Queering Gestalt Therapy

An Anthology on Gender, Sex & Relationship Diversity in Psychotherapy

Ayhan Alman, John Gillespie, Vikram Kolmannskog, Ayhan Alman, John Gillespie, Vikram Kolmannskog

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032371108
• eBook ISBN: 9781000857405
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The first peer-reviewed book of its kind, this important volume addresses a current gap in the field of gestalt therapy: that the practice—and psychotherapy more broadly—still suffers from pervasive hetero- and cis-normativity.

This book offers gestalt-therapy-based research and training material on gender, sex, and relationship diversity (GSRD), including chapters on a variety of GSRD issues and how therapists can become more GSRD-sensitive. The contributors position themselves across the whole spectrum of GSRD and offer their voices as an invitation to further queer the gestalt community with diverse content ranging from academic, research-oriented pieces to experiential, reflective perspectives. Featured chapters explore topics including gender-radical clients, sex and sexuality, relationship diversity, integrating GSRD and gestalt therapy, and addressing heteronormativity in gestalt therapy training.

Queering Gestalt Therapy is for everyone who is interested in gender, sex, and relationship diversity, especially as they relate to gestalt therapy practice. This book will be especially useful for therapists, supervisors, coaches, and students of gestalt therapy.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Endorsement Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Welcome Everyone
• Chapter 1 Understanding Gender Radical Clients
• Chapter 2 Gender Identification
• Chapter 3 Holding Uncertainty So That It Can Be Thought About: Relational Gestalt Therapy with Gender Creative Children
• Chapter 4 The Drag and Queer Years as a Means of Developing a Therapeutic Self: Bringing Street Work in the Office
• Chapter 5 Experiment and Phenomenology in Treating Gender Dysphoria
• Chapter 6 ‘Selfish and Destructive’: Where Does the Late-in-Life Lesbian Seek Therapeutic Support?
• Chapter 7 A Gay Son and His Dying Straight Dad: An Account of Ambiguous Loss and the Embodiment of Homophobia
• Chapter 8 Activism and Therapy
• Chapter 9 Compulsive Sexual Behaviours: Moving Beyond the Frontiers of Addiction Thinking
• Chapter 10 Queering Relationships
• Chapter 11 LGBTQIA in Rural Ireland: Lives Creatively Lived
• Chapter 12 Gender, Sex, and Relationship Diversity (GSRD) Sensitive Gestalt Psychotherapy
• Chapter 13 “I Assumed That It Was a Man She Was in Love With”: Heteronormativity and Queer Experimentation in Gestalt Therapy Training
• Index