Human Interaction and Emotional Awareness in Gestalt Therapy

Exploring the Phenomenology of Contacting and Feeling

H. Peter Dreitzel

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781000346039
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

In Human Interaction and Emotional Awareness in Gestalt Therapy H. Peter Dreitzel explores a model of the contacting processes between human beings and their environments and presents a phenomenological exploration of the emotions guiding such contacts.

The book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of psychotherapy in the modern world, especially in the context of change and crisis. Dreitzel sets out a new perspective of how we interact with each other, how we frame our encounters and differentiate them from one another, how we give them meaning, and how they are related to our needs and wants. This is followed by a unique phenomenological exploration of the emotions guiding such contacts, the first time the world of human feelings has been explored in depth and systematically analysed in Gestalt thought. These innovative explorations are framed first by a discussion of the historical development of Western conventions regarding everyday behaviour, and secondly by an examination of perspectives on climate change. Dreitzel analyses the mental and emotional states of potential clients as they are affected by these global processes and the book also includes an epilogue which evaluates how to work with climate anxiety.

Dreitzel's conception of social change, with Gestalt therapy at its core, is relevant to all aspects of humanistic psychology. It elevates empathy, emotional development and the prevention of suffering at all levels of society, filling important gaps in Gestalt therapy theory and expanding it into exciting new territory. Human Interaction and Emotional Awareness in Gestalt Therapy also contains an insightful foreword by Michael Vincent Miller, PhD, and will be essential reading for Gestalt therapists, other professionals with an interest in Gestalt approaches and readers interested in social interaction, climate change and the role of psychotherapy in a changing world.

Index

acceptance: of pain 103; see also existential acceptance

accepting and rejecting see awareness: consciousness and

acting, perceiving and 56–62

action orientation xviii, 90, 91, 124

adapting creatively 45; see also creative adjustment

addiction 28, 228, 229; longing and 139; neurotic 219

Adorno, T. W. 68, 101, 114

aesthetic distance 208–211, 213, 214, 230

aesthetic experience 111

aesthetic perspective 6, 223–224

aesthetics 21, 156–157, 221, 223; see also beauty

affects: unintegrated 186–187; see also contact emotions; emotions

affirmation 48–49, 90, 91; mutual 80, 81; post-contact phase and 79–81; social 84–85

aggression 34, 183, 190, 191, 240; vs. assertiveness 144–147, 184; contacting process and 70, 74, 246; crying and 150, 151; definition and nature of 70; destruction and annihilating 70–74; elements/functions of 70, 74; emotions that underlie 183–184; see also (aggressive emotions); Gestalt therapy and 70, 148, 246; “good”/positive (vs. “bad”) aspects xix–xx, 46, 147, 184–185; inhibition of 33, 40, 73–74, 146–148, 150, 172, 185, 190, 191; introjects and 183, 187, 188, 190; Perls & Goodman on 40, 70; against the self 40, 120; sexual 72, 104, 172; see also sadomasochism sex; rage and; war and 27, 31, 120, 197

aggressive driving 27

aggressive emotions 14, 144–147, 183–184; contacting process and 137, 144; expression of 31, 147, 151, 184, 185; laughing and crying 150, 151; see also crying; laughter; hate; rage

aggressive functions 146, 191

aggressive moods 195, 197

aggressor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Translator’s note
• Foreword by Michael Vincent Miller
• I. Introduction
• II. Historical context: The fate of the body and the senses in the civilizing process
• III. The satisfying experience: The contacting process in the interaction between humans and their environments
• IV. Emotional orientation: Considering the significance of emotions in the contacting process
• V. The impact of emotions on personality and society: On the many ways our civilization depends on the refinement of our feelings
• VI. Cultural context: Humankind´s transformations in the age of environmental destruction
• VII. Epilogue: Gestalt therapy of environmental destruction
• List of illustrations
• Bibliography
• Index