Papers by Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb
Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2024
Background and aims: The factorial validation study of a scale describing the therapist's intuiti... more Background and aims: The factorial validation study of a scale describing the therapist's intuitive knowing from a phenomenological, aesthetic, and field-oriented perspective, such as that of Gestalt therapy, is presented. The way in which the therapists use their senses to understand the patient's current experience, through embodied empathy and resonance, is termed Aesthetic Relational Knowing, and a special scale (ARK), described in its broader valence in a previous study, was constructed to assess it. The ARK-T version, validated in this study, is referred to the specific therapeutic situation, assessing the therapist's intuitive ability towards the patient, in the “here and now” of the session.
Methods: A sample composed of 209 psychotherapists (51 men, 157 women, 1 stated "other") aged 25-80 years old, 199 psychology graduates, 10 medical doctors, working in different regions of Italy, all holding a specialization in psychotherapy of different theoretical approaches, filled in the 46 items hypothesized for the composition of the ARK-T scale.
An Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out preliminarily on the intercorrelation matrix of the items, then subsequently a Confirmatory Analysis was performed according to the Lisrel model. Item analysis was also performed and Cronbach's alpha was calculated for reliability analysis of the global score and of the factors included in the final version of the scale.
Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses allowed the selection of 21 items that make up the final version of the ARK-T Scale. The main factors validated in previous studies (Body awareness, Resonance, and Empathy), operationalized in the therapeutic situation, were redefined into: Body Awareness, Intuitive Resonance, and Affective Empathy. The reliability of the scale is good for both total score (alpha=0.841) and factorial subscales.
Conclusions: By enabling the assessment of body process awareness and aesthetic-relational skills in therapy, the ARK-T scale has significant implications for the training and supervision of psychotherapists, as well as for research on the therapeutic change process.
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Quaderni di Gestalt, XXXVII, 2024
This article draws on the various Gestalt studies on supervision, highlighting how each apply the... more This article draws on the various Gestalt studies on supervision, highlighting how each apply the principles of Gestalt psychotherapy. However, the humanistic turn that places the patient/therapist relationship in existential equality does not find clear application in the examples of Gestalt supervision, in the background of which the gap between those who know more and those who know less remains as the epistemological definition of the supervisory relationship. The author therefore proposes to revise the concept of supervision in Gestalt psychotherapy as a recognition of the therapeutic intentionality of the supervisee, within the phenomenological field co-created by supervisor and supervisee. In practice, the supervisor will apply this concept by shedding light on what the supervisee already knows about the patient, diagnostically, anamnesthetically, aesthetically, and relationally, and by supporting the intentionalities of both therapist and patient, which form the phenomenological field or supervisory situation. The author proposes at this point guidelines for how supervisors can actualise this perspective in clinical practice.
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Quaderni di Gestalt, XXXVII, 2014
La supervisione in psicoterapia della Gestalt Supervision in Gestalt Therapy * Questo numero 2024... more La supervisione in psicoterapia della Gestalt Supervision in Gestalt Therapy * Questo numero 2024-1 dei Quaderni di Gestalt è dedicato alla supervisione clinica, uno strumento fondamentale sia per la formazione che per la pratica professionale. Nonostante la sua importanza, la supervisione rimane un argomento relativamente inesplorato nel nostro approccio e i pochi articoli a disposizione non coprono l'intera gamma delle questioni inerenti questa fondamentale funzione clinica. Considerando l'unicità del metodo gestaltico, centrato sull'idea del sé come funzione emergente dal campo e sul contatto tra l'organismo e il suo ambiente, occorre fare un'analisi critica delle pratiche di supervisione esistenti e delle riflessioni capaci di aprire la mente a prospettive diverse, per preservare la nostra epistemologia fenomenologica, estetica e di campo. Nei settant'anni di esistenza della psicoterapia della Gestalt come approccio distinto, la supervisione è stata applicata con esempi molto interessanti nella nostra comunità professionale, seguendo lo sviluppo degli orizzonti teorici e metodologici. La svolta relazionale (cfr.
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Routledge eBooks, Feb 14, 2023
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Gestalt review, 2012
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Quaderni di Gestalt, Nov 1, 2021
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Routledge eBooks, Mar 23, 2022
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British Gestalt journal, Nov 1, 2015
": This article analyses somatic experience in the frame of reference of Gestalt epistemolog... more ": This article analyses somatic experience in the frame of reference of Gestalt epistemology, in its phenomenological, relational and aesthetic aspects. These ‘roots’ of the idea of somatic experience lead the therapist to focus his attention, on a therapeutic level, on the movement which the therapist and the client co-create with their complementary intentionalities. The article revisits concepts such as integration, self-function, holism, aggression, and support for the now-for-next in the light of somatic experience. It also provides clinical examples of the various forms of suffering of the body-in-contact, from anxiety disorders to desensitisation, and psychosomatic disturbances. Finally, it describes a few fundamental therapeutic competences which are needed for a successful Gestalt work on the body. Key words: body therapy, movement, Gestalt psychotherapy, phenomenology of the body-in- contact, anxiety disorders, desensitisation, psychosomatic disturbances, now-for-next."
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INFORMACIO PSICOLOGICA, 1997
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Gestalt Journal of Australia and New Zealand, 2017
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John Wiley & Sons eBooks, Mar 31, 2013
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British Gestalt journal, Nov 1, 2013
": This article revises the basic concept of aggression in Gestalt therapy, considering the ... more ": This article revises the basic concept of aggression in Gestalt therapy, considering the development of society from Fritz Perls’ time to nowadays. The anthropological turn of Perls is outlined (aggression, conflict, and intentionality of contact are the concepts that he linked), and the proposed evolution of the concept of aggression is in line with this original epistemological perspective. The need for rootedness is considered as the contemporary equivalent of the social need for aggression, a requirement that Perls identified in the 1950s. Treatment for this new form of social need is proposed as focused on the ground rather than on the figure. A clinical example is finally provided. Key words: aggression, conflict, intentionality of contact, need for rootedness, postmodern society, ground, now-for-next."
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British Gestalt journal, Jun 1, 2002
": This article first reviews historical influences within psychiatry in the UK and Italy, b... more ": This article first reviews historical influences within psychiatry in the UK and Italy, before considering the plight of profoundly disturbed patients within psychiatric institutional settings. Through consideration of the differing needs of neurotic and psychotic clients, and the specific environmental needs of profoundly disturbed individuals, the author reveals a Gestalt therapy approach to treatment which honours both field theory and the unique figure-ground balance and needs of an individual suffering a psychotic reaction. Examples from practice are illuminated throughout the text, and a Gestalt model is suggested for future development. Key words: psychoses, Gestalt, relationship, residential care, psychotherapy, profound disturbance."
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British Gestalt journal, Oct 1, 2006
": Malcolm Parlett (2000) has written about 'Five Abilities' in an article published... more ": Malcolm Parlett (2000) has written about 'Five Abilities' in an article published in the British Gestalt Journal. He has written about these abilities in greater depth, but this work remains unpublished. In this paper I want to demonstrate how the Five Abilities are connected with Gestalt therapy's core principles as well as with the results of recent studies in neuroscience and infant research, and I hope to prompt Parlett to bring this work to the public arena. Key words: human nafure, socio-psychological situation, neuroscience, interconnecting."
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Quaderni di Gestalt, Dec 1, 2022
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Gestalt Journal of Australia and New Zealand, May 1, 2011
Donna Orange is a contemporary psychoanalyst based in New York, with strong connections to the Ge... more Donna Orange is a contemporary psychoanalyst based in New York, with strong connections to the Gestalt community through Lynne Jacobs, in the USA, Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb in Italy and with Gestalt Therapy Australia (GTA) in Melbourne.
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Quaderni di Gestalt, Jun 1, 2020
La "danza" della reciprocità e il campo The "dance" of recipr... more La "danza" della reciprocità e il campo The "dance" of reciprocity and the field Questo numero 2020-1 dei Quaderni di Gestalt è stato prodotto per la maggior parte nel periodo del lockdown. Non tratta esplicitamente della pandemia e dei suoi effetti sulle nostre vite e sul nostro lavoro. Eppure, mentre lavoravamo a questi articoli, dovevamo gestire i disagi portati dalla quarantena e il senso di angoscia che ha colpito tutti noi, a volte purtroppo anche la perdita di persone care che sono morte senza il conforto che avremmo voluto dar loro. Il modello della danza della reciprocità è stato il nostro sfondo sicuro, lo scopo comune in cui ci siamo riconosciuti e abbiamo continuato a lavorare. Il numero inizia con il dialogo tra Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb e Massimo Ammaniti, "'Adolescenti senza tempo'. Radicamento relazionale e sviluppo del sé", un intreccio di linguaggi gestaltico e psicoanalitico sui vissuti degli adolescenti e sul supporto (necessario ma spesso mancante) delle figure di accudimento e della società tutta. Questo scambio, basato su un'amicizia consolidata, è avvenuto nell'ambito di uno dei convegni annuali (quello del 2019) che l'Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy organizza a Siracusa durante il periodo delle rappresentazioni classiche al Teatro Greco. Il titolo di quel convegno, "Adolescenti senza tempo", era preso in prestito dal recente libro di Ammaniti, psicoanalista esperto in teorie dell'attaccamento. Questo dialogo sul bisogno di relazione degli adolescenti, che costituiscono la parte di società più fragile, di cui dovremmo occuparci maggiormente, apre in modo significativo il numero 2020-1 della rivista, dedicato alla reciprocità in ottica di campo.
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Quaderni di Gestalt, Nov 1, 2018
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Papers by Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb
Methods: A sample composed of 209 psychotherapists (51 men, 157 women, 1 stated "other") aged 25-80 years old, 199 psychology graduates, 10 medical doctors, working in different regions of Italy, all holding a specialization in psychotherapy of different theoretical approaches, filled in the 46 items hypothesized for the composition of the ARK-T scale.
An Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out preliminarily on the intercorrelation matrix of the items, then subsequently a Confirmatory Analysis was performed according to the Lisrel model. Item analysis was also performed and Cronbach's alpha was calculated for reliability analysis of the global score and of the factors included in the final version of the scale.
Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses allowed the selection of 21 items that make up the final version of the ARK-T Scale. The main factors validated in previous studies (Body awareness, Resonance, and Empathy), operationalized in the therapeutic situation, were redefined into: Body Awareness, Intuitive Resonance, and Affective Empathy. The reliability of the scale is good for both total score (alpha=0.841) and factorial subscales.
Conclusions: By enabling the assessment of body process awareness and aesthetic-relational skills in therapy, the ARK-T scale has significant implications for the training and supervision of psychotherapists, as well as for research on the therapeutic change process.
Methods: A sample composed of 209 psychotherapists (51 men, 157 women, 1 stated "other") aged 25-80 years old, 199 psychology graduates, 10 medical doctors, working in different regions of Italy, all holding a specialization in psychotherapy of different theoretical approaches, filled in the 46 items hypothesized for the composition of the ARK-T scale.
An Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out preliminarily on the intercorrelation matrix of the items, then subsequently a Confirmatory Analysis was performed according to the Lisrel model. Item analysis was also performed and Cronbach's alpha was calculated for reliability analysis of the global score and of the factors included in the final version of the scale.
Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses allowed the selection of 21 items that make up the final version of the ARK-T Scale. The main factors validated in previous studies (Body awareness, Resonance, and Empathy), operationalized in the therapeutic situation, were redefined into: Body Awareness, Intuitive Resonance, and Affective Empathy. The reliability of the scale is good for both total score (alpha=0.841) and factorial subscales.
Conclusions: By enabling the assessment of body process awareness and aesthetic-relational skills in therapy, the ARK-T scale has significant implications for the training and supervision of psychotherapists, as well as for research on the therapeutic change process.
In these ten chapters, the author offers her readers a professional and human maturity developed over the thirty years of passion she has brought to her tireless work for Gestalt therapy in Italy and abroad.
This book greatly adds to Gestalt therapy’s intellectual and spiritual resources (…). I call this attitude clinical humility, an essential condition for the possibility of analytic love or affection that will not collapse, become destructive, or self-destruct. This book embraces with clarity and courage the need for the patient actually to matter emotionally to the therapist. Read on!
(From the Preface by Donna Orange)
But the merits of this book are not limited to showing the interconnections a- mong schools, or to updating Gestalt therapy to contemporary society, studying the technique in depth in various clinical contexts. For me this book has yet a- nother merit: it leads the reader on an adventure that is not only intellectual but also engrossing from the emotional point of view. And this is a central characte- ristic of Gestalt therapy that has always fascinated me.
(From the Preface by Paolo Migone)