Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy
Drawing from field theory, Gestalt therapy conceives psychological suffering and psychotherapy as two intentional field phenomena, where unprocessed and chaotic experiences seek the opportunity to emerge and be assimilated through the contact between the patient and the therapist (i.e., the intentio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.906188/full |
| _version_ | 1811296751033778176 |
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| author | Pietro Sarasso Gianni Francesetti Jan Roubal Michela Gecele Irene Ronga Marco Neppi-Modona Katiuscia Sacco |
| author_facet | Pietro Sarasso Gianni Francesetti Jan Roubal Michela Gecele Irene Ronga Marco Neppi-Modona Katiuscia Sacco |
| author_sort | Pietro Sarasso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drawing from field theory, Gestalt therapy conceives psychological suffering and psychotherapy as two intentional field phenomena, where unprocessed and chaotic experiences seek the opportunity to emerge and be assimilated through the contact between the patient and the therapist (i.e., the intentionality of contacting). This therapeutic approach is based on the therapist’s aesthetic experience of his/her embodied presence in the flow of the healing process because (1) the perception of beauty can provide the therapist with feedback on the assimilation of unprocessed experiences; (2) the therapist’s attentional focus on intrinsic aesthetic diagnostic criteria can facilitate the modification of rigid psychopathological fields by supporting the openness to novel experiences. The aim of the present manuscript is to review recent evidence from psychophysiology, neuroaesthetic research, and neurocomputational models of cognition, such as the free energy principle (FEP), which support the notion of the therapeutic potential of aesthetic sensibility in Gestalt psychotherapy. Drawing from neuroimaging data, psychophysiology and recent neurocognitive accounts of aesthetic perception, we propose a novel interpretation of the sense of beauty as a self-generated reward motivating us to assimilate an ever-greater spectrum of sensory and affective states in our predictive representation of ourselves and the world and supporting the intentionality of contact. Expecting beauty, in the psychotherapeutic encounter, can help therapists tolerate uncertainty avoiding impulsive behaviours and to stay tuned to the process of change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:53:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-44db7f2ea1f74278939319bfeada03e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:53:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-44db7f2ea1f74278939319bfeada03e82022-12-22T02:59:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612022-07-011610.3389/fnhum.2022.906188906188Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt PsychotherapyPietro Sarasso0Gianni Francesetti1Jan Roubal2Michela Gecele3Irene Ronga4Marco Neppi-Modona5Katiuscia Sacco6BraIn Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, ItalyInternational Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology, Turin Center for Gestalt Therapy, Turin, ItalyPsychotherapy Training Gestalt Studia, Training in Psychotherapy Integration, Center for Psychotherapy Research in Brno, Masaryk University, Brno, CzechiaInternational Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology, Turin Center for Gestalt Therapy, Turin, ItalyBraIn Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, ItalyBraIn Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, ItalyBraIn Plasticity and Behaviour Changes Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, ItalyDrawing from field theory, Gestalt therapy conceives psychological suffering and psychotherapy as two intentional field phenomena, where unprocessed and chaotic experiences seek the opportunity to emerge and be assimilated through the contact between the patient and the therapist (i.e., the intentionality of contacting). This therapeutic approach is based on the therapist’s aesthetic experience of his/her embodied presence in the flow of the healing process because (1) the perception of beauty can provide the therapist with feedback on the assimilation of unprocessed experiences; (2) the therapist’s attentional focus on intrinsic aesthetic diagnostic criteria can facilitate the modification of rigid psychopathological fields by supporting the openness to novel experiences. The aim of the present manuscript is to review recent evidence from psychophysiology, neuroaesthetic research, and neurocomputational models of cognition, such as the free energy principle (FEP), which support the notion of the therapeutic potential of aesthetic sensibility in Gestalt psychotherapy. Drawing from neuroimaging data, psychophysiology and recent neurocognitive accounts of aesthetic perception, we propose a novel interpretation of the sense of beauty as a self-generated reward motivating us to assimilate an ever-greater spectrum of sensory and affective states in our predictive representation of ourselves and the world and supporting the intentionality of contact. Expecting beauty, in the psychotherapeutic encounter, can help therapists tolerate uncertainty avoiding impulsive behaviours and to stay tuned to the process of change.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.906188/fullneuroaestheticsgestalt therapypredictive codingfield theorypsychopathology |
| spellingShingle | Pietro Sarasso Gianni Francesetti Jan Roubal Michela Gecele Irene Ronga Marco Neppi-Modona Katiuscia Sacco Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy Frontiers in Human Neuroscience neuroaesthetics gestalt therapy predictive coding field theory psychopathology |
| title | Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy |
| title_full | Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy |
| title_fullStr | Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy |
| title_short | Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy |
| title_sort | beauty and uncertainty as transformative factors a free energy principle account of aesthetic diagnosis and intervention in gestalt psychotherapy |
| topic | neuroaesthetics gestalt therapy predictive coding field theory psychopathology |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.906188/full |
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