LECTURE 7

Gestalt Therapy

Fritz Perls
(1893-1970)

Main originator and developer of Gestalt therapy.

Born in Berlin, Germany, into a lower middle class
Jewish family.
He identified that himself as a source of trouble for his
parents.
Even he had been expelled from the school because
of the difficulties with the authorities, his brilliant was
never squashed and he returned-not only to complete
the high school but to earn his medical degree (MD)
with a specialization in psychiatry.

Later, he worked with German Army and served as a

medic in World War I.
His experiences with soldiers who were gassed on
the front lines led his interest in mental functioning,
which led him to Gestalt psychology.
After war, Perls worked with Kurt Goldstein in
Frankfurt . It was through this association that he
came to see the importance of viewing humans as a
whole rather than as a sum of discretely functioning
parts.

Introduction

Gestalt Therapy is an existential,

phenomenological and process-based approach
created on the premise that individual must be
understood in the context of their ongoing
relationship with the environment.

Initial goal- clients to gain awareness of what they

are experiencing and how they are doing it.

Through this awareness, change automatically

occurs.

This approach is phenomenological because

it focuses on the clients perceptions of reality
and existential because it is grounded in the
notion that people are always in the process
of becoming, remaking and rediscovering
themselves.
In a nutshell, this approach focuses on the
here and now, the what and how, and the
I/Thou of relating.

In contrast to Perlss way of working, contemporary

Gestalt therapy stresses dialogue and relationship
between client and therapist, sometimes called
relational Gestalt therapy.
Perls stressed a holistic approach to personality.
Self acceptance, knowledge of the environment,
responsibility for choices, and the ability to make
contact with their field (a dynamic system of
interrelationships) and the people in it are important
awareness processes and goals, all of which are
based on a here-and-now experiencing that is always
changing.

Key concepts

i)

ii)

According to Fritz Perls :

Clients have to grow up, stand on their own two feet
and deal with their life problems themselves.
Perls style of doing therapy involved 2 personal
agendas:
Moving client from environment support to selfsupport
Reintegrating the disowned parts of ones
personality.

Therapy aims not at analysis or introspection but at

awareness and contact with the environment.

The environment consist of both the external (other

people) and internal (part of the self) of the worlds.

The process of reowning parts of oneself that have

been disowned and the unification process proceed
step by step until clients become strong enough to
carry on with their own personal growth.

By becoming aware, clients become able to make

informed choices and thus to live a more meaningful
existence.

Basic assumption of Gestalt therapy individual

have the capacity to self-regulate when they are
aware of what is happening in and around them.

According to the paradoxical theory of change,

we change when we become aware of what we
are as opposed to trying to become what we are
not.

It is good to have clients to be what they have

to be rather than become what they should be.

Principles of Gestalt Therapy Theory

1)
2)
3)
4)

Holism
Field theory
The figure-formation process
Organismic self-regulation

Holism

Gestalt is a German word meaning a whole or

completion or a form that cannot be separated
into parts without losing its essence.

Gestalt therapists are interested in the whole

person, they place no superior values on
particular aspect of the individual.

Gestalt practice attends to a clients thoughts,

feelings, behaviors, body, memories and
dreams.

Emphasis may be on a figure (those aspects of the

individuals experience that are most important at any
moment) or the ground (those aspects of the clients
presentation that are often out of his or her awareness)

Cues to this background (physical gestures, tone of

voice,other nonverbal content).

This often referred to by Gestalt therapists as

attending to the obvious, while paying attention to
how the parts fit together, how the individual makes
contact with the environment and integration.

Field Theory

Field theory-grounded on the principle that

the organism must be seen in its environment,
or in its context, as part of the constantly field.

Gestalt therapy rests on the principle that

everything is relational, interrelated, and in
process.

Gestalt therapists pay attention to and explore

what is occurring at the boundary between the
person and the environment.

The Figure-Formation
Process
Describes how the individual organizes
experience from moment to moment.

The figure-formation process tracks how

some aspects of the environmental field
emerges from the background and becomes
the focal point of the individuals attention and
interest.

The dominant needs of an individual at the

given moment influence this process.

Organismic Self-Regulation

A process by which equilibrium is disturbed by the

emergence of a need, a sensation, or an interest.

Organisms will do their best to regulate themselves,

given their own capabilities and the resources of their
environment.

What emerges in therapeutic work is associated with

what is of interest to or what the client needs to be
able to regain a sense of equilibrium.

The Now

Our power is in the present

Nothing exists except the now
The past is gone and the future has not yet
arrived

For many people the power of the present is lost

They may focus on their past mistakes or
engage in endless resolutions and plans for
the future

Unfinished Business

Feelings about the past are unexpressed

These feelings are associated with distinct
memories and fantasies
Feelings not fully experienced linger in the
background and interfere with effective
contact

Result:
Preoccupation, compulsive behavior,
wariness oppressive energy and selfdefeating behavior

Contact and Resistance to

Contact

Contact
Interacting with nature and with other people
without losing ones individuality

Boundary Disturbances/ resistance to contact

The defenses we develop to prevent us from
experiencing the present fully

Contact Boundary
Phenomenon
Five different
kinds of contact boundary
disturbances:
Introjection
Projection
Retroflection
Deflection
Confluence

A Focus of Language

It talk

You talk

Questions

Language that denies power

Listening to clients metaphors

Listening for language that uncovers a story

Therapeutic Techniques

The experiment

Internal dialogue
exercise

Rehearsal exercise
Reversal technique

Exaggeration
exercise

Staying with the

feeling

Making the rounds

Dream work