This issue of Figuremergenti aims to continue the work developed during the last conference of the Gestalt School of Turin.
The theme of that conference was Effortless Self-regulation and it was perhaps one of the most controversial conferences of our school.
The people who organize our conference each year change and have different levels of experience and skills. This year’s organizing group decided that the functioning of the group itself would be an experience of seeking effortless self-regulation.
What effortless self-regulation means was discussed at the conference. I hope that the articles in this issue will bring further clarity on this and on the close link that exists between self-regulation and awareness, which are the two central themes of this issue of the journal.
Some of the choices made by the conference organizing group were not appreciated and sparked intense criticism. For us, criticism is always important. Even more so when addressing the topic of self-regulation.
We often state that our association, which includes the schools, this journal, the sexology center, and many other initiatives, does not function on a democratic principle but on an anarchic principle.
This means that decisions among us are not made by majority.
It means that the individual decides for the group and the group decides for the individual.
It means that those who take on and are delegated the responsibility and effort to organize and support activities are recognized with the power to decide and act, without expecting the staff of the various components of the association to have control over everything that is decided and chosen. Then the choices will be discussed, criticized, challenged, and we will continue to discuss until we reach an understanding in which we can all recognize ourselves and embrace.
It is intense and difficult to proceed in this way, and we believe it makes us grow, which is one of the important criteria that Gestalt Therapy has for defining health.
This issue of the journal also aims to be an experience of self-regulation. We start with a limited number of articles and then every month others will be added that will be modified by the reflections we will make this year and that we would like to be enriched by the comments, appreciations, and criticisms of those who will read the articles.
With this issue, we also begin the publication of the English translation of the Gestalt Sexology Manual published in Italy by Franco Angeli in 2023, to support a dialogue, already begun with colleagues from other countries, on the particularity of working with sexuality in Gestalt therapy.
This first block includes an in-depth article by Mariano Pizzimenti on effortless self-regulation, one by Barbara Bellini on Perls’ last manuscript: Psychopathology of Awareness, one by Vilija Girgždė, Ph.D., Lithuanian psychotherapist who explores the theme of awareness in working with couples, an article by Evelina Praino, a philosopher who works with the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm in Rome, who brings us a different perspective on awareness, and finally, an article by Monica Prato and Elena Palladino that focus attention on the practice of co-facilitation.
In the following months, we will publish contributions from speakers who participated in the conference, and we will also begin publishing articles in their original language from professionals and scholars who address our same theme in international journals.
We will also resume the publication of theses from trainees, both in psychotherapy and Counselling.
From this issue, our journal will also be entirely downloadable in English.
All these new features involve a considerable increase in work and skills within the editorial staff and an increase in costs.
Wanting to keep our journal available to everyone and simultaneously wanting to grow it both in academic and scientific validity, and in terms of dialogue and exchange “in the world of life,” we have decided to ask for a voluntary contribution from anyone who wants to support our project.
Adding ourselves to the number of those asking for money is not simple. As Gaber said, they ask us for money for so many good causes that would perish without our contribution and he wondered, “But do I have to do everything?” Obviously not! The only thing we can propose is for you to make a contribution to this issue and verify, by reading us, if there will be growth in our offering.
You will find the icon of a piggy bank. Any amount will be welcome and will contribute fundamentally to improving and growing Figuremergenti. For now, it will only be usable from a computer, but it will soon be available on smartphones as well.
We wish you well and to be satisfied
The editorial staff of Figuremergenti
