Exploring confluence in gestalt therapy. Toward a shared conception
Keywords:
Psychotherapy, Gestalt Psychotherapy, Gestalt, Gestalt Therapy, GT, Contact Cycle, Experience Cycle, Contact Interruptions, Confluence, ChatGPT, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Semantic AnalysisAbstract
Although there are clear conceptual pillars that constitute the theoretical identity core of Gestalt Psychotherapy, there exists significant variability among Italian Gestalt therapists in the interpretation of key processes within therapeutic practice. On the one hand, such diversity is a strength for Gestalt Therapy (GT), as it allows for a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. On the other hand, it becomes evident that, for the scientific validation of the method, it is essential to identify the shared theoretical cores from which differing interpretations stem. The specific aim of this work is to identify and describe the interpretative articulations, present within the Italian Gestalt community, of a central concept in both the theory and practice of Gestalt Therapy—namely, confluence. A series of written contributions on the meaning of confluence, authored by directors and trainers from various Gestalt institutes, were collected and subjected to semantic analysis. Common elements were identified and a preliminary synthesized definition was formulated. Additionally, differences in viewpoints among the authors were analyzed. In the perspective of the Italian authors, the concept of confluence has a theoretical core composed of three main dimensions: blurred boundaries, undifferentiation, and avoidance of contact. This core is further enriched by additional features not uniformly shared across contributors. In the discussion, the findings are revisited within the framework of contemporary neuroscience, particularly through the lens of complex systems theory, offering a new interpretation of the various conceptualizations of confluence.
doi: 10.53240/2025topic4n2.2.002
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