Gestalt Therapy

Principles of gestalt therapy

holism

field theory

Holism

integrate mind, body, and environment

Field theory

client attitudes and behavior can change based on environment and other context

unfinished business

unfelt emotions do not go away

compulsive behavior, self-defeating behavior

brains not comfortable with uncertainty

Gestalt unfinished business vs Freud

Freud’s unconscious must happen in the first 3-6 years, unfinished business in Gestalt can happen at any point

The here and now

our power is in the present

many people lost the power of present

Therapist’s function and goals

“It” talk

“You” talk

“I” talk

Always encourage client to use “I” language

The internal dialogue exercise

Personality splits

Inner conflicts, self-criticism, unresolved emotions

Critical self vs vulnerable self

Adult self vs child self

Empty chair technique

Most important technique in Gestalt

Invite the people we have unfinished business with to therapy

• Ex. problems with mother but she has passed away, or because you’re too afraid to talk to her

Client can either just talk to empty chair or switch to empty chair and act as other person

Technique is not the solution, it helps the therapist form a better interpretation of relationship between client and other person

The reversal exercise

helps clients explore suppressed or avoided parts of themselves

if a client is usually controlled, ask them to act out an impulsive role

Staying with the feeling

stay with fearful or unpleasant feeling

vocalizing the emotion, describing it in detail

use creative expressions like drawing or role-playing

The Gestalt approach to dream work

dreams are not unconscious symbols

they are experiences into the client’s current awareness