Gestalt Therapy

Founded By:

Fritz Perls (1893-1970)


Laura Perls (1905-1990)

Key Concepts:

*"Clients have to grow up, stand on their own two feet, and 'deal with their life problems themselves'" (Corey p. 213).
*Perls' had two personal agendas during therapy:
     1. Move the client toward self-support instead of environmental support.
     2. Help the client reintegrate the disowned parts of their personality.
*"The Gestalt theory of change posits that the more we work at becoming who or what we are not, the more we remain the same" (Corey p. 214).
*Paradoxical theory of change- Clients need to "be" in their current condition as much as possible instead of trying to become what they "should be."
*Holism-Gestalt therapists are interested in the whole person not in the different aspects of the client.
     Figure- Aspects of the client's experience that are most slient at any moment.
     Ground- Aspects of the clients's presentation taht are out of their awareness.
*Field theory- The organism must be seen in its environment or context as part of the constantly changing field.
*Figure-formation process- "The figure-formation process tracks how some aspect of the environmental field emerges from the background and becomes the focal point of the individual's attention and interest" (Corey p. 215).
*Organismic self-regulation- Equilibrium is disturbed by a need, sensation, or interest.
*Phenomenological inquiry- Paying attention to what is going on now.  
*Gestalt therapists ask "what" and "how" questions but rarely ask "why" questions. 
*Gestalt therapists encourage present tense dialogue. 
*Unfinished business- When figures from the past emerge but have not been resolved.  This leads to unexpressed feelings which create emotional debris and inhibits present-centered awareness.   
*Impasse- Stuck point; time when support is not available or the way of being does not work.
* Contact- Made by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and moving.
*Introjection- Tendency to uncritically accept others' beliefs and standards without making them congruent with ourselves.
*Projection- Opposite of introjection; we disown aspects of ourselves by assigning them to the environment.
*Retroflection- Turn back onto ourselves what we would like to do to others or what we would like for others to do to or for us (Corey p. 218).
*Deflection- Distraction or veering off, that creates difficulty in maintaining a sense of contact.
*Confluence- Blurring the differentiation between the self and the environment.

Therapeutic Goals:

*Client moves toward increased awareness of themself
*"Gradually assume ownership of their experience (as opposed to making others responsible for what they are thinking, feeling, and doing)" (Corey p. 219). 
*"Develop skills and acquire values that will allow them to satisfy their needs without violating the rights of others" (Corey p. 219).
*Client moves toward being more aware of all of their senses
*Client learns to take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions.
*Client becomes able to both ask for help from others and give help to others.

Techniques:

*Methods are tailored to the clients needs and experiments are presented as invitations.
* Exercises- Ready-made techniques that are used to make something happen in therapy or achieve a goal. "They can be catalysts for individual work or for promoting interaction among members of a therapy group" (Corey p. 224).
*Experiments- Emerge from the dialogue between the therapist and client; assist the client in active self-exploration.
*Confrontation is sometimes used in Gestalt therapy but it does not have to be a harsh attack.  It can be done in a way where clients are cooperative when they are invited to look at their behaviors and attitudes.
*Internal dialogue exercise- "One goal of Gestalt therapy is to bring about integrated functioning and acceptance of aspects of one's personality that have been disowned and denied" (Corey p. 228).
*Empty-chair technique- The client sits in one chair and takes on the role of the top dog and then they sit in the other chair and take on the role of the underdog. 
*Making the rounds- Asking one person in a group to go to each of the others in the group and interact with them in some way. 
*Reversal exercise- The therapist asks the client to play the opposite of their typical style or role; hopefully they will learn to recognize and accept the "negative" as well as the "positive" side.
*Rehearsal exercise- Client shares out loud with the therapist their rehearsals.
*Exaggeration exercise- Clients become more aware of the signals and cues they are sending; the client repeatedly exaggerates the movement or gesture to intensify the feeling attached to the behavior and hopefully make its meaning clearer. 
*Staying with the feeling- Clients wish to escape fearful and unpleasant feelings; the therapist encourages the client to stay with the feeling and go deeper into it. 
*Dream work- Bring dreams back to life; relive them as though they are happening now.  Gestalt therapy does not interpret or analyze the dreams; it allows the client to become more aware of their range of feelings. 

 Video clip of Gestalt therapy: http://youtu.be/ZbOAdMdMLdI

References

Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

freud-sigmund.com "Fritz Perls"

fritzperls.com "Laura Perls"

(2007, October 27). Gestalt Therapy. Video clip retrieved from http://www.youtube.com