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A brief explanation of Gestalt Theory
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Gestalt Therapy
CP 6642Group Dynamics and Counseling
Troy UniversitySummer 2009
Jerry Traylor
It is important to accept who and what we are rather than striving to become what we should
be
Fritz Perls
Founder of Gestalt TherapyFailed 7th grade twiceEarned Medical Degree (Psychiatric
Specialty)Served in World War I as medicEstablished the New York Institute for
Gestalt TherapyPracticed at the Esalen InstituteInnovator in PsychotherapyThe Traveling Minstrel of Gestalt TheapyPeople Loved and AdmiredPeople Disliked and Disparaged
Co-founder of Gestalt TherapyPlayed Piano by 5 years oldPlayed with professional skill by 18 Incorporated music and dance into Gestalt
TherapyCompleted an extensive study of
Existential PhilosophyBegan collaborating with Fritz Perls in
1930Taught that every Gestalt Therapist needs
to develop her/his own therapeutic style
Laura Perls
Gestalt BasicsAwareness
Wholeness
Integration
Here and Now
Responsibility
Personal Choice
Gestalt View of Human NatureTherapy aims at integrating the
sometimes conflicting dimensions within the individual
Individuals are capable of dealing with their life problems themselves, especially if they are fully aware of what is happening in and around them
Gestalt Theory of Change: The more we try to be who & what
we are not, the more we stay the same
Therapeutic GoalsTo assist the client in obtaining AWARENESS!
Expand the client’s ABILITY TO MAKE CHOICES
Foster client’s INTEGRATON OF THE SELF
Support the client in TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Therapeutic Relationship
Genuine I/Thou Relationship
Dialogic
Present Centered
Non judgmental
Supportive
X
Essentially "contemplative" rather than practical. Here we meet an Other in such a manner that nothing beyond the meeting is desired or sought: the experience is one of something/someone which/who is seen and felt as an end-in-itself. The experience involves an appreciation of and a respect for the reality of the Other, grasped in its uniqueness and its mysteriousness. Here I am open and willing to receive the self-revelation of the Other as it stands-out-in-the-open-toward-me, showing itself just as-it-is. In this I welcome, and thus encourage, the Other to show me his/its own unique Truth. The experience is not expressible in descriptive language: it is fundamentally ineffable, since it is the experience of the Other in its uniqueness and its unfathomable mysteriousness: the Other is apprehended as a reality which we can never fully to know, predict, or control. The
attitude which characterizes the person who experiences I-Thou is one of disinterested--yet caring and curious--fascination. (Crocker 2002)
I-Thou Relationships
ResponsibilityCounselor
Assists
Focuses
Emphasizes Pattern
Identifies Communication
Confronts
Client
Actively Participate
Make Discovery
Interpret
Recognize Choices
Influence Environment
Therapeutic Experience
Withdrawal
Awareness
Mobilization of
Energy
Contact
Sensation
Action
The ExperienceTakes Place In the Hear and Now
How What When Who Questions-WHY QUESTIONS AVOIDED
What happened in the past is of limited importance
Makes contact in a vivid & immediate manner rather than simply talking about
Interferes with the effective contact with oneself & others until one faces & deals with the unexpressed emotions
Unfinished Business
Therapeutic Experiment
Therapeutic Experiences are perceived as a series of experiments
Experiments are co-created by client and counselor
Designed to intensify experiencing and feeling
Experiments are created and changed throughout the experience
Therapeutic Experiment Preparation
Turn off Internal Dialog
Relax
Feel
Experimental Warnings
Experiments Are Not For Everybody
Experiments for less organized, more severely disturbed, or psychotic clients can be problematic
Experiments are powerful-Harm Can Occur
Experiments require caution, skill, training and experience
“Stones”Promotes:
Seeing in the moment
Identifying Important People, Places, and Things
Identifying patterns
Making the Rounds
Promotes:
Individual confrontation
Risk taking
Disclosure of self
Experiment with new behavior
Growth
ARTPromotes
Recognition of Feelings
Expressing feelings in ways other than in words
A willingness to play and Free Associate
Experiencing Feelings Changes
Self Disclosure
Risk Taking
Dialogue ExperimentA role playing technique
Encourages dialogue opposing poles in one’s personality
Promotes a higher level of integration & acceptance of the 2 polarities
“I Take Responsibility for …” ExperimentCounselor asks a client to make a statement & then adds: “and I take responsibility for it”
Promotes: Increased recognition & acceptance of the client’s feelings
Decreased projection of their emotions onto others
Playing the Projection Experiment Counselor asks client to role play certain assertions that he/she
makes about other people Increases awareness of how he/she sees clearly in others the very things he/she does not want to see & accept in the self
Reversal Technique ExperimentCounselor asks the client to role play the opposing side of the
personality Permits the contact with pieces of the self that have been denied & submerged
Rehearsal ExperimentCounselor asks client to share his/her internal rehearsing to make
him/her aware of how much energy & preparation is involved in “bolstering” their social roles
Staying with the FeelingCounselor encourages the client to stay
with the retain unpleasant feelings from which the client would prefer to escape
Gestalt Dream Work ExperimentsThe royal road to integrationThe counselor encourages the client to relive & act out the dream in the present tenseEach part of the dream is understood as a projection of the selfAll the different parts of the dream are expression of one’s contradictory & inconsistent sidesBy entering a dialogue between the opposing sides, one becomes more aware of the range of one’s emotions
Gestalt Therapy CriticismsDoesn’t Utilize Formal Diagnosis or
Assessments
The counselor must have a high level of personal development
May not be embraced within cultures that stress reserve
Experiencing Not Easily Seen To Solve Problems
ReferencesPower Point Presentation Gestalt Therapy File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
The Gestalt Experiment. Counseling sessions are perceived as a series of experiments which are a creative adventure developed collaboratively between ...chdsw.educ.kent.edu/mcglothlin/Theories/Gestalt%20Therapy.ppt
Slide No. 1 Corey, G. (2004). Theory & Practice of Group Counseling (6 ed.). (L. Gebo, Ed.) Belmont, California, USA : Brooks/Cole, pg. 301 .
Slide No. 2 Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8 ed.). M. Flemming, Ed.) Belmont, California, United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, pg. 98.
Slide No. 3 Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8 ed.). M. Flemming, Ed.) Belmont, California, United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, pg. 99
Slide No. 4 Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8 ed.). M. Flemming, Ed.) Belmont, California, United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, pg. 455.
Slide No. 5 Corey, G. (2004). Theory & Practice of Group Counseling (6 ed.). (L. Gebo, Ed.) Belmont, California, USA : Brooks/Cole, pg. 301
Slide No. 7 Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8 ed.). M. Flemming, Ed.) Belmont, California, United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, pg. 460.
Slide No. 9 Corey, G. (2004). Theory & Practice of Group Counseling (6 ed.). (L. Gebo, Ed.) Belmont, California, USA : Brooks/Cole, pg. 309-310.
Slide No. 10 Crocker, S. F. (2000, July). "I-Thou" and Its Role in Gestalt Therapy. Gestalt! an electronic journal , 4 . Vancouver, Washington, USA: Gestalt Global Corporation.
Slide No. 18 Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8 ed.). M. Flemming, Ed.) Belmont, California, United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, pg. 466.