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IS GESTALT THERAPY COMPATIBLE WITH FEMINIST THEOLOGY? A STUDY OF "PRACTICAL-VALUES" BY BARRIE L J HINKSMAN A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts of The University of Birmingham for a degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham May 2002 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Interdisciplinary work is of the essence of pastoral theology, most obviously where theology and the human sciences interact. Such work carries with it a number of risks that are not always addressed or even recognised. The principal risk is that a facile attempt to forge links between disciplines may lead to serious distortions of the meanings of both. This thesis examines gestalt therapy and feminist theology as possible candidates for interdisciplinary work. By reading and interrogating the literature of both disciplines, it identifies their origins and analyses their core ideas. The thesis affirms disputed links between gestalt philosophy, psychology and the later therapy, and examines other contributors to the development of gestalt and its core ideas. It next examines the development and scope of feminist theology before analysing core ideas across the range of voices in feminist writing. From these core ideas it is possible to establish the values that writers and practitioners find important in their lives (practical-values). On this basis, it is shown that these two disciplines, despite differences of history and purpose, are compatible with each other and therefore suitable candidates for interdisciplinary work. A M D G ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been helped and encouraged in this study by a number of people whom I acknowledge with gratitude. Firstly my thanks go to my supervisor, Emmanuel Lartey. His wisdom and learning have instilled in me a love of research and a desire to write. Next I thank those friends, particularly Rosemary Clarke and Christopher Lamb, who read numerous early drafts and gave me their generous criticism, and Deborah Biggerstaff, my critical reader of the last draft. I learned at an early age from my teachers about the interface of theology with the human sciences. In particular I am grateful to Frank Lake, Christopher Laurence and Lawrence Reading. In the field of gestalt therapy, I was privileged to learn from Ischa Bloomberg, Eoin O'Leary and Joan O'Leary. I thank also, for his compassionate clarity, Gary Yontef. There are many others who have helped me in my work. In the early stages I struggled with visual difficulties and was assisted by Tessa Beaver, Richard Hallett and Tom Southern who read for me. Other people are acknowledged at specific points in the text. There are yet others – most especially former patients, whose anonymity I have preserved - who have been of help to me. Often their help has been of broad rather than specific application. All are much appreciated. Lastly, I offer my gratitude to the staff of the libraries at the University of Birmingham and (by reciprocal arrangement) at the University of Warwick, and also the Lillington Branch of the Warwickshire County Library. They have greeted all my requests for books, papers and other assistance with unfailing good humour and interest. Their services have been impeccably efficient and their co-operation unfailing. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE 1 INTRODUCTION – an interdisciplinary approach 1 1.1 Theology 6 1.2 Psychotherapeutic psychology 13 1.3 Scope of the project 19 1.4 Methodology 21 1.5 Pattern and main lines of argument 25 Endnotes 30 2 GESTALT: ORIGINS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY CONSIDERATIONS – 38 introduction 2.1 Interdisciplinary considerations 39 2.2 The philosophical quest 40 2.3 The scientific quest 48 2.4 The psychotherapeutic quest 53 2.5 Gestalt philosophy 58 2.6 Gestalt psychology 64 2.7 Links between gestalt philosophy and psychology 67 2.8 Some philosophical issues in gestalt 69 2.9 Gestalt therapy and gestalt philosophy 71 2.10 The subject is part of the Gestalt 73 2.11 Von oben nach unten: the whole and the parts 74 2.12 The breadth of the gestalt idea 76 2.13 Stumpf’s view of philosophy and psychology 78 2.14 Conclusion 79 Endnotes 81 3 INFLUENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GESTALT THERAPY – 90 introduction 3.1 The language of psychotherapeutic theory 92 3.2 Perls and Freudian psychoanalysis 96 3.3 Perls and Reich 102 3.4 Smuts and holism 106 3.5 Salomo Friedlaender 108 3.6 Kurt Goldstein 112 3.7 The gestaltists 115 3.8 Lewin 120 3.9 The influence of the existentialists 123 3.10 Conclusion 126 Endnotes 127 4 THE SELF AND CORE IDEAS IN GESTALT – 137 Introduction 4.1 The self in gestalt theory 139 4.2 Contact process and the self 143 4.3 Core ideas in gestalt: the primacy of experience 147 4.4 Core ideas in gestalt: holism 148 4.5 Core ideas in gestalt: personal / interpersonal / political 150 4.6 Core ideas in gestalt: self-regulation and Prägnanz 151 4.7 Core ideas in gestalt: evolution 153 4.8 Core ideas in gestalt: Here and Now 154 4.9 Core ideas in gestalt: implications of response-ability 155 4.10 Summary 157 Endnotes 160 PART TWO 5 FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES AND FEMINIST THEOLOGY – 162 Introduction 5.1 Feminism and philosophies 164 5.2 Feminist perspectives in theology 173 5.3 Feminist perspectives in biblical theology: methodological considerations 179 5.4 Feminist perspectives in pastoral theology 182 5.5 Feminist perspectives in christology 187 5.6 Feminist spirituality and sexual politics 192 5.7 Conclusion 196 Endnotes 198 6 CORE IDEAS IN FEMINIST THEOLOGY – 204 Introduction 6.1 Core ideas: the place of experience 207 6.2 Core ideas: the body as a specific of feminist epistemology 213 6.3 Core ideas: the place of gender in feminist theology 224 6.4 Core ideas: the personal and the political 226 6.5 Core ideas: confronting patriarchy 228 6.6 Core ideas: commitment to change 232 6.7 Core ideas: Jesus and the messianic community 234 6.8 Core ideas: God / God/dess 238 6.9 Conclusion 243 Endnotes 244 PART THREE 7 COMPARING PRACTICAL-VALUES 248 Introduction 7.1 Practical-values: the place of experience 251 7.2 Practical-values: holism and embodiment 258 7.3 Practical values: gender 263 7.4 Practical-values: personal, interpersonal, political and theological 268 7.5 Practical-values: commitment to change 272 7.6 Practical-values: the messianic community, here and now 274 7.7 Practical-values: transcendence and responsibility 278 7.8 Conclusion 282 Endnotes 284 8 CONCLUSIONS – 289 Introduction 8.1 Gestalt: origins, development and core ideas 291 8.2 Feminist theology: origins, development and core ideas 294 8.3 Practical-values and the compatibility of gestalt and feminist theology 295 8.4 Problems, weaknesses and strengths of the thesis 296 8.5 Main findings of the thesis 299 8.6 Areas for further research 305 Endnotes 310 REFERENCES 311 INTRODUCTION 1. Aim of thesis and its context The aim of this thesis is to establish that a particular school of (psychotherapeutic) psychology is compatible with the theological discipline of feminist theology. It seeks to establish this compatibility on the basis of what are termed "practical-values". The question of compatibility is expanded to include a wider question about interdisciplinary work in pastoral theology. The thesis is written at a time when there is an increasing and ongoing critical public debate about science and religion. This is often discussed as a clash of two cultures although it is more exact to see it as a philosophical clash entailing ontology and epistemology. What is at stake is the reality or otherwise of important propositions about the way the universe is and about how we can know what we know. One of the major themes of the public debate about science and religion is a question about the status of religious language and thought. This question becomes figural in the mass media principally when it is seen against the background of (the public understanding) of scientific thinking. Is too much reliance placed upon scientific enquiry and theory, and, if so, where are the limits of the authority of the scientist? This question is of particular importance for pastoral theology where people are engaging simultaneously in disciplines as diverse as politics, economics, sociology and psychology as well as theology. This thesis concerns interdisciplinary work entailing psychology and theology. For some time, and particularly since the end of the Second World War, an increasing number of writers engaged 1 in pastoral ministry and pastoral theology, have developed new ideas and practices related to their understandings of theology and to the psychology of counselling and psychotherapy. Demands for training in pastoral counselling in the USA rose dramatically during the 1950s and remain high. In the UK, this same phenomenon appeared in the early 1960s, and demand is still high, especially in ministerial training courses and colleges where it is often seen as the most practical and appealing element of practical or pastoral theology. To assert that there is common ground between the disciplines of theology and psychology is nowadays to make a commonplace observation.
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