In a child’s time: the clinic as a space for restoring being – A phenomenological-Gestalt journey in co-therapy
Published 2026-03-20
Keywords
- Child psychotherapy, Phenomenological approach, Gestalt therapy, Co-therapy, Embodiment.
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 Rossella D'Aquino, Luigi Lorenzo Luca Napolitano
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Background: This contribution presents a clinical case from the developmental age conducted in a public setting over six months of weekly co-led therapy sessions.
Case report: A five-year-old girl entered therapy with marked difficulties in affect regulation, premature role adultification, and an impaired ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. The intervention was structured within a phenomenological-existential framework, integrated with elements from Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, systemic-relational approaches, and affective neuroscience. Co-therapy, conceived not merely as an organizational structure but also as a clinical element, enabled the construction of a plural and regulatory therapeutic field, supporting the functions of mirroring, differentiation, and developmental triangulation. Moreover, the use of symbolic, narrative, and bodily tools—such as role-play, embodiment techniques, co-constructed stories, drawings, and dramatizations—facilitated the reappropriation of the child self, supported bottom-up emotional regulation, and promoted a profound transformation of internal relational models.
Conclusions: This case highlights the potential of a holistic, embodied approach in developmental care settings, offering an applied reflection on the clinical value of phenomenological presence as a healing space. The focus is on restoring the child’s right to experience her own age, through a form of listening that does not seek to correct but to accompany, name, and give symbolic meaning to her experience. The therapeutic work thus supported the emergence of a new, more integrated and vital internal narrative in which play, the body, and the relationship restored the natural rhythm of development.
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