Graduation Requirements

Requirements for theoretical abstracts:

Abstract (from lat. «refero» –  report, inform) – a summary of a scientific problem, the results of scientific research, ideas contained in one or more works, etc. An abstract includes a review of relevant literary and other sources or a summary of a book, article, research,  as well as a report with such a statement. The topic of the abstract is proposed by the head of the program or chosen by the student independently, but agreed with the head.

Writing an abstract is practiced in order to acquire the necessary professional training for the student, to develop the skills and abilities of independent scientific research: studying the literature on the chosen topic (at least 6 sources), analyzing various sources and points of view, summarizing the material, highlighting the main thing, formulating conclusions, etc.

Abstract form:

1. The volume of the abstract - from 5 to 20 printed pages.
2. Font - Times New Roman, font size -14, interval one and a half.
3. Margins - left, top and bottom not less than 20 mm, right not less than 10 mm.
4. Section headings are written in the middle, symmetrically to the text in capital letters. Word hyphenation in headings is not allowed. Subheadings are written in small letters, starting with the first capital. There must be a blank line between the title and the following text. Each of these parts (each section) starts on a new page.
5. Pages are numbered with Arabic numerals, adhering to continuous numbering through the entire text. The title page is included in the numbering, but the number is not put on it. On the following pages, the number is placed in the upper right corner without a dot at the end.
6. Sections should be consecutively numbered throughout the work and designated by Arabic numerals without a dot at the end, for example "1" (first section).
7. Contents, Introduction, Conclusion and References are not numbered.
8. Subsections are numbered with Arabic numerals within each section.  The subsection number consists of the section number and the subsection serial number, separated by a dot. Do not put a dot after the subsection number, for example "3.2" (the second subsection of the third section)
9. The text of the abstract is placed centered "according to the width of the page". Paragraphs are highlighted with a red line with an indent of at least 15 mm.
10. There should be 6-10 sources in the list of references. The abstract should contain references - from 2 to 10 (references are placed after the text in square brackets, indicating the number of the source according to the list of references).

Abstract structure:

1. title page, see Appendix 1.
2. content (or table of contents);
3. introduction;
4. several chapters (sections, subsections) (from 2 to 5);
5. conclusion;
6. list of used literature (or bibliographic list).

Requirements for practical abstracts:

Practical abstracts (written papers on the clinical and theoretical application of Gestalt therapy in their professional practice) should demonstrate the author's ability, on the one hand, to apply the principles of Gestalt therapy in their practice and, on the other hand, to comprehend their work in terms of the Gestalt approach.

For successful certification, it is necessary to pass three practical abstracts: - one "big" and two "small" (the participant can optionally submit one more large abstract instead of two small ones). It is necessary to hand over practical abstracts no later than two weeks before the final seminar.

1. A) Big abstract (10-12 pages)

It is an analysis of a case of relatively long-term (at least 10 sessions) therapeutic work with a real client. Includes a description of the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic change.

Should not present a number of separate protocols with short formal comments at the end of each session, but rather consider the ongoing developments in relation to each other.

It is supposed to describe not only events, but also experiences, reflections, assumptions of the therapist himself.

Suggestions for writing a paper:

- remember and describe the client’s request and how it changed during your sessions with him (for example, the initial request of a young man sounded like “I can’t build good relationships with girls, everything ends in a painful breakup”, and this request was transformed into a request during subsequent sessions  “How can I get rid of my mother's control”);

 - remember and describe the topics with which this client worked, what was the development of these topics:

for example, in the process of this work there were several topics.

1) One of them, going through all 10 sessions, concerned his relationship with the girls N. and O.. If at the beginning the client mainly expressed the grievances accumulated against N. and O., then gradually he began to recall the good moments of his relationship, spoke about the sadness of parting with them, about how he would like to continue this relationship, about the difficulty of choosing a partner.

2)    Another topic that came up around the 4th session was his relationship with male friends, father, uncle. At first, it sounded like a fear of self-presentation in a male environment, the impossibility of a close relationship with a father, resentment at the uncle's sarcasm, then this topic was transformed into a search for one's place next to significant men, strengthening one's masculine identity... etc.);

• remember and describe your first meeting with a client: what feelings did you experience? What part of what he said about himself impressed you the most?;
• how did your attitude towards the client change in the course of work? What moments of work were especially bright, exciting, or especially boring or annoying for you?;
• what attitude of the client towards you did you observe, how did you feel his attitude, what did he say about it? ;
• what moments of your work with him look dialogical for you and how did a possible dialogue interrupt in your work?;
• What, in your opinion, may be missing in these relations? What do you possibly regret?;
• describe the future development of your therapeutic relationship with this client.

This work may contain excerpts from dialogues from sessions that seem important to you, indicative of the development of the described therapeutic relationship. For example, dialogues about establishing trust, developing sympathy between you and the client, moments of confrontation, therapeutic support and frustration, etc.

The following excerpts from the sessions should be accompanied by your analysis of what happened in terms of Gestalt therapy.

1. B) Small abstract (3-5 pages)

is either a session analysis or an abbreviated case analysis. Session analysis should not be a transcript, but it is important to show the therapist's ability to comprehend what is happening and his work in Gestalt terms (for example, note the moments and mechanisms of interruption of contact by the client, or consider violations of self function with a description of the client's phenomenology, etc.)

Instead of one of the two short abstracts, you can submit a “therapeutic (advisory) project”, which is a methodically sound project for applying the principles of the Gestalt approach in any area of ​​practice (a special group for working with a certain category of clients, etc.).

Suggestions for writing a paper:

1. Preliminary stage.

When conducting sessions with a client/clients, write down after the session how you remember it, i.e.  it is necessary to acquire the skill of reproducing the meaning: what and in what sequence happened in the session, how one topic flowed into another, what questions caused certain memorable statements.

This skill helps to memorize the course of a therapeutic session, in the future - the course of therapeutic work with a group, long-term therapeutic work with a large number of clients.

2. Working with text.

Your memory recalls phrases that are intuitively important to you. At this stage, you need to realize the importance of the phrases that you wrote down, their connection with the client's request, with the general context of the session. If you observe "breaks" in the text, then you remember and restore smoothness and consistency, because  everything that was voiced and said is directly related.

3. Having the text in front of your eyes, you begin to see it as a "picture", i.e., how your client looked at one or another moment of the session. You add your text describing bodily reactions, postures, gestures, changes in intonation, voice, etc.
4. Your vision of the session takes on volume. And now you have the opportunity to add your comments on what you were able to reproduce.

Comments can and should relate to certain manifestations of the client in the described session;  with what methods of contact (mechanisms for interrupting contact) they are associated;  what was the figure in it, what was the background;  what stages of the contact cycle were implemented in this session;  how the client's self and your own self functioned in this session.

That is, in this way you show an understanding of the terms of Gestalt therapy in relation to this work with a client.

5. It is also important to indicate what processes formed your interventions, what ways of contact you are aware of in this particular interaction with this particular client in this particular session.
6. At the end of the work, you can indicate the prospects for working with this client.

Requirements for the "Psychological" autobiography:

A "psychological" autobiography is a kind of reflection, an essay in which the author answers the question "What life circumstances influenced my choice to become a psychotherapist" or "How I became who I became."

The purpose of the work is to describe significant events in your life (from childhood to the present) in terms of their psychological significance for you.

Unlike the usual autobiography, which contains a chronological list of socially significant events (born, went to school, graduated from school, entered a university, got married, etc.), in this work, dates are not significant.

In an informal autobiography, it is not the facts and dates of your life that matter, but your experiences of these facts and events important to you (for example, an important event in a child’s life can be a trip with parents to the sea, memories of how dad told fairy tales, or how you went to the forest with grandfather).

Describing your life experience from the point of view of experience, i.e., the feelings that you experienced then, there is a more complete awareness of your experience, embedding it into a person.

The psychological meaning of the events of your life realized in this way helps to restore the integrity of the personality, which, from the point of view of Gestalt therapy, is of great importance for finding and effectively implementing one's own life resources, as well as building satisfactory relationships with other people.

The performance of this work will also help you determine further guidelines in your personal development.

The form of writing is free, the volume is at least 2 printed sheets.

There are different ways of describing life, for example:

1. Direct chronology: In chronological order, starting with childhood memories of relationships with parents, siblings and even girls-boys in kindergarten and school, you gradually describe important events that advanced you in motivation to understand yourself or others, and get to the present time. The curriculum vitae concludes with a professional training program experience and includes your reactions to the training, the trainers and participants in the program, a description of the learning crises, and the resources that helped you get a Gestalt education. You can describe important sessions in individual therapy or supervision that have advanced you in development.
2. Description by topic: “About mom”, “About dad”, “First love”, etc. highlighting important events, relationships and meetings in these topics.
3. Reverse chronology: You start with your participation in professional trainings and describe important discoveries (from sessions, supervisions and training modules), making constant excursions into personal history (by describing events and relationships).

Requirements for the diary of work in a small therapeutic group:

It is necessary not later than two weeks before the graduation seminar to provide a brief report on your own client work in the "triples" indicating the date and topic of the session (focus of work) - at least 50 sessions.

Describes your CLIENT experience in triples I am a client in triple).

Table with graphs:

• the session number;
• the date;
• the topic (with which my therapist worked with me from the triple) in 1-2 sentences in essence;
• the full name of therapist,
• the therapist's autograph.