The Concept of "Field" in Gestalt Therapy: Developments and Implications
Journal title QUADERNI DI GESTALT
Author/s Mercurio Albino Macaluso
Publishing Year 2020 Issue 2020/1
Language Italian Pages 17 P. 57-73 File size 240 KB
DOI 10.3280/GEST2020-001005
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In psychology, "field" is a controversial concept, since it is used with different meanings depending on the different theoretical perspectives. Even in Gestalt literature the concept of field does not yet have a clear and unequivocal definition. The author tries to systematize it, describing the different readings of it and its evolution in the Gestalt literature. He, then, anal-yses some aspects and implications, starting with three epistemological currents that have marked the development of science: holism, ecology and quantum mechanics. In this way, he highlights the richness and topicality of the Gestalt field concept and contextualizes it from a historical and cultural point of view. The Gestalt theory of the field belongs to a holistic vision of human nature and reality, according to which mind, body and external world are not reali-ties with independent existence, but complementary and inseparable aspects of the contact pro-cess. The author shows how the Gestalt holistic perspective is very similar to the view of quantum mechanics, which considers subject and object as inseparable aspects of a single pro-cess. The author then analyses the ecological dimension of Gestalt Therapy, referring in par-ticular to the meaning that Gregory Bateson attributes to the term "ecology". In this way, points of contact and differences between the Gestalt and the ecological vision of Bateson are highlighted. Finally, the author points out that the advent of quantum mechanics has chal-lenged traditional scientific thinking, based on the principles of classical physics. The discov-eries of quantum physics show the limits of a purely objective conception of the universe, un-dermining our own idea of matter. Perhaps, in the future, it will be quantum mechanics that will provide us with a better understanding of field psychological processes.
Keywords: Field, holism, ecology, self-regulation, quantum mechanics.
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Mercurio Albino Macaluso, Il concetto di "campo" in psicoterapia della Gestalt. Sviluppi e implicazioni in "QUADERNI DI GESTALT" 1/2020, pp 57-73, DOI: 10.3280/GEST2020-001005