Unit 10: Gestalt theory (humanistic approach)

Fritz and Laura Perls built on the foundations of existential philosophy in creating Gestalt therapy.

explain the fundamental assumptions of Gestalt theory about human nature

The Gestalt view of human nature is rooted in existential philosophy, phenomenology, and field theory  

• That knowledge is the product of what is immediately evident in the experience of the perceiver. Therapy aims at awareness and contact with environment (field/environment of both external and internal worlds)  

• Individuals have the capacity to “self-regulate” in their environment if they are fully aware of what is happening in and around them (therapy provides the setting and client opportunity for awareness)  

Principles of Gestalt therapy: (1) Holism, (2) Field theory, (3) The figure-formation process, (4) organismic self-regulation

Other key concepts of theory: (1) The Now (Now Ethos), (2) Unfinished business, (3) Contact and resistances to contact, (4) Energy and blocks of energy

Holism

Attending to a client’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors, body, and dreams  

Field theory

Paying attention to and exploring what is occurring at the boundary between the person and the environment, in its context, as part of the constantly changing field  

The Figure-Formation process

Principle of Gestalt therapy, Describes how the individual organizes the environment from moment to moment. The undifferentiated field is the background, and the emerging focus of attention is called the figure.  

organismic self-regulation

figure-formation process intertwined with this principle, a process which balance is disturbed by the emergence of a need, a sensation, or an interest 

The Now (Now ethos), and how dies the gestalt approach deal with the past?

Gestalt approach emphasizes learning to appreciate and fully experience the present moment, focusing on the past can be a way to avoid coming to terms with the present (“Now ethos”) 

• Power is in the present, when people fixate on the past the power diminishes  

• What and how questions are used in the present moment  

• Any past feelings are redirected into the now  

• Deals with unfinished business as a block for present functioning  

Unfinished business

Unexpressed feelings dating back to childhood that now interfere with effective psychological functioning; needless emotional debris that clutters present-centered awareness  

• will not leave till the person deals with unexpressed feelings.  

• Impasse (stuck point): time when external support is not available or the customary way of being does not work  

Contact and resistances to contact

contact is needed for growth and change (interacting with nature and with other people without losings one's sense of individuality), and play attention to resistances to contact (5: introjection, projection, retroflection, deflection, and confluence)  

Energy and blocks to energy

blocked energy is seen as another form of resistance, can be manifested in tension in some part of the body  

Describe the role of the therapist in Gestalt therapy

Roles that therapists assume in Gestalt therapy: through engagement with client, therapist assist client in developing their own awareness and experiencing how they are in the present moment  

• Therapist job is to invite clients into an active participation where they can learn about themselves by adopting an experimental attitude toward life in which they try out new behaviors and notice what happens  

• Basic work of therapy is done my clients; therapy's job to create climate clients likely to try out new ways of being and behaving  

• Pay attention to client's body language  

• Emphasis on the relationship between language patterns and personality  

  • Gestalt counsellor gently challenges clients by interventions that help the, become aware of the effects of their language patterns 

How have the therapist’s role, the client-therapist relationship, and the emphasis on techniques evolved since the early days of Fritz Perls? 

Since Perls death in 1970, the practice of Gestalt therapy has softened and shifted its emphases toward: the quality of the therapist-client relationship, dialogue, empathic attunement, tapping the client's wisdom and resources, an expansion of therapeutic styles, and development of theory 

• Evolved: contemporary Gestalt focused on presence, authentic dialogue, gentleness, more direct self-expression by the therapist, decreased use of stereotypic exercises  

 

describe the therapeutic relationship in Gestalt therapy

Therapeutic Relationship: I/Thou relationship 

• Focus not on techniques, but on therapist as a person and what they are doing 

• Focus on presence, authentic dialogue, gentleness, more direct self-expression by the therapist, decreased use of stereotypic exercises 

• Therapist helps client experience feelings more fully 

• Therapist does not interpret 

• Therapist focuses on what/how 

• Client identifies unfinished behavior  

Therapeutic goals of Gestalt therapy

• Attaining awareness and greater choice 

• Awareness includes knowing the environment and oneself, accepting oneself, and be able to make contact  

• I/Thou relationship 

• Client recognizes denied aspect of slef 

• Client assumes responsibility for their experience 

• Ask for help and give help  

How does the therapist assist a client in reaching the therapy goals?

Therapist helps client develop self-awareness in the present moment

Exercises

Are ready-made techniques that are sometimes used to make something happen in a therapy session or to achieve a goal 

Experiments

Grow out of interaction between client and therapist. They are spontaneous, one of a kind, and relevant to a particular moment. They are not designed to achieve a particular goal but occur in the context of a moment-to-moment contacting process between therapist and client  

• Must be sensitive, timed appropriately, individualized, respectful, and informative  

Experiments include

1. Setting up a dialogue 

2. Reliving a painful event 

3. Exaggering a gesture, posture, or some nonverbal mannerism 

4. Carrying on dialogue between two conflicting aspects 

5. Role-playing to gain awareness of conflicts  

Gestalt therapy interventions

1. The internal dialogue exercise 

2. Making the rounds 

3. The reversal exercise 

4. The rehearsal exercise 

5. The exaggeration exercise 

6. Staying with the feeling 

7. The gestalt approach to dream work  

Contributions of the Gestalt approach

• Approach deemphasizes abstract intellectualization of one’s problems 

• Relatively brief approach 

• Focus on here and now 

• Emphasis on doing 

• Recognize one’s own projections 

• Attention to the nonverbal body cues 

• Perspective on growth and enhancement  

• Working with dreams increases awareness  

Limitations of the Gestalt approach

• Exercises may keep therapist hidden 

• Training and supervision in Gestalt therapy is essential 

• Techniques allow for manipulation  

Multicultural contributions

• Sensitive among diversity 

• Time appropriately 

• Individualized fit 

• Attention to nonverbal behaviors 

• Fully understand the culture  

Multicultural limitations

high levels of intense feelings

Contact

the process of interacting with nature and with other people without losing one's sense of individuality. Contact is made by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and moving

Dream work

relive dreams as though they were happening now. Dreams are acted out in the present.  

Exaggeration exercise

client will exaggerate body movement to become aware of body language cues  

Internal dialogue exercise (empty chair technique)

Encourage clients acceptance of aspects of ones personality that have neem denied. Focus on division between “top dog” and the “underdog”.  

• One chair is underdog and other is top dog in a role-playing technique played it fully by the client. Conflict resolved when client accepts both sides. Goal is to learn to live with both sides  

Layers of neurosis

5 layers of functioning in which individuals keep themselves for succeeding, include: phony layer, phobic layer, impasse layer, implosive layer, and explosive layer  

Making the rounds

Involves asking a person in a group to go up to others in the group and either speak to or do something with each person. The purpose is to confront and disclose the self to experiment with behavior and to grow and change 

Rehearsal exercise

rehearsal exercises practiced out loud to create awareness  

Resistances to contact

defenses we develop to prevent us from experiencing the present in a full way. Channels of resistance include introjection, projection, retroflection, deflection, and confluence  

Reversal technique

Therapist asked client who claims to suffer from serve inhibitions to role-play an exhibitionist  

Staying with the feeling

therapist route plans to stay with uncomfortable feelings and confront them  

Introjection

Uncritically adopting others' beliefs without integrating them, leading to a lack of clarity about personal needs

Projection

Disowning personal traits by attributing them to others, avoiding responsibility for self-growth.

Retroflection

Directing actions inward rather than outward, often leading to self-harm or unmet needs.

Deflection

Distracting oneself from contact using humor, generalizations, or avoidance, resulting in emotional depletion

Confluence

Blurring boundaries between self and others, prioritizing acceptance over authentic self-expression.

Clients experience in therapy

Gestalt therapy emphasizes dialogue, creating a meeting place between therapist and client rooted in mutual understanding rather than confrontation or interpretation. Clients are active participants, discovering and assigning their own meanings, while the therapist facilitates awareness without offering explanations for behavior.

Miriam Polster outlines a three-stage process of client growth

1. Discovery: Clients gain new insights about themselves, situations, or relationships, often surprising themselves with these realizations.

2. Accommodation: Clients recognize they have choices and begin experimenting with new behaviors in a supportive setting, both during therapy and through homework assignments. Missteps are explored collaboratively to refine future actions.

3. Assimilation: Clients learn to influence their environment, develop confidence, and improvise effectively. They take stands on issues, make meaningful choices, and feel capable of navigating surprises. The therapist acknowledges and reinforces these achievements.

Gestalt therapy differentiates between exercises and experiments.

Exercises are pre-designed techniques used to achieve specific goals or stimulate interaction, while experiments arise organically from the therapist-client interaction and are central to experiential learning.

• Experiments are collaborative, spontaneous, and tailored to the client's moment-to-moment experiences, offering fresh emotional insights and opportunities for action.

• experiments help clients confront and process internal conflicts by bringing them into the present.

Effective experiments require sensitivity and balance.

Therapists must tailor interventions to the client's needs, avoiding either overwhelming them with excessive risk or keeping them in unproductive safety. The ultimate goal is to foster spontaneity, insight, and growth through creative, timely, and supportive exploration.

Key guidelines for effective Gestalt experiments include:

• Introducing experiments at the right time and in a sensitive manner.

• Respecting the client's cultural background and readiness for emotional exploration.

• Adapting tasks to match the client's level and promoting achievable success.

• Exploring hesitation to uncover its meaning.

• Balancing support and challenge to ensure a safe, productive environment.

• Using experiments flexibly, focusing on their relevance to the client's present experience.

Preparing clients for gestalt experiments

Gestalt therapy emphasizes the importance of experiencing its methods firsthand, as merely reading about them can make experiments seem abstract or strange.

• Building a trusting therapist-client relationship is essential for clients to engage in experiments, which are designed to foster self-awareness and explore new behaviors in a safe environment. Clients should never feel coerced; instead, therapists invite participation and respect resistance as a valuable insight into the client's personality and cultural background.

Resistance is seen not as a problem but as an opportunity to explore clients' awareness and defenses

Therapists aim to meet clients where they are, honoring their pace and cultural norms while gently encouraging exploration of disowned feelings or behaviors. Experiments are not ends in themselves but tools to help clients expand awareness and try out new modes of being

Role of confrontation

Contemporary Gestalt therapy has evolved beyond the confrontational style associated with Fritz Perls. While Perls's approach often involved theatrics, intense confrontation, and catharsis, modern "relational Gestalt therapy" emphasizes empathy, support, and compassion, creating an environment for sustained inquiry and meaningful awareness.

Confrontation, though still part of Gestalt practice, is now more collaborative and respectful. It is not about harsh attacks but about inviting clients to examine incongruities, such as gaps between verbal and nonverbal expressions. Therapists also encourage clients to explore how they may be blocking their strengths or potential. Effective confrontation focuses on fostering self-awareness and growth while maintaining respect for the client.

Therapists' style and the environment they create greatly influence clients' willingness to participate.

Frew outlines three styles:

• Imposing Stance: Confrontational, with the therapist dominating and prioritizing their agenda.

• Competing Stance: Negotiative, promoting rugged individualism.

• Confirming Stance: Compassionate and client-centered, prioritizing curiosity, patience, and trust.

Confirming stance, focused on the client's experience, fosters freer functioning and change. Ultimately, Gestalt therapy respects the client's autonomy, inviting but not forcing them to explore deeper self-awareness and transformation

Examples of the aspects of language Gestalt therapists might focus on:

1. It Talk: Client uses “It” instead of I are using depersonalizing language, therapist will ask them to substitute personal pronouns for impersonal ones so they can assume increased sense of responsibility

2. You talk: Global and impersonal language tends to keep person hidden, substitute “you” for I

3. Questions: Questions have a tendency to keep the questioner hidden, safe and unknown, therapist will ask clients to change questions into statements

4. Language that denies power: some clients have the tendency to deny their personal power by adding qualifiers or disclaimers to their statements, to substite to allow client to accept power, and responsibilities for decisions

   • counselor hopes to foster awareness of what is being expressed through words

5. Listening to clients metaphors: Beneath the metaphor may lie a suppressed internal dialogue that represents critical unfinished business ir reactions to a precent interaction

6. Listening for language that uncovers a story: Clients often use language that is elusive yet gives significant clues to a story that illustrates their life struggles