The article aims to explore the relationship between Gestalt theory and practice. The orientation of the West Coast, of which Fritz Perls was the embodiment in the last years of his life, seems to focus on the experiential aspect in the therapeutic practice while the orientation of the East Coast tends to rely more on theoretical assumptions, such as the theory of self and contact. Even though overcoming this contraposition is theoretically possible and indeed desirable, it would be futile to deny that this difference still exists in reality, even 40 years after the death of the father of Gestalt therapy. In this article, in particular, the author examines the concept of "atheorethical experientialism" developed by Claudio Naranjo in comparison with a revised edition of the theory of self as a membrane of the interaction between Organism/Environment developed by the writer.
Keywords: Non theoretical, Naranjo, West Coast, membrane-self, exsperiencialism