Introduction to the Committee
The Professional Competencies and Qualitative Standards (PC&QS) Committee supports the Gestalt Therapy community by highlighting the importance of the acquisition and constant development of therapeutic competences, particularly those specific to Gestalt Therapy.
We are also constantly debating and exploring ways to maintain and further develop quality standards governing our profession and Gestalt Therapy practice.
Between 2011 and 2018, the committee has been working to define Specific Competencies of Gestalt therapists. A draft document was produced in 2013, and revised in 2016 and 2018.
Our Aims
- Supporting the Gestalt Therapy community through maintaining awareness of the importance of the process of acquiring and constant development of therapeutic competences, especially those specific to Gestalt Therapy.
- Debating the role of defining therapeutic competencies in Gestalt Therapy in general, as well as in the processes of training and personal development.
– Defined competencies are not intended to be a prescribed set of skills, which have to be acquired all at once. We understand them more as a result of a constant process of development rooted in one’s own professional path.
– Each Gestalt therapist embodies competencies differently according to one’s own personality and personal style. The integration of this uniqueness is expressed in a specific personal therapeutic style. - Debating and exploring ways to maintain and further develop quality standards of our profession and Gestalt Therapy practice.
Ongoing Tasks & Projects
Ongoing projects:
- The evaluation of core competencies of psychotherapists in gestalt training and Gestalt Therapy practice – using the QACP, a validated Questionnaire for Assessment of Psychotherapists’ Competencies. (EAGT supported research project).
- Gestalt Therapy online, reviewing competencies needed for online Gestalt Therapy work.
Upcoming projects:
- EAP has begun a second phase of the “Psychotherapy Competences Project”, which aims to support development of modality specific competences. The EAGT PC&QS Committee has already developed a document describing Specific Competencies of Gestalt Therapists; however, this might be a chance to support further discussion about the Gestalt specific competences and the document’s use at personal, institute and community level.
- Research aiming to explore how quality standards and therapeutic competencies are maintained and further developed through lifelong Gestalt Therapy practice.
Past Projects
The original PC&QS Committee went to great effort to develop and discuss with our community the Specific Competencies of a Gestalt Therapist document. With the finalisation of the first version in 2013 Gestalt Therapy became one of the first therapeutic modalities to complete this process.
Get in Touch with us
We invite you to share with us your suggestions, comments and feedback on our work by sending an email to info@eagt.org. You can write or join us in our regular PC&QS Committee meetings.
