Gestalt Gestalt psychotherapypsychotherapy

Presented by: Noor Al-Modihesh

Dr. Mayada Banaja team

History .Purpose.Theoretical concepts.Skills in Gestalt.Assessment.Treatment phases.

Who is Gestalt ?Who is Gestalt ?

So , what's the meaning ?

Gestalt BY ; Frederick (Fritz) and Laura

Perls in the 1940s

seems to be more “animated” than mere form or object, implying a sort of "reaching out" to its environment

knowledge of an "other,” a sort of "dialogue" between me and that "other," and a sort of connection that draws me into that "dialogue.“

  A presentation of a "Gestalt" suggests the involvement of my perception and awareness in an act of identification of reality.  A Gestalt can thus be identified as a kind of knowledge.

Gestalt is A structured entity that is more than & different from its parts. It is the foreground figure that stands out from its ground, it exists”

Laura Perls

It encompasses existential & person-centered.

Promotes awareness in HERE & NOW

The present receive more attention than past

Exploring & experiencing emotions are integral to treatment.

PurposePurpose: :

To help people got aware about those neglected parts & restore

wholeness, integration & balance .

Important theoretical Important theoretical conceptsconcepts::

1. View of humankind : people are basically good & had capacity to cope with their lives BUT !! At times need help.

2. Wholeness & integration : we are not a summation of parts BUT !! coordination.

3.integrating polarities : need for homeostasis viewed people &their world either good or bad.

what is important is integrating body & mind.

4.Integrating figures & ground : the world around us is ground.

5. Ego boundary : definition in relation to environment (in relation to situation)

6.Awareness : Awareness is a form of experience that may be loosely defined as being in touch with one's own existence, with what is

The person who is aware knows what he does & how he does it, that he has alternatives and that he chooses to be he is.

As its best , non-verbal knowing what is happening HERE & NOW.

Self awareness .

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7.Responsibility : accepting responsibility for our own lives , people must make their own choices rather than allowing others.

Theraputic alliance :Theraputic alliance :I-thou relationship.Both fully present in here & now.Paradoxical principle of change:

change occur when one becomes what he is & not when he tries to become what he is not.

Observation without judgment.Listen & help to find own way.

AssessmentAssessment: : Not diagnosis.Process of how he is behaving

now.Client in process.Clients relational patterns.Field condition.

Client in process:Client in process:Embodied process : description in

room including movement , voice….

Support system; his setting in room & confidence.

Belief system ; introjects , meaning of circumstances..

Client relational patterns:Client relational patterns:

Describe his way in relating to you .

Note any transferential response.

Field conditions;

Cultural factors,race….

So in conclusion , Gestalt diagnosis is an understanding or assessment of all ways that client makes meaning or contact with his world.

Treatment phasesTreatment phases::Beginning :

Working alliance.AwarenessDialogic relation.Cultural differences.Planning for special conditions.

Clearing the ground:

Introjects.Unfinished business.Self-expressionExperiment with new behavior.

Existential encounter:

Re-owning lost parts,Live & move.self-limiting core beliefs.Live with courage of uncertaintySpiritual meaning.

Integration :

Re-organize with new insightsImprove relational contactConnecting to community Accepting anxiety with newnessResponsibility for choices.

Ending ;

Loss of relationRe-cycling of issuesCelebrating what achievedAccepting things not achievedPlanning for future crises

Experimenting :Experimenting :Identifying emerging figure or

theme.

Suggesting: (safe emergency) , has right to refuse.

Grading amount of challenge.

If difficult start with emotionsRemind of supportChange situation.

RULE : convey non judgmental attitude to experiment & avoid being invested.

No right outcome

Use language carefully by emphasis on statements

Using what, how BUT never why?

‘I’ statement .

The present tense

Large Group exerciseLarge Group exercise: :

Unfinished businessUnfinished business;;Traumatic events not achieved

resolution.Need great awareness with enough

support.Examining the impasse ---reactivate.Trace clearest memory.Where is the maximum energy .Encourage to bring

feelings,thougths….Identify interruptions.

Working with imagination.

Working with introjects : identify opposite polarity, two chair & role-play….

DreamsDreams::Royal road to integration.

It is existential messenger.

Projections of some aspects of dreamer, or relation with therapist.

Ask to present it in present form.

As a real story!Express it non verbally( body

posture , moving….Retell dream from other

perspective..Create dialogues bet. Characters

in dreamUse different outcome.Is it a message about therapist?

FantasyFantasy: : Make people more aware.Help to be more productive.Represent projections or aspects

of person.Encourage people to be part of

dream.

EndingEnding: :

Tasks for ending:Raise awareness , remind what

brought him .Acknowledge & celebrate what

has been achieved .Acknowledge what hasn’t

achieved yet.Feed back.

Conducting reviews :Conducting reviews :Original contract.Check if relevant .New issues emerged.What aspects helped him.Any change in contract.Offer f\u at least after 3-6

months.

SummarySummary: : Gestalt focuses on unification &

wholeness of a person through feeling, senses & fantasies.

This awareness yields personality changes by means of problem solving & identifying impasses.

It is a here & now experimental modality which is a process for individual to be in touch with him self.

Future & past important BUT their significance is in relation to their influence on present.

Inquiry by how , what & NEVER why..

It is when client assume responsibility for what they feel & think (the greatest value)

Gestalt modality specify that person Gestalt modality specify that person passes through 5 levels of neurosispasses through 5 levels of neurosis::

1. Phony layer : not being them selves.

2. Phobic level : fear of seeing who one really is

3. Impasse level ; stuck in dependency position where he seek for others to make decision.

4. Implosive level: accept responsibility & develop courage to face their personal defenses as they come close to real selves ( full awareness)

5.Explosive level : letting go of the false image the individual has created.

It promotes in dependence rather than dependence on therapist & the most provocative technique

is Empty Chair.

Thank you