Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
The emphasis on the person of the therapist as a subject of theoretical and practical psychotherapy emerges at this time in history largely because of the reemergence of the concern with the uniqueness of human experience over the past century. This study hopes to gain some understanding of the self by focusing specifically on the experience of the trainee Gestalt therapist in order to gain insight into the essence of her experiences of being trained as a therapist.
The phenomenological system of inquiry is employed as the mode of research in an attempt to study the experiences of five trainee therapists undergoing specialized training in Gestalt therapy during the second year of their professional training as psychologists at RAU. In an attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of their experiences, phenomenological interviews were held and recorded and thereafter transcribed verbatim. Intra- and inter-individual analysis of the transcriptions were done and a number of central and common themes emerged from the inter-individual analysis which capture the essence of their experiences as trainee Gestalt therapists. The value of this study lies mainly in its ability to gain an in-depth understanding and insight into the lived experience of trainee Gestalt therapists. The responses from the participants has implications for future training in Gestalt therapy as well as the general training of therapists within the South African context.