A Gestalt Theory of Group Psychotherapy

This paper presents a theory of groups and group psychotherapy, based on the Gestalt Therapy theory of Self, and informed by present-day thinking about human intersubjectivity, especially the work of Daniel Stern. In both these approaches, self is seen as arising from what Stern calls the ‘intersubjective matrix’ rather than belonging to the individual. Thus a ‘group matrix’ with different norms and rules than a person’s everyday life will inevitably call out different self-possibilities, and this, rather than an individual exploration, becomes the basis for therapeutic effectiveness.