STID U TRENINGU ZA GEŠTALT TERAPEUTE – ISKUSTVO EDUKATORA
SHAME IN TRAINING FOR GESTALT THERAPISTS – TRAINER’S EXPERIENCE

Summary/Abstract: Shame is an inevitable companion to the learning process in training for Gestalt psychotherapists because the specific modes of experiential learning, as well as the demands for quality and excellence, make a suitable ground for generating shame among participants in this process. The purpose of this qualitative research is to contribute to a better understanding of how teachers recognize and deal with the experience of shame when it is being co-created in here and now relations with students. The convenience sampling was used in the research. Sample consisted of four graduated Gestalt therapists, aged between 46 and 63, who have years of experience working with students in training for Gestalt therapists and who participate in all educational segments. The data were collected through an in-depth semi-structured interview and processed through an interpretative phenomenological analysis method (IPA). The results of the research show that all four respondents know a lot about shame, have experienced it many times in relations during their work with students, and often recognize it in students when it appears, both explicitly and through defenses. However, they are often unaware of its presence in a moment of appearance in here and now in relation to students, but realize it subsequently, through their own defenses or through reactions and statements of others. The analysis identified two ways to handle co-created shame, which we called ”functional” and “non-functional” handling, in relation to the implications they have on the relationship. The results obtained are consistent with existing theories on the phenomenon and dynamics of shame.

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