U KONTAKTU LIČNOG I POLITIČKOG – GDE JE MESTO GEŠTALT PSIHOTERAPIJE?
IN CONTACT BETWEEN THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL - WHERE IS THE PLACE OF GESTALT PSYCHOTHERAPY?

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the relation between the personal and the political and explores the place of Gestalt psychotherapy, as well as the role of Gestalt psychotherapists in this relation. The paper is predominantly theoretically focused, with suggestions for possible interventions in the political field. After an initial review of the relation between the personal and the political, the first section briefly presents the field theory, as a ground for including the political in the field of psychotherapy, and gives a historical account of the development of the political aspect of Gestalt psychotherapy. The key theoretical contributions of Gestalt therapy to the understanding of key concepts of the political field are particularly highlighted: of human nature, the origin and dynamics of aggression, the nature of conflicts. The paper contrasts Gestalt with the psychoanalytic paradigm, whose core ideas of human nature are incorporated into political theory. The second section of the paper outlines deep challenges and dominant changes of the contemporary global social and political field. In order to understand the effectiveness of potential interventions, and for methodological purposes, the social and political fields are placed in the gestalt cycle of experience of the entire human global field and are differentiated by the contact functions assigned to them. The third section discusses ways in which Gestalt therapy theory and practitioners can respond to the perceived challenges. Concluding remarks synthesize presented ideas into outlook for the future with emphasis on relational approach and creative possibilities of Gestalt therapy and its practitioners.

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