Kurt Lewin Methodology Appropriate to Gestalt Therapy Natalia Kedrova Moscow Gestalt Institute

What is Methodology about? What is the subject of the research? Which methods are relevant to this subject? Which concepts we use to decribe and discuss the results? Which theory assimilate the results of the research? What kind of practice will use the results?

Gestalt Therapy as It is Gestalt therapy concerns many different aspects of human beeing in different fields: body, socials, cultural etc Gestalt therapy deal with creative adjustment in the organism/environment field that are integrative characteristics Gestalt practice is based on considering the uniqueness of client-therapist contact

Gestalt Therapy as It is Standard methods of evaluation symptoms and behavior patterns are not relevant for research of Gestalt-Therapy So what we are really able to study is what is the structure of human suffering how the suffering changed during therapy How the therapist participate and support these changes These will be the subject of the research

Kurt Lewin’s Experimental School

Kurt Lewin’s Experimental School K. Lewin studied the field as the dynamic system or tensions. Objects that create the field have positive or negative charge There is tension between the person and the object in the field. This tension creates quasi-need that tends to discharge According to these ideas suffering is the tension which is impossible to discharge

Kurt Lewin’s Experimental School Study of field dynamics Experiments on level of claim Frustration Unfinished business These experiments shows the dynamic of creative adjustment

Suggestions: How to Apply K. Lewin Methodology We can see the dynamic of level of claim and frustration before, during and after gestalt therapy We can focus the study on the special aspects of therapeutical process in experimental situation