ABSTRACT
Fritz Perls himself, having just left psychoanalysis for Gestalt Therapy, began with his patients lying on the couch. Proxemics is the study of the symbolic meaning of space in various cultures, and of socially correct distance and contact: handshaking, embracing, kissing, etc. In the dual setting, direct physical interaction between therapist and client is more limited, and more delicate to manage, for several reasons. In fact, the Gestalt practitioner prefers to draw on, at each moment, and with constant awareness, that which emerges spontaneously, "as it happens, and when it happens". He is particularly attentive to all of the physical manifestations of his client: posture and movement, as well as semi-automatic micro-gestures, like "Freudian slips of the body" which reveal processes that are mostly unconscious. The Gestalt practitioner is careful about making any interpretation of gesture or "body language" according to a pre-established code, which is the technique proposed by Alexander Lowen in his bioenergetic approach.
