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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Combines both
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Eastern and Western philosophies
Gestalt means "whole," meaning (a) Mind, body, soul are one. (b) We "own" some parts and not others -Are you extroverted/introverted? If extroverted, when are you introverted? -You're both kind and mean. |
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Figure/Ground Theory
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Vase/faces and old/young woman
What does the client see as the figure? What do the client and counselor agree to treat as the figure? Figure may go in and out, or just be a single figure - Fixed figure. Everything is seen as an exemplar of figure (for example, everything people do or say is seen as support of the idea that "people hate me.") What is ground? (e.g., ethnicity, friends, what you had for lunch, GPA)? How does ground change the figure If you get stuck as a counselor, ask what is figural for you? For your client? Putting figures out on the table and discussing them is a way of understanding what the other person is thinking |
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Cycle of awareness
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Only major goal of Gestalt therapy is to help the client become more aware
Beginning: Sensation (of dryness in mouth) Awareness (aware that you're thirsty) and place where we can be choiceful Mobilization (go get water) Middle of cycle: Contact (water hits mouth) connect with someone. else. End of cycle: Withdrawal need is satisfied Integration (goal is met and moves into the background) Brief period of nothingness. A second of stopping, just being. If we don't make the whole circle, we get stuck. (1) Eating disorders: get stuck in sensation, but don't become aware of real needs that they satisfy. (2) Want to make meaningful contact with a friend, a wide variety of ways we can do this. When we do, can integrate. We work towards good contact with Os. But do you really want contact 24/7 and with everyone? b. The path through the cycle should be choiceful and aware, and based on current situation, rather than early experience. c. Contact style, rather than defense mechanisms (deflection, confluency, differentiation) d. why is contact avoided? All of us want more intimacy than we can stand. Karl Whitaker GT used to push for greater intimacy. Now GTs respect both intimate contact and pulling back. Awareness and choiceful decisions about when to make contact are now seen as more important than a compulsive search for intimacy. If we made constant contact, we'd be overwhelmed |
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Deflection
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contact style
instead of connecting, use humor, get distracted or make the client angry |
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Confluency
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Match their style, connecting around similarities
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Differentiation
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Be different from the client: to calm them down, to take care of self, or to stimulate thought or action
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Fritz Perls (of Wisdom)
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Use of Self: I am always aware that I am an influence to the client. May share these reactions to client, if in the service of client.
Here and now be aware in the moment Why do you? What makes it hard? "Do it rather than talking about it." Reasons why are sometimes important, but find ways wondering whether you trust me or not. Paradox of Change Theory Goal is to become more aware in the moment, just now. Give permission to be undecided, and then decide. Slowing down must slow down and breathe to be aware Experiments role playing, pretending |
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Gestalt Therapy is Existential and Phenomenological
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It is grounded in the client's "here and now"
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Initial goals of Gestalt Therapy
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for clients to gain awareness of what they are experiencing and doing now
Promotes direct experiencing rather than the abstractness of talking about situations Rather than talk about a childhood trauma the client is encouraged to become the hurt child |
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Principles of Gestalt Theory
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Holism
full range of human functioning includes thoughts, feelings, behaviors, body, language and dreams Field theory the field is the client's environment which consists of therapist and client and all that goes on between them Client is a participant in a constantly changing field Figure Formation Process How and individual organizes experiences from moment to moment foreground = figure, background = ground Organismic Self-Regulation Emergence of need sensations and interest disturb an individual’s equilibrium |
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Why some can't focus on the NOW
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they may focus on their past mistakes or engage in endless resolutions and plans for the future
OUR POWER IS IN THE PRESENT |
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Unfinished business
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feelings about the past are unexpressed
(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 self-defeating behavior |
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Contact
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Interacting with nature and with other people without losing one’s individuality
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Boundary Disturbances/Resistances to Contact
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The defenses we develop to prevent us from experiencing the present fully
Five major channels of resistance: Introjection • Deflection Projection • Confluence Retroflection |
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Six Components of Gestalt Therapy Methodology
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The continuum of experience
The here and now The paradoxical theory of change The experiment The authentic encounter |
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Therapeutic Techniques
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The experiment in Gestalt Therapy
Internal dialogue exercise Rehearsal exercise Reversal technique Exaggeration exercise Staying with the feeling Making the rounds Dream work |
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Application to Group Work
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Encourages direct experience and action
Here-and-now focus allows members to bring unfinished business to the present Members try out experiments within the group setting Leaders can use linking to include members in the exploration of a particular individual’s problem Leaders actively design experiments for the group while focusing on awareness and contact Group leaders actively engage with the members to form a sense of mutuality in the group |
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Limits of Gestalt Therapy
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potential for the therapist to abuse power by using powerful techniques without proper training
may not be useful for clients who have difficulty abstracting and imagining The emphasis on therapist authenticity and self-disclosure may be overpowering for some clients The high focus on emotion may pose limitations for clients who have been culturally conditioned to be emotionally reserved |
