Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt TherapyIntroduction

Born in Berlin in a lower-middle class familyWorked with Kurt Goldstein at the Goldstein Institute for Brain-Damaged SoldiersEstablished the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy in 1952Frederick S. (Fritz) Perls [1893-1970]IntroductionGestalt Therapy (Fritz Perls and his wife Laura 1940s)

An existential/phenomenological approach based on the premise that people must find their own way in life and accept personal responsibility if they hope to achieve maturity.3Introduction

Goal:Make the clients gain awareness of what they are experiencing and doingSelf- understandingI am responsible.I can change!IntroductionPhenomenologicalFocuses on the clients perception of reality

ExistentialGrounded on the here and now and emphasizes that each person is responsible for his or her own destiny

Experiential- Clients come to grip with what and how they are thinking, feeling and doing as they interact with therapistIntroductionFreudMechanistic

Repressed conflicts from childhood

ContentPerlsHolistic approach

Present situation

ProcessView of Human NatureIndividuals can deal with their life problems themselves, especially if they are fully aware of what is happening in and around them.View of Human NatureGestalt Theory of Change:The more we attempt to be who or what we are not, the more we remain the same.

Beissers (1970) Paradoxical Theory of Change:We change when we become aware of what we are, as opposed of trying to become what we are not.The NowE. Polster and Polster (1973) Power is in the present

PastPresentFutureMistakes

What could have been doneResolutions

Plans The NowMaking contact with the present

Gestalt therapists ask what and how questions but rarely asks why questions

Intensification of feelings

Bringing the fantasy hereUnfinished BusinessUnexpressed feelings such as resentment, rage, hatred, pain, anxiety, grief, guilt, and abandonment.Unfinished BusinessE. Polster and Polster (1973)

These incomplete directions do seek completion and when they get powerful enough, the individual is beset with preoccupation, compulsive behavior, wariness, oppressive energy, and much self-defeating behavior.Unfinished BusinessAccording to Perls, resentment is the most frequent and worst kind of unfinished business.

I am not adequate enough for her.My mother doesnt love me.ResentmentUnfinished Business

Resentment

I am still not satisfied.Unfinished BusinessImpasse or stuck point

is a situation which individuals believe that they are unable to support themselves and thus seek external support. They manipulate their environment by playing roles of weakness, helplessness, stupidity, and foolishness.avoidanceThis refers to the means people use to keep themselves from facing unfinished business and from experiencing the uncomfortable emotions associated with unfinished situations.

JournalingTherapySupport groupsPastoral counselingA talk with a close friendLayers of Neurosis

LAYERS OF NEUROSISPhony layerPhobic layerImpasse layerImplosive layerExplosive layer

PHONY LAYERstereotypical and inauthentic

pretend to be something we are not, play games

consists of the roles that we play

we try to actualize a concept and try to be something else because we dont like what we are.Top DogandUnder Dog

Phobic layerfears keep us from seeing ourselves

avoid recognizing aspects of ourselves, prefer to deny, fear of rejection, humiliation

attempting to avoid the emotional pain that is associated with seeing aspects of ourselves that we would prefer to deny.Impasse layerwe give up our power

we are stuck, dont think we can do anything differently

most critical levela stage of helplessness, "stuckness" and confusion about how to proceed.

Implosive layer we fully experience our deadness

The individual recognizes aspects of self-limitation and unfinished business from the past.

Defenses are lowered, ecrativity emerges, and progress towards integration occurs.

Explosive layerwe let go of phony roles

The indivdual experiences authentic integration and wholeness

More capable of feeling and expressing emotion; and can move with more energy towards self-actualization.

CONTACT AND RESISTANCES TO CONTACT Contact is made by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and moving. Effective contact means interacting with nature and with other people without losing ones sense of individuality. Prerequisites for good contact are clear awareness, full energy, and the ability to express oneself (Zinker, 1978). RESISTANCES TO CONTACTIntrojectionProjectionRetroectionDeectionConuenceIntrojection

is the tendency to uncritically accept others beliefs and standards without assimilating them to make them congruent with who we are.Projection

is the reverse of introjection.

In projection we disown certain aspects of ourselves by assigning them to the environment. Retroection

consists of turning back onto ourselves what we would like to do to someone else or doing to ourselves what we would like someone else to do to or for us. Deection

is the process of distraction or veering off, so that it is difcult to maintain a sustained sense of contact. Conuence

involves blurring the differentiation between the self and the environment.Energy and Blocks to Energy

Blocked energy is another form of defensive behavior. It can be manifested by tension in some part of the body, by posture, by keeping ones body tight and closed, by not breathing deeply, by looking away from people when speaking to avoid contact, by choking off sensations, by numbing feelings, and by speaking with a restricted voice, to mention only a few. One of the tasks of the therapist is to help clients identify the ways in which they are blocking energy and transform this blocked energy into more adaptive behaviors.

Clients can be encouraged to recognize how their resistance is being expressed in their body.

Therapeutic GoalsGestalt TherapyMain AimThe basic goal of Gestalt therapy is attaining awareness and, with it, greater choice and responsibility. This therapy helps clients note their own awareness process so that they can be responsible and can selectively and discriminatingly make choices.

Therapeutic GoalsAlso, through a creative involvement in Gestalt process, the clients will Zinker (1978):

move toward increased awareness of themselvesgradually assume ownership of their experiencedevelop skills and acquire values that will allow them to satisfy their needs without violating the rights of othersbecome aware of all of their senseslearn to accept responsibility for what they domove from outside support toward increasing internal supportbe able to ask for and get help from others and to give to others

Therapeutic GoalsTherapist's Function and Role

Gestalt Therapy

They focus on the client's feelings, awareness at the moment, body messages, energy, avoidance, and blocks to awareness. The therapist functions as a guide and a catalyst, presents experiments, and shares observations. It is also his job to create a climate in which the clients are likely to try out new ways of being. Therapist's Function and RoleAn important function of the Gestalt therapist is paying attention to the client's body language. These nonverbal cues provide rich information. The therapist also places emphasis on the relationship between language patterns and personality. Following are some examples of the aspects of language that the Gestalt therapist might focus on:

Therapist's Function and Role"It" talk When clients say "it" instead of "I", they are using depersonalizing language. The counselor may ask them to substitute personal pronouns for impersonal ones so that they will assume an increased sense of responsibility.==="You" talk The counselor will point out generalized use of "you" and ask the client to substitute "I" when this is what it meant.===Questionscounselors often ask clients to change their questions into statements.Therapist's Function and RoleLanguage that denies power Some clients have a tendency to deny their personal power by adding qualifiers or disclaimers to their statements such as "but". Often what follows a "but" serves to discount the first part of the statement. The counselor may point out to clients how certain qualifiers subtract from their effectiveness. ===Listening to a client's metaphors by paying attention to metaphors, the therapist gets rich clues to a client's internal struggles. The art of therapy consists of translating the meaning of these metaphors into manifest content so that they can be dealt with in therapy.

Therapist's Function and RoleListening for language that uncovers a story

Clients often use language that is elusive yet give significant clues to a story that illustrates their life struggles. The therapist must learn to pick out a small part of what someone says and then focus on and develop this element.

Therapist's Function and RoleClient's Experience in the Therapy

Gestalt TherapyThe ClientClients are active participants who make their own interpretations and meanings. It is they who increase awareness and decide what they will or will not do with their personal meaning.The ClientMiriam Polster (1978) describes a three-stage integration sequence that characterizes client growth in therapy:1. Discovery - clients are likely to reach a new realization about themselves or to acquire a novel view of an old situation2. Accommodation - clients recognize that they have a choice. They are not bound tightly to one course, but there are alternative ways of behaving.3. Assimilation - clients learn how to influence their environment. They feel capable of dealing with the surprises they encounter in everyday living.

Relationship between Therapist and Client

Therapistdo not interpret for clients but assist them in developing the means to make their own interpretationsthey give feedback, particularly on what clients are doing with their bodyClientis expected to identify and work on unfinished business from the past that interferes with current functioningre-experiences past traumatic situations as though they were occurring in the presentAPPLICATIONTherapeutic Techniques and ProceduresThe ExperimenTExperiments encourage spontaneity and inventiveness by bringing the possibilities for action directly into the therapy session. These experiments can take into many forms.The ExperimenTimagining a threatening future encountersetting up a dialogue between a client and a significant person in his lifedramatizing the memory of a painful eventreliving a particularly profound early experience in the presentassuming the identity of one's mother or father through role playingfocusing on gestures, posture, and other nonverbal signs of inner expressioncarrying a dialogue between two conflicting aspects within the personGUIDELINESCounselors should be sensitive enough to know when to leave the client alone.The counselor must be sensitive in introducing Gestalt experiments at the right time.The nature of the experiment depends on the individual's problems, experience, and the life experiences that both the client and the therapist bring to the session.GUIDELINESExperiments require the client's active role in self-exploration.The therapist must be respectful of the client's cultural background and is in good contact with the person.If counselors meet with hesitation, it is a good idea to explore its meaning for the client.It is important that counselors be flexible in using techniques.GUIDELINESCounselors should be ready to scale down tasks so that the clients have a good chance to succeed in their efforts.The counselor must learn which experiments can be best practiced in the session itself and which can best be performed outside.The Role of ConfrontationConfrontation in Gestalt Therapy can be done in such a way that clients cooperate, especially when they are invited to examine their behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts. It does not have to be aimed at weaknesses or negative traits; clients can be challenged to recognize the ways in which they are blocking their strengths and are not fully living as fully as they might.

Techniques of Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapists pay close attention to splits in personality function. A main division is between the "top dog" and the "underdog". empty-chair technique The Dialogue Exercise asking a person in a group to go up to others in the group and either speak to or do something with each to confront, to risk, to disclose the self, to experiment with new behavior, and to grow and change.

Making the rounds

The therapist may ask the client to make a statement and then add, "and I take responsibility for it". Clients recognize and accept their feelings."I take responsibility for..."The therapist asks the person who says "I can't trust you" to play the role of the unworthy person-that is to become the other-in order to discover the degree in which the distrust is an inner conflict.

Playing the Projection

The therapist could ask a person who claims to suffer from severe inhibitions and excessive timidity to play the role of an exhibitionist. to accept certain personal attributes that they have tried to denyThe Reversal TechniqueThe Rehearsal ExerciseWe rehearse in fantasy for the role we think we are expected to play in the society. Clients become more aware of how they try to meet the expectations of others, of the degree to which they want to be approved, accepted, and liked.

Client is asked to exaggerate the movement or gesture repeatedly, which usually intensifies the feeling attached to the behavior and makes the inner meaning clearer.

The Exaggeration ExerciseAt key moments when a client refers to a feeling or a mood that is unpleasant and from which he or she has a great urge to flee, the therapist urges the client to stay with, or retain the feeling.

Staying with the feeling

does not interpret and analyze the dream brings the dream back to life and relive it as though it was happening nowapproach to dream workContributions of Gestalt TherapyContributionsClients are able to increase their awareness of what they are experiencing in the present moment.Clients discover new facets of themselvesExciting way in which the past is dealt with in a lively manner by bringing relevant aspects into the present

ContributionsPractitioners challenge clients in the creative ways to become aware of and work with issues.Paying attention to the obvious verbal and nonverbal leads provided by the client in the useful way to approach a counseling session.Practitioners can assist people heightening their present- centred awareness of what they are thinking and feeling.

Limitations of Gestalt TherapyLimitationsA few practitioners and theorists view Gestalt therapy as being limited in relation to more serious forms of psychological dysfunction, known as the psychoses and those troubles which are explained as personality disorders. On the other hand, others, take a contrasting position and declare that Gestalt therapy is chiefly helpful for treating personality disorders.

LimitationsAnother most important limitation is associated to the fact that a Gestalt therapist uses his/her own person as a therapeutic medium for change. The eagerness of a Gestalt therapist to be available during the therapeutic contact needs strong individual dedication to put up with to the theory of Gestalt therapy and a greater level of personal perception.

Prepared by:Balasoto, RosellnicaGongon, Noli SpencerLagac, JeremiahRaiz, Kristine KayeSalonga, Sharleen FayeSisayan, Desiree

III-9 BS Psychology