Hans-Jürgen Walter
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hans-Jürgen P. Walter (born 25 March 1944 in
Gladenbach Gladenbach [] is a town in Hesse, Germany, in the west of Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Geography Location The town of Gladenbach lies on the eastern edge of the Westerwald in the Hessian Highland (''Bergland''). This part of the Lahn-Dill Highlan ...
-Weidenhausen,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
) is a German
psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
and
psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
known as one of the main founders of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy. Walter studied psychology with the German Gestalt psychologists Edwin Rausch and Friedrich Hoeth, eminent representatives of the second and third generation of
Gestalt theory Gestalt may refer to: Psychology * Gestalt psychology, a school of psychology * Gestalt therapy, a form of psychotherapy Arts and media * ''Gestalt'' (album), a 2012 album by the Spill Canvas * ''Gestalt'' (manga), a manga series by Yun Kōga * ...
in Germany. Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy GTP spread as a psychotherapeutic method in the German-speaking countries, being officially accredited as an independent scientific psychotherapy method in Austria.


Life and study

Between 1965 and 1971 Hans-Jürgen Walter studied psychology and German studies in
Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...
and
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany. In 1977 he earned his doctorate in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
with a thesis on ''Die Gestalttheorie als wissenschaftliche Grundlage psychotherapeutischer Praxis und ihre Beziehung zu psychotherapeutischen Ansaetzen der Gegenwart'' ("The Gestalt theory as a scientific base for psychotherapy practice and its relation to contemporary approaches in psychotherapy"). This thesis shows that Gestalt theory can provide an appropriate framework to integrate the methods and merits of many other psychotherapeutic schools, especially the analytic and the humanistic ones. This work has appeared in 1994 in its third and enlarged edition under the title ''Gestalt Theorie und Psychotherapy. Zur integrativen Anwendung zeitgenoessischer Therapieformen'' ("Gestalt Theory and Psychotherapy: an integrative approach to contemporary forms of psychotherapy"). It is considered the first basic text for Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy in its contemporary form. Walter held a teaching position for Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
and at several psychotherapy institutes in Germany and
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. In 1999 he was appointed honorary chairman of the international ''Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications'' (GTA). He has been one of the editors of the international multidisciplinary journal ''Gestalt Theory'' (Sciendo, De Gruyter), and is now a member of its ''Founders and Honorary Board''.


History

Many years of intensive pursuit of theoretical and practical evaluation of several psychotherapeutical approaches preceded Walter's formation and development of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy. Before him, other well-known representatives of Gestalt psychology of the Berlin school, especially in the U.S.A. (for example Erwin Levy, Abraham S. Luchins, Erika Oppenheimer-Fromm,
Molly Harrower Molly Harrower (born Mary Rachel Harrower; January 25, 1906 – February 20, 1999) was an American clinical psychologist. During the Second World War she created a large-scale multiple choice Rorschach test. She was one of the first clinical psych ...
, Junius F. Brown and other students of
Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...
) had stated their opinions and elaborated theoretically and practically on applying Gestalt theory to psychotherapeutic problems. Walter, however, earned recognition for being the first to generally, originally and stringently use the theoretical and practical possibilities of Gestalt theory to formulate a consistent and encompassing Gestalt theoretical approach to
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
. In addition to this, he also argued that it was possible to use Gestalt theoretical principles in order to develop and extend the
Gestalt therapy Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes Responsibility assumption, personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist–client relationship, the environmental and social c ...
of
Fritz Perls Friedrich Salomon Perls (July 8, 1893 – March 14, 1970), better known as Fritz Perls, was a German-born psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Perls coined the term "Gestalt therapy" to identify the form of psychotherapy that he devel ...
, which Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is related, but not identical, to.See Walter 1984
''What do Gestalt therapy and Gestalt theory have to do with each other?''
One of the most striking characteristics of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is the key role of the
epistemological Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...
grounding position of Gestalt theory (''critical realism'') and its consideration in all fundamental, theoretical and practical problems in psychotherapy. In Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy this is closely bound up with the basic methodological approach (holistic, phenomenological, experimental) of Gestalt theory, its system theoretical approach, its specific psychophysical and psychological approach. Walter has started to bring all of these approaches together, as well as the long and rich tradition of Gestalt theoretical experimental research.


Works

*Hans-Jürgen P. Walter: ''Gestalttheorie und Psychotherapie'' (Gestalt theory and psychotherapy). Westdeutscher Verlag: Opladen 1994 (3. Auflage). *Hans-Jürgen P. Walter: ''Angewandte Gestalttheorie in Psychotherapie und Psychohygiene'' (Applied Gestalt theory in psychotherapy and psychohygiene). Westdeutscher Verlag: Opladen 1996. *Entry about life and work of Hans-Jürgen P. Walter in: G. Stumm, A. Pritz (Hrsg.), ''Personenlexikon der Psychotherapie'', Springer: Vienna 2003


References


External links


About life and work of Hans-Jürgen Walter


* ttp://www.gestalttheory.net/archive/juergen_walter.html Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Gestalt-Theoretical Psychotherapy (article in full text)br>What do Gestalt therapy and Gestalt theory have to do with each other? (article in full text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Hans-Jurgen 1944 births Living people 20th-century German psychologists Gestalt psychologists German psychotherapists