The Now is not what it used to be . . . The meaning of time in Gestalt therapy or the times of meaning in Gestalt therapy

Abstract

"Abstract: This paper is based on a keynote lecture that was given at the biannual conference of the Gestaltterapeutisk Forum in Copenhagen on March 26, 2011. Therefore it includes some special references to Denmark and Søren Kierkegaard. The title of the conference was ‘The Now: The Meaning of Time in Gestalt Therapy’. The author investigates the question, how the Now can be understood in ways that are in accordance with Gestalt therapy’s roots in phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, and holism. He points out that temporality and mean- ing-making are closely linked together, which leads to the idea that there is no absolute Now. Instead, it is proposed that the duration of a respective Now should be defined with respect to the complexity of the meaning that is to be created. A holarchy of Nows is proposed, in which ‘individual sensory Nows’, an ‘integrated sensory Now’, a ‘semantic Now’, a ‘situational Now’, and a ‘hermeneutic Now’ are inherently interrelated. Key words: Gestalt psychology, holism, meaning, now, phenomenology, time."