ABSTRACT
As long as we are living, there is no choice as to whether we are in contact with our world or that the world is in contact with us, the only choice we have is the degree of contact we experience and how we moderate contact. Therapists might like to think that thoughts, feelings and sensations belong to the individual, a popular misconception that has led to whole psychotherapy approaches being built around this western cultural fantasy. In gestalt these qualities are seen as emergent phenomena that come into being in that space between relationships, meaning being co-constructed in the present. From birth to death everything is temporary and impermanent. We are all situated in the world and we all bring our situation to every meeting we encounter in the world in the here and now, that includes our history and our aspirations, hopes and fears for the future.
