A Vivência do Cliente no Processo Psicoterapêutico: Um Estudo Fenomenológico na Gestalt-Terapia

Abstract

There is still the need of further knowledge about the contribution of psychotherapy to position the individual as subject, actor, and author of its own life. This research has the objective of investigate the individual experience throughout the psychotherapeutic process, considering its own perspective. The theoretical starting point is Gestalt-therapy and Phenomenology - its methodological approach. This paper is divided into five parts. The first part outlines qualitative research and phenomenological method according to Amedeo Giorgi, briefly presenting Phenomenology and Qualitative Epistemology. The second, empirical part presents interviews with three clients who were submitted to more than six years of individual therapy and at least two years of group therapy. The interviews were focused on their experiences during the psychotherapeutic processes. In the third part, results are presented in categories, and, in the fourth part, the psychotherapeutic process in Gestalt-therapy is described, after a brief introduction on psychotherapy (in general) and, particularly, Gestalttherapy. Finally, a reflection on the research conducted follows, considering some questions and propositions. We conclude that psychotherapy was positively experienced by the interviewed clients, who after this process, were able to reach self-knowledge, discover the reason of their existence, recover their authenticity and encounter the other and themselves with respect and acceptance. They also developed their ability to dialogue, to live in the present moment, to re-signify un-ended situations, and, most of all, to establish healthier relationships