Gestalt

by
Legesse Sana Dana
 Major Theorist:
Fritz Perls
Born in 1893 into a Jewish Berlin family
Medic in WWI for Germany, MD in 1920
Trained as a psychoanalyst
1933, fled Germany to Holland & S Africa
1946, went to America
 Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is associated with Gestalt Psychology, a
schol of thought that stresses the perception of
copleteness and wholeness. Infact, the term gestalt
literally translated means “whole figure.” Gestalt
therapy arose as a reaction to the reductionist
emphasis in other schools of consleing and
psychotherapy, such as psychoanlysis and behaviorism,
which trid to break down the personality or client
behaviours into explainable parts. In contrast, Gestalt
therory emphasizes how people function in their
totality.
Gestalt Therapy
Wholeness & completeness
Trust the inner wisdom of people
Live integratively & productively
People are able to change and become responsible
Persons are more than the sum of their parts
Gestalt Therapy
Individuals are actors, not reactors
The now is what matters
Discovery of self occurs thru experience rather than
talk due to an overdependency on intellectual
experience
Unfinished business – earlier thoughts, feelings &
reactions that still affect personal functioning &
interfere w/present
Gestalt Therapy
No unconscious just a lack of awareness
The more aware = more healthy
Body signs = awareness of a need to change behaviors
Needs are brought to the fore and then placed in the
background when a new need will come to the fore
Gestalt Therapy
Difficulties
Lose contact w/environs & its resources
Overinvolved w/environs = loss of touch with self
Failing to put aside unfinished business
People become fragmented & scattered in many
directions
Gestalt Therapy
Conflict between top dog (what they think they
should do) and the underdog (what they want to do)
Dichotomies of life are problematic: love/hate,
pleasure/pain, masculinity/femininity
Neurosis occurs when one does not take care of one’s
self fully or depend on others
Gestalt Therapy
Counselors create an atmosphere that encourages
clients to explore growth
Therefore, counselors are personally involved
w/clients & are honest
Counselors are exciting, energetic and fully human
Always use the present tense
Address all conversations directly
Gestalt Therapy
Using “I” in place of “it”, especially when talking
about one’s body
Focus on how and what rather than why
Convert questions into statements
Do not diagnose
Gestalt Therapy
Goals

Here & now, immediacy of experience

Action, experience feelings & behaviors
Now = experience = awareness = reality
Past is no more, future does not exist. Only the now
exists
Gestalt Therapy
Five layers of neuroses
Phony layer – pretending to be
Phobic layer – denying parts of one’s self
Impasse layer – no sense of direction
Implosive layer – Feel vulnerable to feelings
Explosive layer – have intense feelings of joy, sorrow
or pain
Gestalt Therapy
Exercises are ready made techniques
Experiments are made on the spot
Dream work – become parts of the dream, discover
what is missing in the dream
Empty chair
Confrontation – point out incongruities
Asking what & how, why leads to intellectualization
Gestalt Therapy
Group techniques
Making the rounds – specific them is faced by each
group member
I take responsibility – end statements with this
phrase
Exaggeration – accentuate movements or gestures
Gestalt Therapy
May I feed you a sentence? - having the client repeat
a certain sentence that makes the client’s thoughts
specific
Making statements – clients is not allowed to ask
questions