CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Emergence
The Gestalt Approach to Change
Over the last forty years, members of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland have been creating organization development (OD) theory from the fields of Gestalt psychology and Gestalt therapy. Steeped in humanistic psychology, phenomenology and existentialism, holism, field theory, and systems theory, the Gestalt approach to OD has evolved into a present-centered, awareness building, high-impact form of intervention. Besides the unique approach toward making interventions, it has a particular bent in its core assumptions that has led to the development of the Gestalt “consulting stance.” This chapter discusses the core of Gestalt theory and the Gestalt consulting ...
