Published 2026-06-26
Keywords
- Gestalt Psychotherapy, Complex trauma, Experiential approaches, Trauma-informed competencies, Therapeutic safety, Therapeutic presence, Clinical integration.
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 Nino Geniola, Alessandro Cini
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This contribution aims to promote a dialogue between contemporary Gestalt psychotherapy and some evidence-based experiential psychotherapies currently employed in the treatment of psychological trauma. Starting from the assumption that experiential work with traumatized patients requires specific clinical preparation to reduce the risk of retraumatization, the article identifies six areas of clinical functioning considered central to trauma-oriented Gestalt practice. These areas emerge from a reflective synthesis that integrates contemporary literature on complex trauma, critical comparison with structured experiential models, and clinical observation. The article argues that attention to patient safety does not constitute a constraint on the depth of the therapeutic process, but rather represents a necessary condition for it, and proposes an evolution of Gestalt psychotherapy capable of maintaining continuity with its phenomenological assumptions while integrating the most recent clinical acquisitions in the field of trauma psychotherapies.
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