The Therapist's Intuition and Responsiveness: What Makes the Difference between Expert and in Training Gestalt Psychotherapists

This study aims to investigate the presence in different years of training of the student/therapist's intuition and responsiveness, understood as ability to integrate bodily sensitivity and cognition of what s/he experiences with the patient (aesthetic relational knowing - ARK). The study compares how the therapist's felt sense of the phenomenological intersubjective field and aesthetic relational competence differs between psychotherapists and beginners. The sample consisted of 128 participants (20M; 108F), divided into two groups: "experienced therapists" and "beginners". Aesthetic Relational Knowledge Scale (ARKS), a questionnaire consisting of 58 items and three factor (empathy, body awareness, and resonance) was administered. Significant differences between the two groups were found in body awareness and resonance. Body awareness was found to be the variable best discriminating between beginners and experienced psychotherapists. Empathy appears more relevant at the beginning of training. The study shows the importance of training for the development of the therapist's intuition and responsiveness, relative to body awareness and resonance. Also empathy is influenced by training, becoming more regulated. The results indicate the importance for assessing the aesthetic and field resonance of therapists in training, increasing quality and depth of the therapist's responsiveness. The ARKS can monitor the efficacy of training related to these competences.