Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Therapy Philosophy:

The person strives for wholeness and integration of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Some key concepts include contact with self and others, contact boundaries, and awareness. The view is non-deterministic in that the person is viewed as having the capacity to recognize how earlier influences are related to present difficulties. As an experiential approach, it is founded in the here and now and emphasizes awareness, personal choice, and responsibility.  (Gerald Corer)

Key People:

Fritz Perls– Just a little about him. He was born in Germany. Worked in WWI as a medic, which led to his interest in how our brains work. After gaining experience working at Goldstein Institute (INERT LINK) he moved to New York and with his colleagues opened New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy. In the early 50’s he moved to California where he worked at Esalen doing workshops and seminars.

Laura Perls - Was the wife of Fritz. Was a very educated woman who had prepared for a career as being a concert pianist. Instead she continued her studies as a psychoanalyst. After Fritz left his family while in New York to go to CA, Lauren continued practicing at the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy. Laura contributed to Gestalt Therapy in several different way and continued to do so until her death in the 90’s.

Human Nature: Perls was known to frustrate his clients just to make more aware of what they were feeling and how they were reacting. In Gestalt it is thought that the client needs to just be in the moment of right, rather then look in the past or trying to get some where in the future. Like, dealing with your problem or issue right now not wondering why you are having it or what will it do in the future. 

Principles of GTT (Gestalt Therapy Theory)

Holism-  The belief that we treat clients as a whole. Their entire body is a whole, not just the mind.  Emphasis is on a “Figure” and the “Ground”.  Looking at change in the demeanor, facial expressions, non-verbal communication. Sometimes the client isn’t even aware they are giving the signals.

Field Theory- Paying attention the environment around the client, and how the client reacts to it

Figure-formation Process- how the client forms their experiences in their thoughts and how they organize them

Organismic Self Regulation- is in process with the figure formation process. When our equilibrium is off the organisms try to make it right

What does Gestalt Therapy look like? 

The therapist at the beginning is look at the clients non-verbal signals, hand jestures, posture, body language. He then ask the client about certain movement they may have and why they think they are doing those right now. The therapist is really concerned with "Now". They want to know what is going on in the present with the client. What are they feeling, going through, ect. The therapist and the client have a person-to-person relationship, for instance the therapist might share their stories in productive healthy ways. It is important that the therapist provide a gentle and accepting environment so that the client feels comfortable. If the client is feeling comfortable in the setting then the therapist could move onto experiments and exercises. These experiments and exercises are meant to help the client process their situation and most important to increase their awareness about themselves. The video below is a really good example of what Gestalt looks like. Its a bit lengthy but worth the watch.

So the #1 important thing Gestalt therapy is AWARENESS!!! 

Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects, or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of something. In biological psychology, awareness is defined as a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.

Helpful links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awareness
 http://www.gestalt.org/yontef.htm
http://gestalttheory.com/psychotherapy/