Gestalt Therapy (Extra Credit)

Gestalt Therapy

 

                                             Fritz Perls 1893-1970         Laura Perls 1905-1990

Gestalt Therapy

• Founders- Fritz Perls and Laura Perls (Corey, 2012).
• Key concepts- view of human nature, some principles of Gestalt therapy theory, the now, unfinished business, contact and resistances to contact, and energy and blocks to energy (Corey, 2012).

1. View of human nature- according to Perls he strongly believed that clients needed to be independent and deal with their own life problems themselves (p. 213). His therapy deals with two personal agendas: 1. taking a client from the environmental support to self-support and bring back in the parts of a clients personality that had been forgotten about (p. 213). Perls believed that clients should be able to regulate themselves when they know what is happening in the environment around them.
2. Some principles of Gestalt therapy theory- basic principles include: holism, field theory, figure-formation process, and organismic self-regulation (p. 214). First being holism in which is the idea of unified or being complete. With Gestalt therapy concept being the idea of the whole person the therapist does not usually like to deal with aspect of the individual. Second principle is field theory which is the idea that it is important to see a client in their environment because it is usually in constant change. Third principle is the figure-formation process which how a client may deal with experiences from time to time. Fourth principle organismic self-regulation is a process that deals with a clients equilibrium in which it is disturbed by a need, sensation, or an interest of the client (Corey, 2012).
3. The now- the present moment is an important factor in Gestalt therapy. The past and future is sometimes a clients way of not dealing with the present. The reason that sometimes the past can come up in the present is because often times the clients feel that the past is incomplete. 
4. Unfinished business- this concept deals with having unexpressed feeling usually of the past. This can  sometimes leave unnecessary emotional feelings that may interfere with a clients present feelings. 
5. Contact and Resistances to contact- it is important for change and growth to happen to have contact. Effective contact is when a client is able to interact with nature and other people without losing sense of themselves (p. 217). Resistance which is often a way a client may deal with certain issues or problems but can often times prevent us from experiencing the present the way they should.
6. Energy and blocks to energy- where energy is located in a client is very important especially how it may be used and how it can be blocked. Energy can be expressed through a clients posture, body appearing tight, not deep breathing, and looking away and avoiding contact (p. 218). Sometimes a client is not always aware of their or where it is located.

• Therapeutic goals- in gestalt therapy most often it is not goal oriented. Some major goals in gestalt therapy includes moving forward and increase awareness, taking ownership in their experience instead of making it someone else fault, adapting skills and values that will allow them to satisfy their own needs without violating the rights of someone else, become more aware of all their senses, accept responsibility and consequences for their actions, and be comfortable with asking and receiving help from others (p. 220). Being a independent client is a big goal in gestalt and being able to control ones own self and their own behaviors.
• Techniques- gestalt therapy are considered experiments in which as a therapist you suggest ideas to a client and say see if this works and if so how (p. 224). It is very important with a new client to explain the difference in exercises (techniques) and experiments. Exercise is a ready-made techniques that you may want to use if you are wanting to get to a certain point in a sessions or make a client go somewhere in the session that they may not on their own. Experiments are more of an over time process in which a therapist will suggest something and the client will try and they together will determine if it works or not. 
• Name of theory- Gestalt  therapy theory (Corey, 2012).
• Personal life- Fritz and his wife Laura understood by their own relationship that it was very important to have very close healthy relationships but yet it is also important to be independent as an individual. In the 60s and 70s the Perls say training centers for Gestalt therapy go up all over the world. The son of Laura and Fritz, Stephen said the he could better understand the inability of Gestalt therapy and address intimate feelings with any soul and the reason for focusing more on strong personality (Perls, 2012). Fritz and his wife developed Gestalt therapy and helped others understand it better.
• My most favorite and why- Gestalt is my most favorite theory/therapy because I feel like people are always quick to blame their life problems on someones instead of taking ownership and being more independent. I feel that I am a very independent person and can relate to Gestalt therapy because not everybody has the ability to function as a independent individual. I feel also that it's important to stay in the present and deal with the now. I feel like many people have some type of unfinished business from the past whether it be school related or family/home life related and the empty chair is often the best way to deal with this. In some situations we can't go to or find the person that we may need to deal with some emotions with so the empty can help especially if its someone that is dead or no long around. Gestalt is very interesting and I think can relate to many people should consider this therapy to simple help them gain independence. 

References

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9th edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.