Presentation Announcement by Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb (Italy)
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, founder and director of The Gestalt Institute HCC Italy, recently presented a two-day seminar with Nancy McWilliams (Rutgers University, USA) in Syracuse, Italy, on June 9 and 10. Focusing on the quality of the therapeutic alliance, Lobb and McWilliams described a phenomenological and aesthetic perspective in which we may participate in the world rather than objectifying it. Experienced through sensory perceptions, attunement, and resonances, this perspective was shown to be a proper antidote to the desensitization common in contemporary society.
Featuring theoretical, experiential, and clinical components, the seminar also included presentations by Madeleine Fogarty (Melbourne University, Australia; author of The Gestalt Therapy Fidelity Scale), Santo Di Nuovo (Catania University, Italy), and Paolo Migone (editor of the journal Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane).
The first day’s program was entitled “From individual to relationship to the field: the position of contemporary psychotherapy.” During this part of the program the concept of phenomenological and aesthetic diagnosis was introduced and compared with the classical perspective on diagnosis. These concepts were then applied to psychotherapeutic practice and research.
The second day’s program, “Diagnosis as a way of going through the suffering; psychotherapy as a way of recognizing the beauty of the intentional movement of the client,” took up the development of various personality structures. The presenters illustrated that, through her or his presence and feeling, the healer becomes the “other” who recognizes the story of relational intentionalities of the client.
The seminar concluded with classical performances at the Greek Theater in Syracuse.
The universal themes proposed by the 53rd cycle of Classical Plays at the Greek Theater served as a background for this conference.
Link: https://www.gestaltitaly.com/nancy-mcwilliams-research/
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, PhD
Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy
Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia
Siracusa, Palermo, Milano, Italy
Email: margherita.spagnuolo@gestalt.it
Website: https://www.gestalt.it
Nancy McWilliams (Rutgers University, USA)
