At the Living Edge: Contact in Gestalt Soul Care

"I and Thou in the here and now" - Martin Buber

Contact, a living and responsive boundary, is a basic consideration of Gestalt Soul Care – the very process of being alive with all its pushes and pulls. It’s not a static event but a dynamic process, a dance at the edge where self meets other, the environment, or the deeper currents of one's own being. 

In Gestalt Soul Care, contact is the active, ineffable space between stimulus and response, the fertile ground where transformation, healing, and wholeness can take root. We get injured in interactions with others, and we get healed by the presence of others. The quality of our contact with ourselves, others, and our world permits and protects presence with and for the permeable membrane of contact, both tangible and intangible.
Contact is the way in which we form and shape our experiences.
Contact extends far beyond a mere phone call, handshake, or casual conversation. Occurring at the edges of ourselves, it is how we reach out and connect through our 5 senses, emotions, thoughts, and spirit. This multifaceted engagement manifests in various ways: 
Through physical presence with eye contact, touch, posture, tensions, gestures, and breath, 
Emotional resonances of shared feelings, empathy, and attunement; verbal exchanges of voice quality, authentic dialogue, and clear "I" language; 

Spiritual openness of seeking and sensing the sacred in ourselves and others, inviting the Holy into the moment; and internal awareness of tuning, without judgment, into bodily sensations, thoughts, and inner movements. 

Contact is a continuous process of making and breaking.
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In every moment, we are engaged in the continuous process of making and breaking contact – with others, our surroundings, and different facets of ourselves. This isn't simply a social skill but a fundamental way of being alive and awake in the world. Our identity boundary is fluid and responsive to our environment, and Gestalt Soul Care recognizes that all aspects of ourselves exist to protect our organism, much like the cell wall of a single-celled being.

Contact is how we nourish ourselves, discern boundaries, and discover meaning.

We seek contact because, as Dr. Sylvia Crocker observed, "We are herd animals." Contact is the vital means by which we nourish ourselves, discern our boundaries, and discover meaning. Through contact, we experience connection and belonging –the experiencing ourselves through the lens of another, receiving feedback from the world by gaining a broader perspective on reality, integrating new experiences by assimilating what nourishes us and rejecting what does not, healing wounds of isolation and misunderstanding through relevant and compassionate meeting of ourselves and others, and awakening to the present moment by moving from autopilot to intentional living. Without contact, we drift, disconnected from self, others, and the sacred. With contact, we truly come alive.

Contact is the juncture where awareness meets reality.

Within Gestalt Soul Care, contact serves as both a destination and a pathway. It is the juncture where awareness meets reality, where we embrace the vulnerability of authenticity and uncover who we are in relation to others and the world. Healthy contact involves meeting at the boundary, honoring difference rather than erasing it, being present rather than imposing, and inviting rather than demanding.

Furthermore, contact is intrinsically linked to boundaries. Healthy contact necessitates clear yet flexible boundaries – knowing when to reach out, when to protect, when to welcome in, and when to release. This is a creative and dynamic process, constantly adjusting and responding to the evolving needs of the present moment.

Contact is achieved through cultivating awareness.

Contact is achieved through cultivating awareness which is noticing internal and external experiences in body, mind, and spirit, presence in bringing our whole, grounded, and open self to the now, dialogue by engaging in authentic and respectful exchange with clear "I" statements, support inviting others into our world with curiosity, compassion, and non-anxious presence, creative adjustments which means flexibly responding to changing needs and situations, making and breaking contact as necessary, and conscious choices which are our ability and willingness to respond to stimuli. Practitioners and mentors in Gestalt Soul Care utilize experiments – focusing on energy, sensations, and words – to guide Seekers in observing their patterns of making or avoiding contact, thereby opening doors to new possibilities for connection.

Contact is the place of potential transformation where soul meets soul.

Ultimately, the function of contact in Gestalt Soul Care is integration and wholeness. Through genuine and compassionate contact, we can integrate fragmented aspects of ourselves, heal relational wounds and rebuild trust, discover our authentic boundaries and capacities, experience spiritual transformation and freedom, and live more fully – awake, connected, and creative. Contact is the space of potential transformation where soul meets soul, where healing unfolds, and where we become more profoundly ourselves in the presence of others and the Holy. It is both a privilege and a calling – to risk meeting, to honor differences, and to co-create the potential for new life.

As the wisdom of Gestalt Soul Care reminds us, "Awareness is the lifeblood of Gestalt Soul Care…becoming aware of what is happening in your body, mind, and spirit at any given moment can create the conditions for meaningful change." Let us therefore honor the art of contact, for it is here at this living edge that soul care achieves its finest expression: integral soul transformation.