Moving towards more supportive fields: Communities of Practice (COPs), Community Action Networks (CANs), and Relational Communities of Practice (RCOPs)

"Abstract: Since its inception Gestalt psychotherapy has been ‘relational’. Indeed, the very notion of ‘contact’, a formulation lying at the heart of the theory, makes no sense without a concept of one variable, classically ‘organism’, coming up against another, classically ‘environment’ (see Perls, 1973; Polster and Polster, 1973, for more discussion). To advance scholarship and practice, however, requires us to reflect continually on both the nature and application of this relationality; determining whether or not Gestalt is still living up to these insights and aspirations, and in what new ways we might deliver good Gestalt practice, both with individuals and with groups and communities. In this paper we seek to contribute to this personal and community reflection as applied to working with communities and teams. We will therefore focus on a selection of ways that Gestalt theory can be applied to practical community-building strategies and the challenges that such applications pose. We will do this from the perspectives of theoretical discussion about the subject and personal experiences of approaches to community and team-building. We will suggest that, due to its flexible and relational qualities, a Gestalt approach is suited to being an approach of choice for creating more supportive communities and teams where individuals can flourish. We add that drawing explicitly on other theories about communities of practice and community action networks can add to our theoretical and practical sensitivities in this area. Key words: Gestalt, relational, community, authenticity, presence."