Fritz Perls:

 Birthplace: Berlin, Germany.

 Originator of Gestalt therapy.
 Overcame academic challenges in youth.
 World War I medic experience led to interest in mental functioning and Gestalt psychology.
 Psychoanalytic training in Vienna.
 Established the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy.
 Conducted influential workshops in Big Sur, California.

Laura Posner Perls:

 Collaborator and wife of Fritz Perls.

 Introduced focus on interpersonal contact and support to Gestalt therapy.
 Enriched Gestalt therapy's theory and practice.
 Contributed to its development and worldwide impact.
 Played a key role in the foundation of Gestalt therapy.

INTRODUCTION

What is gestalt therapy?

 Existential and phenomenological perspective
 - This viewpoint focuses on understanding life from an individual's personal experiences and their awareness
of existence. It explores how people make choices and take responsibility for their lives.
 Emphasis on awareness, choice, and responsibility
 Stresses the importance of the present moment, the nature of interactions, and the client-therapist
relationship.
 Developed as a holistic alternative to Freudian psychoanalysis
 -This approach emerged as a comprehensive alternative to Freud's psychoanalysis, aiming to consider all
aspects of a person's experience rather than just their unconscious mind. It looks at the whole person, not
just their hidden desires.
 Contemporary Gestalt Therapy, Also known as relational Gestalt therapy.
 Prioritizes dialogue and therapeutic relationships.
 Promotes a supportive, empathic, and compassionate therapeutic style.
 Contrasts with Fritz Perls' confrontational and dramatic approach.
 Emphasizes the quality of the therapist-client relationship and empathic attunement.

Core Principles of Gestalt Therapy:

 Emphasis on present-moment awareness.
 Active exploration of thoughts, feelings, and actions.
 Promotion of self-acceptance and responsibility for choices.
 Client engagement in self-discovery and growth.
 Rejection of passivity, encouraging active participation in therapy.
 Draws from emotion-focused therapy (EFT), integrating elements from various therapeutic approaches.
 EFT emphasizes the role of emotions in psychotherapeutic change and incorporates empirically supported
treatments.

KEY CONCEPTS:

View of Human Nature in Gestalt Therapy:

 Gestalt therapy is based on immediate experience and awareness.
 It encourages contact with the external and internal worlds.
 People have the capacity to self-regulate when they are aware.
 Authentic change comes from being oneself, not trying to be someone else.
 Gestalt therapists create a supportive environment for growth without imposing change.

Some Principles of Gestalt Therapy Theory:

Holism:
 Views individuals as whole and complete entities.
 Emphasizes the importance of considering all aspects of a person's experience.
 Focuses on thoughts, feelings, behaviors, body, memories, and dreams.
 Values both the figure (salient aspects of experience) and the ground (less conscious elements).
 Pays attention to how these aspects fit together and relate to the environment.
Field Theory:
 Gestalt therapy is rooted in field theory.
 Asserts that individuals must be seen in the context of their ever-changing field or environment.
 Emphasizes that everything is relational, interconnected, and in constant flux.
 Focuses on the dynamic interaction between a person and their surroundings.
 - Gestalt therapy is based on something called "field theory." This means it looks at people as if they are part
of a constantly changing environment.
Figure-Formation Process:
 Derived from studies of visual perception.
 Describes how individuals organize their experiences moment to moment.
 Involves the differentiation of a foreground (figure) and a background (ground).
 The dominant needs and interests of the individual influence this process.
 The therapist guides the client's awareness to emerging figures during therapy.
 - This process is a bit like how we see things. Imagine looking at a picture: you decide what's important (that's
the figure) and what's not as important (that's the background).
Organismic Self-Regulation:
 Linked to the principle of organismic self-regulation.
 Equilibrium is disturbed by the emergence of needs, sensations, or interests.
 Organisms strive to regulate themselves based on their capabilities and environmental resources.
 Individuals can take actions to restore balance or promote growth and change.
 Therapists direct clients' awareness toward emerging figures for therapeutic focus.
 - This concept is about how our bodies and minds naturally aim to maintain balance. Sometimes, new feelings
or needs disrupt this balance. Our bodies and minds then work to restore balance by using available
resources. We can take actions to regain equilibrium or promote growth and change. In therapy, the therapist
guides our awareness toward what's important in this process as we discuss our emotions and needs.
THE NOW

 Present Moment Emphasis: Gestalt therapy underscores the importance of embracing the present moment
for self-awareness and growth, discouraging preoccupation with the past or future.
 Phenomenological Inquiry: Therapists employ a specific approach, using "what" and "how" questions instead
of "why" questions to guide clients in exploring their current experiences and awareness, fostering a deeper
connection with the present.
 Dialogue in the Present Tense: Clients are encouraged to engage in conversations that operate in the present
tense, enabling them to connect more authentically with their immediate thoughts and feelings.
 Staying in the Now: Recognizing the natural inclination to divert from the present, therapists work to keep
clients focused on their current experiences, helping them genuinely feel and explore their emotions in the
moment.
 Addressing the Past in the Present: While the present is the primary focus, therapists acknowledge the
impact of the past on present attitudes and behaviors. Clients may be invited to reenact past experiences as if
they were happening now, promoting a more immediate and emotionally connected exploration of
unresolved issues.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 Unfinished business in Gestalt therapy refers to unresolved emotions like resentment, anger, and guilt.
 These lingering emotions hinder present awareness and can lead to self-defeating behaviors.
 The therapist's role is to help clients face and process these unresolved feelings.
 Impasse, a point where usual coping methods don't work, is an opportunity for growth.
 Clients are encouraged to fully experience the impasse and accept themselves without judgment to facilitate
personal development in Gestalt therapy.

CONTACT AND RESISTANCES TO CONTACT

 In Gestalt therapy, contact is essential for personal growth and involves all senses while preserving
individuality.
 Effective contact requires clear awareness, energy, and self-expression.
 Therapists also address resistances to contact, which are coping mechanisms that can hinder genuine
experiences.
 Five types of contact boundary disturbances include introjection, projection, retroflection, deflection, and
confluence, helping clients enhance awareness and authentic interaction.
 - In Gestalt therapy, contact is like reaching out to connect with the world around us. It involves using all our
senses while staying true to who we are. For it to work, we need to be fully aware, energetic, and expressive.
But sometimes, we put up barriers, called resistances, to protect ourselves. These resistances can block us
from having genuine experiences. In therapy, the therapist helps us become aware of and deal with these
resistances so we can make meaningful connections and grow.
 Introjection involves passively accepting others' beliefs and standards without integrating them into one's
own identity, potentially leading to dependency on external authorities and neglecting personal needs.
 -Imagine someone who constantly seeks approval from others and adopts their opinions or beliefs without
questioning them. For instance, they might adopt a political stance simply because their friends or family
hold that view, without considering their own values or beliefs.
 Projection is the act of attributing disowned aspects of oneself to others, avoiding self-responsibility, and
perceiving hidden meanings in people's actions, often resulting in a sense of victimization.
 -In this case, a person might accuse their partner of being angry and hostile when they are actually the one
feeling angry. They project their own emotions onto the other person, believing the other is angry when it's
their own anger they are experiencing.
 Retroflection consists of turning inward what one would like to do to others or for oneself, often leading to
self-inhibition, anxiety, and self-harming behaviors, such as self-mutilation or psychosomatic complaints.
 -Consider someone who feels a strong urge to express their frustration at work but instead internalizes it,
leading to stress and physical symptoms like headaches. They are directing their anger inwardly rather than
expressing it outwardly.
 Deflection involves veering off or distracting from direct contact, often employing humor, abstractions, or
questions instead of statements, which can result in emotional depletion and hinder meaningful interactions.
 -Imagine a person who avoids discussing their emotions or problems by constantly changing the subject
during a conversation. For example, when asked about their feelings, they might divert the conversation to
a different topic or make jokes to deflect attention away from themselves.
 Confluence blurs the boundary between self and the environment, seeking acceptance and avoiding conflicts,
making genuine contact challenging; this can be addressed by encouraging clients to explore their current
experiences and desires. These resistance styles are central concepts in Gestalt therapy, aiming to raise
awareness and promote healthier contact with the self and others.
 - In this scenario, an individual might suppress their own desires or opinions to maintain harmony in a
relationship. For instance, they might always agree with their partner's choices, even when they have
different preferences, to avoid conflict.
ENERGY AND BLOCKS TO ENERGY

 Gestalt therapy explores the flow of energy in the body and how it can be blocked as a defense mechanism.
 Blocked energy can show up as physical tension, closed body posture, shallow breathing, avoidance of eye
contact, or suppressed emotions.
 Therapeutic Process: Therapists help clients become aware of these energy blockages, guiding them to
identify and transform these patterns. Clients are encouraged to acknowledge how their resistance is
physically expressed and explore these tensions to release blocked energy and engage more fully in life.
 In simple terms, in Gestalt therapy, we look at how our energy flows in our bodies and how sometimes it
gets stuck or blocked as a way to protect ourselves.
 Think about a time when you felt really nervous, like before giving a speech. Your body might have tensed
up, and you may have felt like you couldn't breathe deeply. Your energy was blocked, and you might have
even avoided looking at the audience because of this tension. This is how blocked energy can show up in
your body.
 In therapy, the therapist helps you notice when and how you block your energy. They guide you to
recognize these patterns, like tensing up or avoiding eye contact, and together you work on releasing this
blocked energy. By doing this, you can engage more fully in life and feel less tense or closed off.

THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS

In Gestalt therapy, the primary therapeutic goal is to facilitate clients in achieving greater awareness and choice in
their lives. Although the therapy does not strictly adhere to predefined goals, it emphasizes six key methodological
components:
a) the continuum of experience
b) the present moment
c) the paradoxical theory of change
d) experimentation
e) authentic encounters
f) process-oriented diagnosis.
 With awareness they have the capacity to face and accept denied parts as well as to fully experience their
subjectivity.
 Without awareness clients do not possess the tools for personality change.

Increased awareness is considered therapeutic in itself, enabling individuals to:

 Move toward increased awareness of themselves.

 Gradually assume ownership of their experience, taking responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
 Develop skills and acquire values that allow them to satisfy their needs without violating the rights of others.
 Become more aware of all their senses, fostering a holistic perception of their experiences.
 Learn to accept responsibility for their actions, including accepting the consequences.
 Be able to ask for and receive help from others and reciprocate by providing support to others.

THERAPIST'S FUNCTION AND ROLE

 In Gestalt therapy, therapists don't impose specific goals on clients but instead facilitate self-discovery.
 Clients are seen as experts on their experiences, and therapists create a supportive environment for
exploration.
 Therapists pay attention to body language and language patterns to uncover hidden emotions and conflicts.
 Clients are encouraged to use "I" statements, transform questions into statements, and explore metaphors
and stories to enhance self-awareness.
 The therapy process aims to help clients communicate their life stories more authentically.

CLIENT'S EXPERIENCE IN THERAPY

 Gestalt therapy emphasizes dialogue and the client-therapist relationship.
 Therapists avoid interpreting clients' behavior and encourage self-discovery.
 Clients actively participate, interpret their experiences, and increase awareness.
 Client growth in therapy involves three stages: discovery (new insights), accommodation (realizing choices),
and assimilation (influencing the environment).
 This process empowers clients to confidently engage with their lives and make choices to meet their needs.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THERAPIST AND CLIENT

 Gestalt therapy emphasizes a person-to-person relationship between therapist and client.

 Therapists must be fully present, knowing themselves and the client while remaining open and affected by
the client.
 They actively share their own experiences and perceptions in the present moment.
 The I/Thou relationship and the therapist's presence are considered more important than techniques.
 Therapists should use their own experiences as essential components in the therapy process, emphasizing
awareness and a two-way engagement that changes both the client and the therapist.

APPLICATION: THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES

The Experiment in Gestalt Therapy

 Experiments in Gestalt therapy are client-centered and spontaneous activities.
 They are not preset techniques but emerge within the therapeutic interaction.
 Experiments shift the focus from talking to experiential learning and self-exploration.
 Tailored to individual needs and developed based on client reports, they promote fresh insights and
emotional experiences.
 These activities encourage flexibility, personal growth, and greater awareness within the therapeutic
dialogue.

Preparing Clients for Gestalt Experiments

 Therapists should personally experience and understand Gestalt experiments before using them with clients.
 Building trust in the therapist-client relationship is crucial for successful experimentation.
 Instead of commanding, therapists should invite clients to try experiments, allowing them to stop if
uncomfortable.
 Understanding client reluctance, whether due to cultural or fear-based reasons, is essential.
 Gestalt therapy focuses on honoring resistance and using experiments to increase self-awareness and
promote desired behavior changes.

The Role of Confrontation

 Confrontation in Gestalt therapy is not harsh but aims to help clients explore behaviors, attitudes, and
thoughts.
 It focuses on both incongruities and strengths.
 Therapists use confrontation to encourage clients to be more in touch with themselves and others.
 Clients have the choice to accept or decline this invitation for self-discovery.
 In simpler terms, confrontation in Gestalt therapy is not about being mean or critical. It's more like a
friendly invitation to look closely at your behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.
 Example: Let's say you often get really angry when someone cancels plans with you. A therapist might gently
confront this by saying, "I've noticed you react strongly when plans change. Can we explore why this
happens?" It's not meant to make you uncomfortable but to help you understand your reactions better. You
can choose to accept this invitation and explore or decline it if you're not ready. It's all about understanding
yourself and your actions.
Gestalt Therapy Interventions

 Gestalt therapy uses experiments and exercises to enhance client awareness and resolve internal conflicts.
 Experiments help clients work through impasses and complete unfinished business.
 Exercises can elicit emotions, prompt action, or achieve specific goals.

These interventions are tailored to the therapeutic context and the client's experiences:

1. The Internal Dialogue Exercise:

 Addresses personality splits in Gestalt therapy, focusing on the "top dog" and "underdog" aspects.
 Involves role-playing both sides in an externalized dialogue using two chairs.
 Aims to integrate these opposing facets of personality for greater self-acceptance.
 Promotes awareness and conflict resolution.
 Imagine you're feeling torn between staying in a stable job (the "top dog") and pursuing your dream of
becoming an artist (the "underdog"). In therapy, you sit in one chair as the "top dog" and another as the
"underdog," having a conversation between these two aspects of yourself to better understand your inner
conflict.
2. Making the Rounds:
 Encourages group members to interact with each other, confronting fears and self-disclosure.
 Useful for addressing specific themes or issues within a group setting.
 Promotes personal growth, risk-taking, and confronting fears.
 Enhances participation in group dynamics.
 In a group therapy session, members take turns interacting with each other, addressing their fears or
sharing personal experiences they might usually keep hidden. For instance, someone who is shy might
speak openly about their social anxieties within the group, encouraging personal growth and openness.
3. The Reversal Exercise:
 Targets behaviors representing reversals of underlying impulses.
 Clients are asked to act in ways opposite to their usual behavior.
 Helps clients accept and integrate suppressed or denied aspects of themselves.
 Encourages self-awareness and change.
 If you tend to be overly passive in social situations, the therapist may ask you to act assertively during the
exercise. This helps you explore and integrate the part of you that usually avoids confrontation or speaking
up.
4. The Rehearsal Exercise:
 Focuses on clients who internally rehearse their behavior, leading to anxiety in real situations.
 Clients share their internal rehearsals out loud with the therapist.
 Highlights the need to move from rehearsed behaviors to authentic spontaneity.
 Increases awareness of efforts to gain acceptance and meet others' expectations.
 You often rehearse what you want to say in social situations but struggle to be spontaneous. In therapy,
you share these rehearsed thoughts with the therapist, highlighting the need to shift from pre-planned
behaviors to authentic interactions.
5. The Exaggeration Exercise:
 Emphasizes nonverbal cues and body language.
 Clients exaggerate specific behaviors to intensify associated feelings and clarify their inner meaning.
 Aids in uncovering and working through unexpressed emotions.
 Promotes self-awareness and emotional exploration.
 If you have trouble expressing anger, you might exaggerate this emotion in therapy, letting it show more
intensely than usual. This exercise helps uncover hidden emotions and provides insight into their
underlying causes.
6. Staying with the Feeling:
 Encourages clients to face and explore unpleasant emotions they usually avoid.
 Urges clients to remain with these feelings and delve deeper into them.
 Requires courage and a willingness to endure discomfort for personal growth.
 Facilitates unblocking and self-discovery.
 You tend to avoid sadness and distract yourself when you feel down. In therapy, you're encouraged to sit
with that sadness, explore it, and understand its origins, even though it's uncomfortable.
7. The Gestalt Approach to Dream Work:
 Differs from psychoanalysis by reliving dreams as if they're happening in the present.
 Clients act out dream scenarios and interact with different dream characters.
 Aims to integrate conflicting aspects of the self and gain insight into feelings and behaviors.
 Encourages self-awareness and resolution of inner conflicts revealed in dreams.
 Rather than analyzing a dream from a distance, you act out the dream's scenes and engage with dream
characters as if the dream is happening right now. This can help you gain insights into unresolved conflicts
or feelings represented in your dreams.

APPLICATION TO GROUP COUNSELING

 Gestalt therapy is effective for group counseling due to its focus on direct experience and actions.
 Group members can explore their concerns by enacting them in the present moment, fostering vivid
understanding.
 Experiments are used to intensify present experiences and increase awareness within the group.
 Group leaders actively create experiments and encourage an open, experimental atmosphere for members to
try new approaches.
 Cultural sensitivity is essential when using Gestalt methods in diverse settings, and the approach aligns well
with cultures that value group interactions. Training workshops have shown its effectiveness in promoting
emotional openness and safety among group members.

Conducted training workshops in Korea with Marianne Schneider Corey:

 Focused on applying the Gestalt approach to group counseling.
 Korean participants were open and shared emotions in a safe environment.
 Emphasized a respectful, culturally sensitive, and phenomenological approach.
 Highlighted the compatibility of Gestalt therapy with Korean collectivistic values.
 They taught how to use the Gestalt approach in group counseling.
 The Korean participants felt comfortable expressing their feelings in a safe setting.
 They stressed the importance of being respectful and culturally sensitive.
 They showed that Gestalt therapy can work well with Korean values that emphasize group unity and
cooperation.
GESTALT THERAPY APPLIED TO THE CASE OF STAN

Gestalt therapy is applied to Stan's case to address his unfinished business with his family and ex-wife. Stan's
feelings of resentment, self-blame, and cultural introjections are explored within the therapy. The therapist
encourages Stan to become aware of his present experiences, identify significant figures or thoughts, and deepen
his awareness through experiments. The therapy focuses on Stan's present struggles within the therapeutic
relationship. Stan's reluctance to express emotions is also addressed through exploration. A follow-up plan
involves questions for the therapist to consider in continuing the Gestalt therapy with Stan.

SUMMARY
 Gestalt therapy emphasizes present awareness and the quality of contact between the individual and their
environment.
 The therapy aims to increase awareness of how past behaviors may hinder present functioning.
 The therapist's primary goal is to facilitate awareness and doesn't label behavior as "resistance."
 Expanded awareness allows clients to reconcile internal conflicts and reintegrate all aspects of themselves.
 The therapist assists clients in identifying significant issues and interests and designs experiments to address
them, often using self-disclosure to aid the process.

LIMITATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF GESTALT THERAPY

 Older versions of Gestalt therapy, particularly Fritz Perls' style, are criticized for emphasizing confrontation
over cognitive factors.
 Contemporary Gestalt therapy has evolved to include more theoretical instruction and cognitive elements.
 Critics argue that while experiential learning is essential, clients can benefit from timely information and a
psychoeducational focus.
 Effective Gestalt therapy requires therapists with high levels of personal development, self-awareness, and a
strong clinical background.
 Inadequately trained therapists may misuse powerful techniques, potentially harming clients.
 Ethical practice in Gestalt therapy hinges on proper training, supervision, and the therapist's skill, experience,
and judgment.