6 - 10 March 2002 Bob Shore and Naomi Anderson
Day Thirteen 6 March 2002
We were in seminar groups and the task is to prepare this for Saturday. Each of the 3 groups has an article which describes a methodology of research. The group I am with has the title Researcher as Instrument.
Day Fourteen 7 March 2002
I really do not feel like expanding on the theoretical work. I do want to say how much I enjoyed this and also I recognise a number of aspects regarding Copernicus, Descartes, Newton and others and this led my thoughts to the history of mathematics; this being an overlapping area.
Day Fifteen 8 March 2002
So exhausted . . .
Day Sixteen 9 March 2002
RESEARCHER AS INSTRUMENT.
An Exploration of the Relationship between
Gestalt and Qualitative Methodology.
OR
‘You Don’t have to be a Gestaltist, but it Helps!’
'Five Axioms' of Qualitative Research;
1. Your Reality is not my Reality. Realities are multiple, constructed and holistic. There is not a single reality "out there".
2. Knower & Known are interactive and inseparable.
3. Time and Context Bound Hypotheses- each case is unique.
4. Mutual simultaneous shaping. Not cause and effect but evolving, holistic and interdependent.
5. Qualitative Inquiry is value bound.
The fundamental of the article is that qualitative research is value bound. The intimate involvement of the researcher, bringing their own reality, uniqueness, and so, their influence to the interaction, is considered not only valuable but essential to produce meaningful results.
This is in direct contrast to quantitative research, where the influence of the researcher is considered to introduce unwelcome 'bias' and to contaminate or invalidate the results.
"In qualitative research the person of the researcher is unavoidably and intentionally implicated in the inquiry."(Brown, J.R., 1997) The article identifies four major areas where common ground exists between Gestalt practice and qualitative research.
Awareness - The researcher's awareness of self, other and field is essential to reveal what is "actually going on" as we collect data.
Availability - Being present; the researchers ability to be immediate and in contact with the interviewee/ client participant in the here-and-now. The "I-Thou", dialogic relationship, rather than the "I-it".
Ability to use self as instrument; to be in touch with own affective response; to use all our senses; to be alive to the obvious to"…reverberate to what happens in this interaction…so that it becomes part of the dynamic... .(Polster & Polster, 1973).
Process orientation - "A process is a succession of events that one experiences, responds to and helps create." (Brown, J.R., 1997, p 80). Both Qualitative Researchers and Gestalt Therapists need to "…follow the tide as it flows [and] maintain a flexible, exploratory attitude"(ibid.). The researcher/therapist "…forgoes attempts to control the direction of the course of a therapeutic experience or a qualitative study and lays aside a desired outcome."(ibid, p 81)
Summary
As with all Qualitative research the results cannot be generalised due to the impracticality of studying a large number of cases. The main advantage, however, of this type of research is that it can produce in-depth findings that can give insight and meaning into felt human experience.
We have seen in the sketch a poorly conducted interview.
The researcher ignored the ever-changing field of which they are an essential part.
The researcher was not present in the relationship. She dismissed the feelings of the interviewee and took no notice of her own affective response.
Because the researcher was not applying Gestalt principles to the interview she could not use herself as instrument so could not produce meaningful results. The result clearly would not represent the felt experience of the interviewee.
Although Judith Brown, the author of the article, acknowledges that the Gestalt Approach cannot be learnt in a short time she goes on to advocate her two-week course on applying the 'basic principles' of Gestalt (p83) to Qualitative Research!
We strongly agree with her that the Gestalt Approach has 'much to offer to qualitative research' (p83) but we seriously question whether the Gestalt Approach, with its requirement for prolonged, in-depth training should be adopted by researchers who have been introduced to the subject in a two week course.
Perhaps you don't have to be a Gestaltist to produce meaningful results in Qualitative Research but it certainly helps - It might even be essential
Module: The Fundamentals of Gestalt Therapy part 2
2 - 6 January 2002 Jane Jameson-Milner
Day Eight 2 January 2002
We considered what the basics of gestalt therapy were. Working in pairs then brainstorming as a group to list all aspects of the theory we had dealt with and touched on to date. Those then highlighted (green) will be considered in more depth over the coming days.
As a group we considered what is we do as therapists ...
Day Nine 3 January 2002
We considered a number of aspects of effective therapy
Ways of being an effective therapist
Interventions
Awareness Experiments
Day Ten 4 January 2002
The theory continued from yesterday and dealt with attention to body language, shift of body, movement of hands, nuances of expression, gestures, breathing rhythms and their alterations.
Changes will suggest the polarities in the figural.
Raising awareness remains the fundamental requirement. This awareness deals with both what the client 'wants to do' and 'not want to do'. Each represents a polarity, each is valid. Acceptance and attention to each will lead towards integrating the polarities to allow the whole self to decide 'to do' or 'not to do'. Thus each part is respected and a choice made with awareness.
Day Eleven 5 January 2002
Contact and confluence
Confluence is part of the contact process.
Contact, contacting, over a period of time is a constant flow of contact and withdrawal.
Getting stuck at the withdrawal polarity is isolation; getting stuck at the contact polarity is confluence
Confluence:
Whatever you want to do will make me happy . . . we'll do what you want . . .
When two people share it is easy for the intimacy of sharing to slide into confluence. By enjoying the sharing the Self becomes blurred and becomes We. The Self can be so easily lost.
Healthy Confluence: working together with an agreed goal. Within a team healthy confluence allows each member to bring qualities to the team. Whilst the team is working to a common goal, each member takes their own journey to this goal.
Mother and child allows for healthy confluence. The mother is confluent in anticipating hte baby's needs.
Confluence is healthy when you are able to step out of, withdraw.
Within full contact there is confluence. The full contact may be confluent, or maybe an 'I-Thou' moment
Day Twelve 6 January 2002
Today I felt that I was finally present which heightened my anxieties on the issue of the last day and the need to close, say goodbye, at the end of the day.
The group process was so much more intense and real for me, this meaning also that I hurt with the accounts being put forward.
The day also produced other difficulties for me which, on balance, I believe I dealt with more than fairly for my part.
I closed the day with considerable anxiety for my self, my place and my acceptance in the group. This was a good ending for me with so much support forthcoming. Within myself I both felt and saw a core of bright solidity and this maintains me.
The theory session today revolved around observations that might indicate the interruptions to contact.
AND I am conscious of the danger of reading this prescriptively, so DON'T
Confluence:
mannerism exhibited - eyes attentive - wide eyed. Person is receptive, quietly spoken (so as not to become centre stage). Will use 'we' in place of 'I'. Prone to indecision, 'what should I do?' 'Which do you think is right for me?'
Retroflection:
body stiff, tense. Facial expression is tense, or pained looking. Body posture of turning away; eyes are not expressive. Breathing tends not to be relaxed, or rhythmic, perhaps shallow, sighing.
Desensitisation:
operates on auto-pilot, generally calm looking. Lacking emotion, or the display of emotion.
This interrupt will often be associated with deflection
Deflection:
little eye contact, eye movement, generally scattered.
