Book Review: Towards a research tradition in Gestalt therapy

Abstract

This edited collection aims to advance the research tradition in Gestalt therapy, as the editors see this as integral to the advancement of Gestalt therapy (Roubal, Francesetti, Brownell, Melnick, & ZeleskovDjoric, 2016). Some in the Gestalt community will intuitively accept the logic of this argument, and for those people this text provides both a useful articulation of why research into Gestalt therapy matters, as well as a resource to support their engagement in this work. For other prospective readers the value of engaging in research may be of little interest, and some from this group may harbour misgivings about the perceived inherent incompatibility between the scientific method on the one hand, and the Gestalt therapeutic process on the other. This text acknowledges and explores these concerns, and it seeks to engage this group of research agnostics and atheists in dialogue. For example, in the preface by Leslie Greenberg, he questions whether the term ‘research’, if replaced by ‘investigation’ or a continual process of ‘re-search’, might be a more acceptable frame for opening conversations.