from https://artdecosociety.uk/2022/07/24/art-deco-roots-in-hamburg/.
Fogarty, M., Bhar, S. Theiler & O’Shea, L. (2016). What do Gestalt therapists do in the clinic? The expert consensus. British Gestalt Journal, 25(1).
Moustakas, C. (1981). Heuristic Research. Human Inquiry: A source book of New Paradigm Research. J. R. Peter Reason. Chichester, New York, J. Wiley.
Shultess, Crameri et al. (2021). Developing a manual for identifying interventions in psychotherapy to measure treatment adherence in research. British Gestalt Journal, 20(1), pp. 19-30.
Spagnuolo-Lobb, M. (2013). The Now for Next in Psychotherapy; Gestalt therapy recounted in post-modern Society. Italy, Istituto di Gestalt HCC.
Stevens, C. (2022). Practitioner Case Study Research Project. The Gestalt Therapy Research Network, 2022, from https://gestaltresearchnetwork.org/group/7/stream.
Stevens, C., Stringfellow, J., Wakelin, K. & Waring, J. (2011). The UK Gestalt Therapy Core Research Project: the findings. British Gestalt Journal, 20(2).
Wampold, B. E. (2022). Gestalt for Future; Creating a Network for Gestalt, Conference Programme. 2022.
Wampold, B. E. & Imel, Z. E. (2015). The Great Psychotherapy Debate; the Evidence for What Makes Psychotherapy Work. New York, Routledge.
Notes
[1] A description and pictures of this building can be found online: ‘(a) grand building (with) several impressive features. In particular the various staircases, where light-coloured steps and walls contrast with black decorative railings in a visually pleasing geometric pattern. A series of art glass window representing various Hamburg artisans and tradesmen … feature prominently in the great hall’ (Finlayson, 2022).
[2] https://gestaltresearchnetwork.org
[3] https://gestaltresearch.org/
[4] See Christine Stevens’ article in this volume
Dr. Claire Asherson Bartram has been working for over thirty years as a Gestalt therapist, group facilitator, clinical and academic supervisor, based in North London. In 2009 she completed her doctorate on stepfamilies which explores the experiences of mothers. For ten years she was a committee member of GAUK (Gestalt Association of the United Kingdom) and was a founding member of UKAGP. She has been involved in organising AAGT’s Process Groups for over ten years. Her interests include stepfamily and family relationships, transformational processes in therapy and research, research methodologies which are compatible with Gestalt and acknowledgement of the self in academic writing.
Address for correspondence: clairebartram21@gmail.com