ABSTRACT
There can be a tendency to dismantle theory without suggesting alternative viewpoints but in putting the case against transference, Jacobs proposes that viewing the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship through a lens of enduring relational themes (ERTs) remains true to gestalt’s situational and phenomenological world view. These ERTs need to be seen as organising activities in which the client assimilates the therapy situation into thematic structures of their experience to date. The presentation of relational themes can be seen as a snapshot of the client’s relationship with the world, therefore when they present there is the opportunity for a transformative experience, an opportunity for at least partial reparation of past hurts by virtue of the client meeting with a different relational situation. Profound and problematic ERTs that restrict freedom and perceived choice tend to have their roots in ground introjects that are in turn likely to be protected beneath layers of moderations to contact.
