Gestalt Psychotherapy and Coaching for Relationships

Gestalt Psychotherapy and Coaching for Relationships provides psychotherapists and coaches with a thorough understanding of two-person dynamics and offers practical interventions for working with couples and with two-person teams within larger organizations. Part I of this text relates contemporary gestalt therapy theory and gestalt-based coaching to developments in phenomenology, hermeneutics, cognitive science, extended cognition, embodiment, and kinesthesiology. Through a variety of narratives, Part II builds upon these themes and examines issues that typically emerge during couples work, including infidelity, provocative language, asymmetric relationships, sex, the use of emotion, limits and boundaries, and spirituality. Also included are general strategies for assimilating coaching into psychotherapy and vice versa, as well as recommendations for further study.

Philip Brownell, MDiv, PCC, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in Idaho and North Carolina, certified professional coach (International Coach Federation), certified gestalt therapist (European Association for Gestalt Therapy), and ordained clergyman. He is also codirector of the Portland Gestalt Therapy Training Institute and staff psychologist at Family Health Services, a patient-centered medical home offering integrated health care to communities in southern Idaho. Dr. Brownell is a writer, editor, and leader in the global movement for research in gestalt therapy, and a frequent conference presenter.

List of Figure and Tables Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Grounding Work Involving Two Clients 1. An Orientation to Contemporary Gestalt Therapy 2. An Orientation to Gestalt-Based Coaching 3. Contacting, the Satisfaction of Interest, and Positive Psychology 4. Related Subjects and Issues Part II: Attending to Specific Aspects of the Situation 5. It's Never About Just One Person 6. It's Often About the Feedback Loop of Mutual Interpretation 7. Turning Around Destructive, Reactive, and Counterproductive Communication 8. Accounting for the Influence of Past Experience 9. Overcoming the Trauma of Infidelity 10. When Asymmetric Relationships Work-And When They Don't 11. Using Emotional Processing to Strengthen Relationship 12. Volition and Motivation 13. Sexuality and Sexual Dynamics 14. Limits and Boundary Dynamics 15. Spirituality 16. Dyads Within Teams, Families, and Organizations Part III: General Strategies for the Therapist and/or Coach 17. Referring to Research Literature 18. Assimilating Coaching Into Psychotherapy 19. Assimilating Psychology Into Coaching Conclusion Index