cialty selection for a sample of Gestalt Therapists using qualitative methods. The general purpose of the research is to provide some preliminary data on those historical or background factors that may give rise to people's selection of the Gestalt specialty over other clinical models.
Subjects in the study consisted of 47 Gestalt Therapists attending a Gestalt Therapy Conference in the beginning of 1996. The open-ended survey of specialty selection factors was handed to all conference participants. The survey was completed and returned by 50 percent of conference attenders.
Descriptive analyses conducted on gender and age data revealed that those returning completed surveys were primarily females (61.7 percent of the sample). Males (Mean age = 52.78; SD = 10.37) and females (Mean age = 52.90; SD = 11.02) were roughly the same age.
The survey was developed by conference sponsors based on their general interest in factors influencing specialty decision. The existing research (what little there may be) on the topic was not consulted in survey development; nor was the instrument subjected to psychometric testing.
The developed instrument required that respondents answer s
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