<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Exploring Confluence in Gestalt Therapy: Toward a Shared Conception<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">

Although clear conceptual pillars constitute the theoretical identity core of Gestalt psychotherapy, there is significant variability among Italian Gestalt therapists in how they interpret key processes in therapeutic practice. On one hand, this diversity is a strength of Gestalt Therapy (GT), offering considerable flexibility and adaptability. On the other, it is evident that for the scientific validation of the method, it is important to identify shared theoretical nuclei from which differing interpretations originate. The specific aim of this work is to identify and describe the interpretive articulations, within the Italian Gestalt community, of a core concept in Gestalt theory and practice: "confluence." A set of contributions on the meaning of confluence&mdash;written by directors and trainers of Gestalt schools&mdash;was collected and subjected to semantic analysis. Common elements were identified, and an initial synthesis definition was formulated. Furthermore, differences in perspectives among the authors were outlined. In the view of Italian authors, the concept of confluence comprises a theoretical nucleus of three main facets: blurred boundaries, undifferentiation, and avoidance of contact. This conceptual core is enriched by further characterizing elements not shared by all contributors. In the discussion, a reinterpretation of the various perspectives is provided within the current neuroscience framework based on complex systems theory.