This book is a collection of articles written in the period 1985-2011. The articles form a background for perspectives that concern the foundations of Gestalt therapy: foundations in philosophy and foundations in psychoanalysis and connections with other therapeutic theories.

This book tracks a particular understanding of self, philosophically, from research evidence and in its implications for psychotherapy. At each step, the author includes first the theory he is working from, then the clinical implications of the theory, followed by some links to the philosophical outlook inherent in the theory, and finally a more extended case example.It takes the view that the continuing self is partly an illusion, partly a construct, and that we in fact have to work to stay the same in the face of all the different possibilities the world offers us. The author believes that we do this for two reasons. First of all, continuity allows deeper contact: friendships, loving relationships with partners and families. Secondly, and balancing this, the predictable is less anxiety-producing, and that we avoid this existential anxiety by acting in a stereotyped way and avoiding some of the depths of contact.

There has been a renewed interest in the last ten years in the underpinnings theoretical, philosophical, and historical of the Gestalt approach. Often in the past, these have been lost in oversimplified versions of the therapy. The author's aim in his writings has been to provide a full and coherent account of Gestalt theory, and to emphasize our links to our therapeutic and philosophical heritage, particularly psychoanalysis and existentialism. His theme is a field-relational theory of self as the centrepiece of the approach, and how this has been placed within a structure that is still recognizably psychoanalytic. In this approach, self is understood as meaningful only in relation to what is taken as other, and how that other is contacted. The formation of a relatively coherent self-concept is a task, not a given, and can be problematic as well as helpful (when it no longer supports the person s life-situation). Thus therapy is not an attunement to a self inherent in the client, but an exploration of contacting and awareness; and the therapist s stance can never truly be seen as neutral. Many of these ideas have found their way in some form into other therapeutic approaches (Intersubjectivity Theory, Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and the actual relationship between therapist and client is acknowledged as highly significant. However, this has usually happened without the underpinning of a systematic field-relational approach to psychotherapy, and Gestalt Therapy, which has one, has for historical reasons not been in a position to engage with these developments. Fortunately this is now changing, and it is hoped that this work will help that development."

This book tracks a particular understanding of self, philosophically, from research evidence and its implications for psychotherapy. At each step, the author includes the theory, the clinical implications of the theory, links to the philosophical outlook inherent in the theory, and finally a more extended case example.Philipsson takes the view that the continuing self is partly an illusion, partly a construct, and that we in fact have to work to stay the same in the face of all the different possibilities the world offers us. He believes that we do this for two reasons. First, continuity allows deeper contact: friendships, loving relationships with partners and families. Second, the predictable is less anxiety-producing, and that we avoid this existential anxiety by acting in a stereotyped way and avoiding some of the depths of contact. He argues that this dual nature of continuing self, in one context deepening contact and in another context avoiding contact, has an important place in the understanding of psychotherapy.

From the introduction: So I would commend these formative writings of Fritz Perls to those who would get a fuller sense of the original ideas of Gestalt therapy, a work in progress, but already a fairly consistent field-relational approach to psychology and therapy. My hope is that, with more people reading these papers and our 'Bible, ' Perls, Hefferline and Goodman, the discussion of what is useful and what needs reworking can be grounded in a rediscovery of what is exciting and unique in Perls' ideas. Peter Philippson January, 2012 Contents: Planned Psychotherapy Frederick Perls delivered this talk at the William Alanson White Institute in late 1947 or early 1948. Theory and Technique of Personality Integration Reprinted from American Journal of Psychotherapy, October 1948 The Theory of "The Removal of Inner Conflict (co-authored with Paul Goodman) Reprinted from Resistance Introduction to A Doctor's Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy by J. A. Winter (1951) Psychiatry in a New Key "Psychiatry in a New Key" is a manuscript Perls started sometime in the early 1950's. It was first published in The Gestalt Journal in 1977. Morality Ego Boundary, and Aggression Reprinted from Complex, #9, 1955. Finding Self Through Gestalt Therapy Fritz Perls delivered this talk as part of the Cooper Union Forum Lecture Series: "The Self" in New York City on March 6, 1957. Gestalt Therapy and Cybernetics In 1958, Jacob L. Moreno invited Frederick Perls to write an article discussing the similarities between Gestalt therapy and Cybernetics for publication in Moreno's publication, Sociometry: A Journal of Interpersonal Relations. Moreno decided not to publish the article. Resolution This paper was given as a talk at Mendocino State Hospital, Talmage, California, in 1959 as the conclusion of a series of talks and demonstrations Gestalt Therapy and Human Potentialities. Reprinted from Explorations in Human Potentialities, edited by Herbert A. Otto in 1966 Group vs. Individual Therapy Reprinted from Etc: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 34, No. 3,1967