THEMATIC WORKSHOPS

 

PSYCHOLOGY AND MUSIC

(Organizer: Walter Coppola)

 

Music is an activity that has always accompanied the development of mankind, in every age and at all latitudes. Psychological investigation highlights the functions underlying this artistic activity, which, as performers or simple users, involves more or less everyone: expression of emotions, aesthetic enjoyment, symbolic representation, communication through a specific language – that of music -.

It is interesting to note how the Psychology of Music lends itself to being treated from an interdisciplinary perspective, involving various fields: perceptive, emotional, historical-cultural, philosophical, anthropological, ethno-musicological.

It is with this in mind that the various speakers, coming from different fields, will offer an interesting and varied overview.

 

 

LANGUAGE, PARTS AND WHOLES REVISITED. VIA GESTALT AND OTHER THEORETICAL APPROACHES

(Organizer: Savina Raynaud)

 

Language is the shared focus of this thematic workshop proposal for GTA Conference 2022. Two research perspectives, one mainly historiographical, the other theoretical, will be outlined.

The first deals with

  • Karl Bühler’s thought and his Gestalt concept;
  • a Prague contribution: Vilém Mathesius and the Prague Linguistic Circle, the focus on ellipsis in speech and on languages as open, living re-balanced systems.
  • Finnish linguistics and the Finnish lexicon: words in language structures

The second deals with

  • the relationship between compositionality and contextuality in the analytical philosophy of language;
  • an experimental psychological investigation concerning the Word Superiority Effect: i.e., suggesting letter processing in children with dyslexia and typically developing readers as a function of orthographic context type;
  • the core relationship between the explicit parts of a literary text referring to non-verbal, multimodal communication and the evoked or inferred parts, both of which restore psychological depth to a literary character.

 

 

GESTALT THEORY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

(Organizer: Angelika Böhm)

 

From its very beginnings, the Gestalt theory of the Berlin School has inspired people in the psychotherapeutic field to use it in clinical application. In some therapy methods parts of its conception were taken up, so for example in the group psychoanalysis of Foulkes and Bion, in the Gestalt therapy of Perls, in the Katathym-Imaginative psychotherapy of Leuner, and others. The Gestalt psychological approach was close to the individual psychology of Adler from the beginning, also to its extension in Rogerian therapy. Therapists trained in Gestalt theory contributed significantly to the development of group therapy (A.S. Luchins), to, hypnotherapy (Oppenheimer-Fromm) and poetry therapy (Harrower). For more than 40 years, these approaches have now been systematically brought together in an integrative therapy method in its own right, which is now already recognized and taught in Austria as an independent scientifically founded therapy method: Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy.

In this workshop, the basics of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy (epistemological background, therapeutic attitude, therapeutic relationship, dynamic approach and praxeology) will first be presented and discussed by teaching therapists of the method, following the recently published book “Essentials of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy”. Edward Ragsdale, a GTA colleague who has come from the USA, will then address a highly topical social-psychological issue that occurs daily in psychotherapeutic practices and seems to be increasing: polarization in our society. With regard to the Gestalt field-theory and depth psychology he will focus on practical and theoretical aspects of polarization as a problem of intrapsychic value conflict.  Furthermore, Thomas Fuchs, a Gestalt Theoretical psychotherapist from Germany, will then present the Gestalt Theoretical view on the specificity of the psychotherapeutic relationship in the context of possible conflicts and crises during the therapeutic process. Finally, Simone Bruckner will report on the practical application of Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy using pain therapy as an example.

 

 

Zur Aktualität der Feldtheorie Kurt Lewins/On the Actuality of Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory (Organizer: Marianne Soff)

 

This workshop is dedicated tothe comprehensive and varied work of Kurt Lewin (1890-1947), one of the most famous representatives of the Berlin School of Gestalt Theory. His further development of Gestalt theory, named Dynamic Theory, Topological Psychology, Vector Psychology or finally Field Theory, is still inspiring psychological, psychotherapeutic and pedagogical work.

The workshop is part of a book project (“Kurt Lewin Reloaded 2”) initiated by two of the participants, Dirk Bogner and Neslihan  Sriram-Uzundal. The GTA-conference in Trieste offers a unique opportunity for personal meeting and expert exchange on planned contributions to this book. Mutual presentation of different approaches and applications of Lewin’s heritage and exchange with other participants of the conference is an excellent chance for broadening and reframing. Six short input contributions will be presented:

Dirk Bogner’s field theoretical considerations on the mindfulness movement and Neslihan Sriram’s sounding out similarities and differences between field theory and Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance emphasize the dialogue ability of Lewinian constructs to actually discussed currents in social and educational science. Herbert Fitzek and Jülyet Incel present students design spaces of personal experiences in actual business enterprises, inspired by Lewin, one of the most influential business psychologists. Field theoretical and group dynamical examples from supervision, coaching, psychotherapy, team development and training will be discussed by Monika Stützle-Hebel. The actuality of the political side of Kurt Lewin is emphasized by Ines Langemeyer, presenting Lewin’s psychological processing of war, and Marianne Soff, discussing the possibility of promoting democracy in schools based on the results of the famous experiments on leadership styles and group atmospheres.

 

Dieser Workshop widmet sich dem umfassenden und vielfältigen Werk von Kurt Lewin (1890-1947), einem der bekanntesten Vertreter der Berliner Schule der Gestalttheorie. Seine Weiterentwicklung der Gestalttheorie, genannt Dynamische Theorie, Topologische Psychologie, Vektorpsychologie oder schließlich Feldtheorie, inspiriert bis heute die psychologische, psychotherapeutische und pädagogische Arbeit.

Der Workshop ist Teil eines Buchprojekts (“Kurt Lewin Reloaded 2”), das von zwei der Teilnehmer, Dirk Bogner und Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal, initiiert wurde. Die GTA-Konferenz in Triest bietet eine einmalige Gelegenheit zur persönlichen Begegnung und zum fachlichen Austausch über die geplanten Beiträge zu diesem Buch. Die gegenseitige Vorstellung verschiedener Ansätze und Anwendungen des Lewinschen Erbes und der Austausch mit anderen Konferenzteilnehmern ist eine hervorragende Chance zur Erweiterung und Neuausrichtung. Es werden sechs kurze Input-Beiträge präsentiert:

Dirk Bogners feldtheoretische Überlegungen zur Achtsamkeitsbewegung und Neslihan Srirams Auslotung von Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden zwischen der Feldtheorie und Hartmut Rosas Resonanzkonzept unterstreichen die Dialogfähigkeit Lewinscher Konstrukte zu aktuell diskutierten Strömungen in der Sozial- und Erziehungswissenschaft. Herbert Fitzek und Jülyet Incel präsentieren gelebte Wirkungsräume aufgrund persönlicher Erfahrungen von Studierenden in realen Wirtschaftsunternehmen, inspiriert von Lewin, einem der einflussreichsten Wirtschaftspsychologen. Feldtheoretische und gruppendynamische Beispiele aus Supervision, Coaching, Psychotherapie, Teamentwicklung und Training werden von Monika Stützle-Hebel diskutiert. Die Aktualität der politischen Seite von Kurt Lewin betonen Ines Langemeyer, die Lewins psychologische Verarbeitung von Krieg vorstellt, und Marianne Soff, die Möglichkeiten der Demokratieförderung in Schulen auf der Grundlage der Ergebnisse der berühmten Experimente zu Führungsstilen und Gruppenatmosphären diskutiert.

 

Call for Thematic Workshops Submissions

 

We invite you to submit proposals for Thematic Workshops at GTA Conference.

General information about Thematic Workshops

A thematic workshopshould provide a topic that is of interest for the GTA audience. The individual talks should relate to each other and be suited to provoke discussion.

Each thematic workshop has a total length of 2 hours. The time is shared among 4-6 speakers, who each contribute with a talk of 20 or 30 min, including discussion. The thematic workshop will be moderated by the organizer or a selected speaker.

Submission guidelines

The organizer of the thematic workshop is in charge of the submission. The submission includes the title, abstract (max. 300 words), and speakers of the thematic workshop. Include a full list of confirmed speakers and the titles of their contributions.

The deadline for submissions is February 28th, 2022. Please submit your thematic workshop proposal to: info@gtaconference2022.com. All contributions will be reviewed by a scientific committee. You will be notified about the decision March 15, 2022.

Please note that all speakers of accepted thematic workshop contributions will also have to register as participants for the conference and pay the regular fee.

We look forward to receiving your proposal.