Product Description
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.' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Long Overdue
I am placing here the complete response from Edwin Nevis, that did not make it onto the back cover of the book as he sent it to me.I hope his complete statement is helpful to those contemplating purchasing this book.

Philip Brownell
Somerset, Bermuda
May 5, 2009

Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy is a long overdue book. It is a Herculean attempt to provide a blueprint for demonstrating that the value of this powerful psychotherapeutic model can be shown through qualitativeand quantitative research, and that it can take its place in the world of normal science. Brownell and his erudite contributors have combined to produce a volume that will be of great value to practitioners and theorists. They point the way for collaboration of these groups to help Gestalt Therapy take its rightful place among academically respected psychology by studying the world of the clinic as scholar-practitioners would do. In so doing they invite us to complete the unfinished business of Gestalt therapy.

As one trained as a classical research psychologist, and then becoming one of the early people trained by the founders of Gestalt Therapy, reading this book felt like coming home.The "revolution" that I joined in 1956 is not completed, but in this volume we are given a guide to how to do so.I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about practicing his or her craft better by supporting it with a broader base, one that demonstrates that merging existential phenomenology with phenomenological behaviorism can produce verifiable, replicable results for what is essentially an ideographic pursuit.

Edwin C. Nevis, Ph.D.,
President, Gestalt Institute of Cleveland (1959-1973)
Founder, GestaltPress and Gestalt Review
Co-Founder Gestalt international Study Center ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

happy
the book came in a timely fashion and was well wrapped. I am overall satisfied with the seller and would by from him/her again.

An oldie but a goodie!
Although this book is 26 years old it nonetheless provides an excellent, clear and easy to follow map of how to use Gestalt techniques in your practice without becoming a true Gestalt therapist.

I found it to be practical and useful, able to be read in a night or two and every page full of examples of using each technique.

I am pleased to have come upon it and know I will refer to it again and again. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by Abe Levitsky, Ph.D., this book is based on transcripts of training workshops conducted by the late James Simkin, Ph.D., a long-time associate of Frederick Perls and a founder of the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A slim but interestingvolume by a legendary therapist
Jim Simkin died of leukemia in 1984, 64 years old and at theheight of his powers.Jim had studied with and then co-led therapyand training groups with Fritz Perls, but he developed his own style, which was more methodical and less flamboyant than Fritz.In the last ten years of his life he provided psychotherapy training to psychologists, psychiatrists and clinical social workers who came from all over the world to study with him in his dramatic training center on the Big Sur coast.

Since the essence of gestalt therapy is experience, and much of what Jim did resulted from his making use of what he observed in a patient's voice tone and subtle non-verbal behavior, it is hard to make complete sense of the therapy sessions transcripted in this book.The book probably better serves as a reminder of what he could do to those who saw Jim work in person. Still, there is good pithy material here about Jim's working concepts as a therapist, and about his brand of this "existential-phenomenological" therapy.And, aside from a few poorly made videotapes, the transcripts are the best samples we have of the work of a remarkable and dedicated therapist who lived what he taught. ... Read more

Product Description

With In Search of Good Form, Joseph Zinker emphasizes seeing and being with as keys to a phenomenological approach in which therapist and patient co-create and mutually articulate their own experiences and meanings. He considers Gestalt field theory, the Gestalt interactive cycle, and Gestalt concepts.

Customer Reviews (1)

an enabling, supportive reference source for therapists
This book is packed, without being written to intimidate. Sections are clearly headed, inviting use of the book as a reference.

As my understanding and interests in gestalt therapy evolve, so do different sections strike me differently.

Zinker is a coach, who leans over myshoulder as I consider my approach to helping others. The tone isunequivocal: encouraging and articulate.

Zinker has been been immersedin the field to such depths that his writing shows evidence of integrationof his findings. He covers gestalt therapy; a difficult topic to writeabout. He spells out his findings about working with families and does soin an aesthetic, almost spiritual.

Yet, I also find the book written withan intellectual rigour that invites revisiting. It's written in a can-do,leading edge manner. ... Read more

Product Description
R to L (Japanese Style).

The quest for a man's soul, the battle for his heart, the war for a world.

Suzu uses everything she's got to drive her sisters away and increase her powers. Meanwhile, Olivier seeks a weapon to use against evil pursuers--and himself, if "Black Olivier" comes through again. How did this terrible fate befall Olivier, and what effect will his protective measures have on both him and his companions? Is the secret history of Gestalt somehow mirrored in the present? Time will tell, but not before Ouri gets another chance to mop the floor with some persistent enemies! In the legendary past the gods battled for supremacy and cast out the demon god whose name cannot be spoken. Banished to Earth, the demon found refuge on the mysterious and dangerous island known only as "G." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Disappointing...
Of the 3 works of Yun Kouga to come to America, Gestalt is hands-down the weakest. (The 2 superior works being the older Earthian & the younger Loveless.) However, simply because it's the weakest doesn't necessarily fate it to being awful. The 2 volumes previous to this one were entertaining enough---nowhere near as elegant as Earthian or as profound as Loveless---but entertaining none the less.
As always, Kouga's characters are bursting with personality & there's more to the situation than meets the eye. The premise was a bit tacky to begin with & the story is peppered with awkward, detached humor that never gels, but I believed (& I do still hold some faith) Gestalt would eventually blossom into the sophisticated series I know it can become.

The problem with this volume is the stilted melodrama. `Black Oliver'---Oliver's malicious demonic half---creates quite a swirl of chaos for the remainder of our very confused cast, particularly poor Ouri. But then Ouri proceeds to spend the rest of the volume moping, moping, moping, blaming himself, believing that he committed an unforgivable sin even though his action -freaking- saved Oliver's life & there was no other choice in the matter. Ouri's guilt didn't feel organic at all & it left me frustrated.

Another disappointment is in the God Gestalt himself. His story is finally revealed & frankly, it's dull & generic, as if Yun Kouga was afraid of taking any risks. I liked the idea of an imperfect god, capable of mistakes & evil, yet also kind, fatherly, & willing to grant one's dearest wish. But through his tale it becomes quite apparent that Gestalt is in fact perfect & that it is the other gods who are deeply flawed. It kind of shatters the enigma...

The art matches that of the other Gestalt books: acceptable but below average, lacking the dreamy, silky ambiance of Earthian & the crispness of Loveless. It's obvious when evaluating the imagery that Yun Kouga was in a transitional period. It's like the art of Earthian & Loveless had a baby, but the baby was born with the worst of both worlds.
Gorgeous revised covers though.

& yet, as I stated above in those parenthesis, I still do hold faith in Gestalt as a manga. Likeable characters mean I'll continue to follow their journey, even if I don't actually purchase the books. & hopefully along the way Kouga will drop the inappropriate humor & forced emotions... ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first full-length historical study of Gestalt psychology--an attempt to advance holistic thought within natural science.Holistic thought is often portrayed as a wooly-minded revolt against reason and modern science, but this is not so.On the basis of rigorous experimental research and scientific argument as well as on philosophical grounds, the Gestalt theorists Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka opposed conceptions of science and mind that equated knowledge of nature with its effective manipulation and control. Instead, they attempted to establish dynamic principles of inherent, objective order and meaning in current language, principles of self-organization in human perception and thinking, in human and animal behavior, and in the physical world. The impact of their work ranged from cognitive science to theoretical biology and film theory.Based on exhaustive research in primary sources, including archival material cited here for the first time, this study illuminates the multiple social and intellectual contexts of Gestalt theory and analyzes the emergence, development and reception of its conceptual foundations and research programs from 1890 to 1967. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A difficult mountain to climb and not many blossoming trees
The book may become indispensable in getting to understand Gestalt Psychology but it is a tough wack to get through for the lay reader. I found many interesting, enlightening and thought provoking comments but also much that is long winded and painfully obscure.

I had to read the book to get to grips with this serrendipitus subject which might, after all just be an idealist projection of the unconscious Mother symbol on a reality that only works under Paternal authority and "Justice". In other words a comforting world view in what is reallyan inhospitable universe.

The Origins of Gestalt Theory
Gestalt psychology was founded by three German psychologists (Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler) in 1910 in Frankfort. Reestablished after World War I at the University of Berlin, it flourishedfrom the 1930s into the 1960s, then faded as its leaders aged and its majorfindings were absorbed by mainstream psychology. Today, the only survivingBerlin-trained gestaltist is the 95-year-old art theorist Rudolf Arnheim(author of Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye),who is still actively writing. Gestalt theory was and is important todifferent people for different reasons. In German, the word for"design" is gestalt, and one reason for its appeal to artists,architects, and graphic designers is that it provides scientific validationof age-old esthetic principles. For those who have gained from gestalttheory, whether artists, scientists, or psychologists, this is aninvaluable, interesting book. As the first comprehensive history of themovement, it covers a wide range of material, beginning at the turn of thecentury with Carl Stumpf, Christian von Ehrenfels, and others who set thestage; moving on to the Berlin Psychological Institute, and the numerousteachers and students who left before and during World War II; andconcluding in the 1960s, when Germany was still divided, with the fate ofthe few who preferred to remain. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from BallastQuarterly Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, Summer 1999.) ... Read more

Product Description
Traditional psychotherapy approaches, focusing on working with and correcting mental events and conditions, have placed little importance on the fundamentally physical nature of the person. Yet many of the problems people bring to therapy are linked with or manifested in the body--such as obesity, psychosomatic distress, chronic tension, and sexual problems. This book provides a therapeutic approach that addresses both the physical and mental nature of clients.
    
In this book, James Kepner shows that a client's posture, movements, and bodily experiences are indeed relevant to therapy, and he offers an insightful framework for incorporating these aspects into a therapeutic framework. This comprehensive treatment explains how body work can be integrated with the aims, methods, and philosophy of psychotherapy, offering a framework within which practitioners of different theoretical approaches can better appreciate body processes in the context of the whole person, rather than as isolated events.
    
This book, including an updated introduction by the author, explores the range of body work in psychotherapy, from the development of body awareness to intensive work with physical structure and expression. And it demonstrates how this approach can be particularly effective with a range of clients, including survivors of sexual abuse, recovering drug addicts or alcoholics, or those suffering from chronic illness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Body process
Simple and understand abele book on how our body react and processes our life experiences.

Great book for mental health and medical professionals
If you work with people in any of the healing arts, this book is a must read for understanding the power of working somatically with people.Jim Kepner writes comprehensively about physical process from the Gestalt perspective. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

My Favorite Book!
This book changed my life! Absolutely a must read for any therapist out there! Transactional Analysis Redecision Therapy works and this book engages the reader, provides examples of the model at work, and shows us just how easy therapy can be with the right tools! Bob and Mary Goulding take the best of TA and Gestalt, connect the cognitive with the emotional and provide an atmosphere for change!

Power Is in the Patient: A TA/Gestalt Approach to Psychology
Dr. Goulding was my mentor and teacher. I lost my autographed copy and bought a copy that was autographed by Bob and his wife, Mary McClure Goulding (MSW), who co-authored the book.The "fish story" in the first chapter is worth the cost of the entire book. I recommend the first chapter for people who need to look within to be given permission to solve a task they can't do. The entire book is a text book about how the Goulding wed the modalites of Transactional Analysis and Gestalt psychotherapy. The book reads easily without technical language. The bookserves as an introduction to Re-decision therapy which was a creation of the Gouldings. ... Read more

Product Description
Gestalt Centre, London, UK. Demonstrates how effectively the Gestalt approach can be used in brief interventions with patients. Examines the basic theory and principles and explores each phase of the therapeutic process. Also discusses the elements of successful therapy and ways of improving therapy skills. Softcover, hardcover available. ... Read more

Product Description

Arnheim, Gestalt and Art is the first book-length discussion of the powerful thinking of the psychologist of art, Rudolf Arnheim. Written as a complete overview of Arnheim’s thinking, it covers fundamental issues of the importance of psychological discussion of the arts, the status of gestalt psychology, the various sense modalities and media, and developmental issues. By proceeding in a direction from general to specific and then proceeding through dynamic processes as they unfold in time (creativity, development, etc.), the book discovers an unappreciated unity to Arnheim’s thinking. Not content to simply summarize Arnheim’s theory, however, Arnheim, Art, and Gestalt goes on to enrich (and occasionally question) Arnheim’s findings with the contemporary results of gestalt-theoretical research from around the world, but especially in Italy and Germany. The result is a workable overview of the psychology of art with bridges built to contemporary research, making Arnheim’s approach living and sustainable.

Product Description

Gestalt Counseling in Action is a bestselling text which has sold over 30,000 copies. Now in it's Third Edition, the book continues to be a popular text for training in counselling and psychotherapy and with practitioners who are new to the gestalt approach. Fully revised and updated, Gestalt Counselling in Action, Third Edition includes a new chapter which explores recent developments in the field and looks to the future for the gestalt approach.

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Read
Having just started on a Gestalt training myself, I found this book to be an easy read and also very informative about Gestalt principles.

I would have liked to give it a 5 star rating but didn't have anything else to compare it to as it's the first Gestalt book I have read so far.

Definately recommend it to Gestalt fledglings like me!

compassion in action
Clarkson's writing is appropriate to present time. The straightforwardness and depth of her writing is true to transcendence, and the core of Gestalt therapy, in philosophy and practice. Balanced and egalitarian, this book is a good example ofwriting that integrates masculine and feminine energies. ... Read more

Product Description
Creativity, traditionally seen as a special gift of remarkable and exceptional personalities, is considered in Gestalt therapy to be a quality of spontaneous adaptation in interpersonal processes, as well as an important ingredient of healthy social living. This revolutionary concept of creativity is approached in the book from three aspects: the theoretical foundations, the healing relationship, and applications to certain social issues, such as the couple's relationship, treating psychosis and understanding children's suffering.

The authors are among the most relevant contemporary Gestalt psychotherapists and researchers. Their contributions, solid representations of American and European reflections on the theme, bridge a divide between continents and reflect the productive discourse among schools of Gestalt therapy today. Edited by two experienced Gestalt psychotherapy trainers, this book is not only addressed to professionals, but also to all those who make art and curiosity about human nature an important aspect of their lives. ... Read more

Product Description
Before the founding of The Gestalt Journal, the literature of Gestalt therapy had no home - no place to call its own. For over two decades it was the special guest of Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, the official journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists. More articles by Gestalt therapists appeared in its pages than in all other professional journals combined. Its pages included contributions by leading practitioners from the three "schools" that came to symbolize the early years of Gestalt therapy in the United States - East Coast, West Coast, and the "Cleveland" school.Contributors to this collection of articles that span the years from 1969 to 1989 include Laura Perls, Isadore From, Richard Kitzler, Albert Ellis, Joen Fagen, Irma Lee Shepard, Erving and Miriam Polster, Joseph Zinker, Robert Harman, Jim Simkin, Stephan Tobin, Edward W. L. Smith, Roy O. Resnikoff, Barry Stevens along with others who refined and articulated the early theory and philosophy of Gestalt therapy. Edited by Edward W. L. Smith, the volume is divided into four major themes - "Gestalt Theory," "Gestalt Practice," "Gestalt Training," "Views and Reflections by Gestalt Therapists" and "Criticism and Rejoinders."Gestalt Voices is essential reading for anyone interested in the theoretical and clinical development of Gestalt therapy during its formative years. Joe Wysong Founder and Editor - The Gestalt Journal ... Read more

Product Description
Gestalt therapy is designed to enable people to deal with a range of emotions that are obstacles to growth and development. This approach to therapy aims to help people to let go of anger, grief, resentment, depression and fear - and, in so doing, resolve problems such as indecision and unsatisfactory personal relationships. Dreams and fantasies are used experimentally in a group setting. The main purpose of this book is to provide professional and student therapists, mental-health professionals, counsellors and academic researchers of therapy with a starting point on which to base their own studies and practice. ... Read more

Product Description
Skills in Gestalt Counselling and Psychotherapy is a practical introduction to the different techniques used at each stage of the counselling process. The book takes the reader through the process from beginning to termination and focuses on skills, which arise out of Gestalt theory as well as those, invoked by the counselling relationship.

Accessibly written by experienced practitioners, the book gives clear guidelines on: establishing the relationship; assessment and goal setting; developing the client's awareness; maintaining the relationship; bringing the counselling to an end.

The authors also examine the spiritual dimension of counselling and offer guidance on some of the special consideration ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Worth the cost
I didn't blink at paying $70+ for a textbook in grad school. Now that I'm out and STILL paying student loans, this was a leap of faith - and it didn't come near to university bookstore prices!However, it was worth the cost.

Excellent chapters on the following topics:
Phenomenology and Field Theory; Establishing the Therapeutic Relationship; Treatment Considerations; Experimenting; Unfinished Business; Transference and Counter-Transference; Body Process and Regression. Two chapters are especially helpful: Practice Issues addresses time-limited counseling, group work, dream work, and crisis interventions. Multicultural issues and spirituality (not to be confused with religious/pastoral counseling issues) was addressed in a chapter titled The Wider Field.

Excellent book and highly recommended.

Great book for anyone interested in Gestalt therapy
If Gestalt therapy is for you something hard to understand (mainly because they didn't explain it all at your university), this book is for you. I had a course in Gestalt therapy for a year during my post-graduate studies in clinical psychology and I must admit I was able to FINALLY understand a lot of the concepts I learned there without really knowing what was my teacher talking about. The books offers lots of exercises for you to do so that you can actually perceive, with all your senses, what it is all about. The writers have also discussed a lot of techniques and skills for you to use with your clients. It was an eye opener for me as before I had thought that "bashing the cushion" and "two chairs" were basically the available "tangible" interventions.
The books is very ellegantly written and I only wish I had had it a few years ago... Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Many therapists can attest to the fact that adolescents can be difficult and frustating clients-problems are seldom well defined, clearly delineated symptoms are more exception than the rule, and troubling situations often involve the entire family.
    
Gestalt therapist Mark McConville draws on his more than twenty years of professional experience to offer clinicians an effective model for understanding and treating adolescents. He outlines the Developmental Tasks Model, which describes adolescents' struggles, "temporary insanity," and ultimately, triumph of development. He clearly demonstrates that the Gestalt therapeutic model bridges the theoretical and clinical gap, and offers an indepth exploration of the various aspects of clinical work.
    
Adolescence offers valuable nuts-and-bolts advice on initiating therapy with adolescents who are not yet ready to do the self-reflective, exploratory work. In addition, the book examines the therapeutic method of engaging and cultivating the adolescent's emerging inner world. With perception and sensitivity, McConville explains how the clinician can guide the adolescent in the very personal and subjective process of birthing and existential self.

The book details the process of the creative reorganization of the self during adolescence and explores the changes that take place in the adolescent's relationships with peers, parents, and others in the adult world. The author also tracks the interplay of intrapsychic and interpersonal boundary development and shows how this interplay manifests itself in relationships and evolves from early through late adolescence. The Gestalt model of therapy allows the clinician to make sense of the confusion of the adolescent world and map out the multiple possibilities of clinical interventions.

Customer Reviews (1)

good insight into the adolescent
this book provided an excellent look at the issues the adolescent faces during those difficult years of emerging from childhood into adulthood. the book is excellent background for anyone who works with adolscents. it is readable and informative. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Propably the best anatomy book out there!
I think this might be the best book out there. Shame that i cant speak or read german.

The images are not just sihlouettes or diagrams, they really try to explain the form and shape of bones and muscles. There is also alot of stuff about balance and other fysiological stuff. Its also great how Bammes generalises complex anatomical masses to simple forms, that you can memorize.

This with some great anatomy books in english (John Robert Peck, Richer and Goldfinger), would be the best combination I think, for a drawing student.

simple
Simply the best anatomy book out there bar none. I believe I own most of the popular art anatomy books(over 30) and this is the best by far, bar none. Well over a thousand pictures showing how muscle is connected to the bone until you have views of flayed man. Drawing examples that show planes or varied methods of drawing. It is a must have for the serious artist and the best way to not get ripped off by these 'vendors' is to go to the German amazon and get it at a reasonable price. Find some site that has pictures of it and get a taste if you must but I'm immensely please with it.

Simply the most complete book on human artistic anatomy
This book is the most complete and advance book I've ever come across on the subject Artistic Anatomy. It is divided into ten chapters.

1. Artistic anatomy, past and today.
A lot of text and many illustrations from past masters.

2. Human proportions
This is a most valuable chapter, as different life models have been used to show the difference between basic human body types. You will also find detailed proportions of infants, children, and teens, as well as the main differences between male and female.

3. Dynamic movement of the body
The point of balance within the body in different stances. How we're walking, running, lifting and pulling and how we keep balance during that. (all explained with a serious of illustrations for each subject.)

4. The joints of the body.
In this chapter you will see all the different types of joints and muscles and how they function. Also a few illustrations of muscle activation in different poses.

5. The lower body.
A LOT of illustrations of knees and how that joint functions. As well as detailed illustrations of the anatomy of legs. Also the pelvis is covered here - the anatomy of it as well as function. Very good illustrations of muscle activation in legs and pelvis in different poses.
The foot is also covered in extreme details. How the footjoint twist in different positions and its anatomy.
The angle relationship of bones in different positions are covered in details in this chapter.

6. The torso
All about the torso explained with illustrations in extreme details.

7. Muscles of the torso. Muscle activation in different poses, very detailed.

8. The upper body.
Arms and shoulders as detailed as all previous chapters. Very valuable is the shoulderblade/collarbone connection. You will also see the movement of the shoulderblade on the ribcage in different arm positions as well as the muscle activation that follows. Then in the end of the chapter you will see how the elbow and hand functions complete with superb illustrations of anatomy and muscle activation in different positions.
Also angle relationship of the bones are covered.

9. The neck.
All about the neck. Its movement and muscles.

10. The head.
All about the head. Basic shape, muscles and facial expression. Also illustrations of the parts of the nose and the eye, mouth, and ear.
Very good chart of muscle activation in different facial expressions.


I know this is all in german, but you have to get it anyways(I only speak a bit myself). The book is so complete that it would actually be worth while studying german just to fully comprehend the content of the book. It could make you as knowledgeable as Michelangelo or Leornado(who dissected people). But even without a proper understanding of the text, the illustrations speak for themselves. And there are illustrations on almost all pages.

I have at least ten other anatomy books by top authors and all of those put together aren't even half as good as this one(including those by Robert Beverly Hale), and I only understand one tenth of the written text in this book!

You have to get it, trust me!
If it isn't available from Amazon.com then try Amazon.de

The way it's meant to be!
This is exactly how an anatomy book should be made! It uses figures in motion, figures of all ages and body types - not just idealised perfect slim people. This is the perfect anatomy book for animators and other artists - the illustrations of muscle groups twisting are worth the price alone!

If only there was a version in English...

Wonderful book
Great book, excellent photo refrence, artistic refrence, 2d/3d refrence. Clear diagrams for the painting, drawing, sculpture. covers everything.
couldn't get better with english books even the anatomy is described in a more designed format that is simpler for the reader to understand, yet is acurate.
Absloutley wonderful ... Read more