Chapter 6 (Gestalt Theory)

What is Fritz Perls famous quote to sum up Gestalt therapy?

"lose your mind and come to your senses"

What are Yontef's three phrase

- I and thou - Here and Now - What and how

Gestalt Bible

- Published in 1951 - Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth of the Human Personality, (F. Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman) - It has been described as intellectually challenging and difficult to understand but timeless in a way that makes its relevance longstanding.

Self-actualization and self-regulation process

- an initial state of equilibrium - disruption of equilibrium through emergence of a need - development of awareness of the need - taking actions - return to equilibrium

Gestalt therapy and assessment

- assessment and diagnostic process are underused - existential/humanistic typically avoid assessements - Gestalt therapy was modeled by Fritz Perls during workshops and retreats - there's a focus on pushing people forward toward growth; less focus on systematic problem assessment - the entire gestalt therapy approach involves self-assessment

3 clients poorly suited for Gestalt therapy

- clients with depressive symptoms who are also highly reactive or sensitive to feedback - clients with depressive symptoms who also have tendencies to externalize their problems - clients who exhibit observable deterioration when engaging in expressive-experiential, emotionally activating treatment; working with borderline personality disorder patients requires a deeper therapeutic alliance

How to Gestalt therapists minimize client risk

- emphasizing collaboration - clinical training guidelines

Examples of Gestalt experiments

- empty chair technique - the reversal technique - playing the projection

Polster's (1996) 3 specific therapeutic devices or processes

- encounter - awareness - experiment

What are the 5 layers of neurosis?

- explosive - implosive - impasse - phobic - phony

Gestalt therapy and self-disclosure

- flows form the experience of being with a particular client, and how the therapist is affected by the client - both relational and technical

Components of field theory

- individuals and the environment are together within a field of constant interaction - the therapist is not separate from the field - the field is organized so the therapist and client explore it together - Gestalt therapists work in the immediate, present, and here-and-now field

5 boundary disturbances

- introjection - projection - retroflection - deflection - confluence

Wilhelm Reich

- known for his work with muscular digression - his psychotherapy focused on observing clients; facial expressions and body positions - libido was seen as a positive force or energy characterized by excitement

Fritz Perls and Laura Posner Perls

- met while working in Kurt Goldstein's lab in 1926 - they formed a union that would produce the most provocative personal change strategies ever developed - fled Germany and moved to South Africa where they produced the Gestalt therapy bible

How do Gestalt therapists attend closely to client language and voice quality?

- moving clients from using "it" or "you" to "I" - moving clients from talking in past tense to talking in present tense - having clients transform their questions into statements - noticing when clients use passive language - notice client voice tone and quality

I and thou

- originally articulated by Martin Buber - one of the three phrases used by Yontef to describe core theoretical factors in Gestalt therapy - describes the deepest and most ideal and authentic therapist-client relationship

What historical and intellectual forces does Gestalt therapy integrate?

- psychoanalysis - developmental psychology - gestalt psychology - field theory - existential philosophy - WWII, fascism, and anarchist rebellion - Reich's focus on body awareness/sensation - Experiential learning during workshops and demonstrations

4 steps to dream work

- the dreamer tells the dream story - the dreamer revives the dream - the dreamer becomes a director - the dreamer then acts out the dream

Grounding

- used to guide clients to a mindful orientation - might occur regularly at the opening of therapy - also used intermittently to center clients in their bodies and in the present moment

And this is my existence

A Gestalt dream work technique in which clients are asked to describe a dream image and follow their description with "and this is my existence."

Playing the projection

A Gestalt experiment especially applicable to group therapy in which one client takes on and acts out characteristics they're describing or seeing in other members. Also used in individual therapy, clients can be asked to be or act in a way that is especially annoying or bothersome to him or her in other individuals. This technique is also designed to help clients own parts of themselves that are often disavowed.

The exaggeration technique

A Gestalt experiment in which clients exaggerate their subtle nonverbal behaviors. This technique helps clients to reclaim their entire self—including their bodies—and amplifies the meaning of behaviors that may have been outside awareness.

I take responsibility for

A Gestalt experiment in which the client is asked to use the phrase I take responsibility for as a prefix to whatever they're saying in therapy. Especially useful for clients who externalize symptoms, it's a technique designed to address the problems that result from not owning the whole of oneself

Feeling the actual

A Gestalt experiment in which the therapist asks that the client to make up sentences starting with the words "now" or "at this moment" or "here and now" as a way to bring the client's current physical and emotional experiences into greater awareness.

The reversal technique

A Gestalt technique is often used in group therapy in which clients are asked to notice physical sensations, feelings, and thoughts that emerge as she or he engages in behaviors that are less obvious or typical or opposite of normal for them. This technique helps clients reclaim their complete selves and get in touch with parts they ordinarily minimize, deny, or ignore.

Empty-chair technique

A core Gestalt experiment or technique in which the client is imagines someone or a part of the self into an empty chair and then initiates and maintains a dialogue with that person or part of the self.

Staying with the feeling

A general Gestalt therapy strategy or philosophy used to help clients stay focused on what they're experiencing in the moment. By encouraging clients to be aware of what they're feeling, doing, and experiencing in the moment and giving attention, voice or even action to the moment-to-moment experience, staying with the feeling enhances full contact, improves awareness, and stimulates personal development.

What word did Perl use instead of deflection and how did he define it?

Aboutism which describes a deflection as talking about things or about the self rather than directly experiencing the contact

Relational Gestalt Therapy

An approach characterized by the belief that both the client and the therapist bring subjectivity into therapy and neither view is inherently accurate or correct.

Body feedback

An important part of Gestalt therapy in which the therapist consistently notices and points out client's nonverbal behavior and physical manifestations.

Ego, Hunger, and Aggression

Book written by Fritz and Laura Perls; Laura wrote several chapters on observations of their children's chewing and eating behavior

Resistance contact

Enacted as a boundary disturbance, resistance to contact is the reluctance or defense against true interaction with the environment or others that would allow for learning. In a Gestalt paradigm, repeated resistance to contact constitutes psychopathology.

Boundary disturbances

In the Gestalt paradigm, these are the ways of having "resistance to contact." The specific methods by which individuals may interrupt or resist contact are: (a) introjection; (b) projection; (c) retroflection; (d) deflection; or (e) confluence.

Who were central to training of Gestalt therapists world wide?

Laura Perls and Miriam Polster

Retroflection

One of five boundary disturbances, retroflection has two components. First, it occurs when someone does to themselves what they would really like to do to another person. Second, it occurs when one does to someone else what they would really like to have done to themselves.

Here-and-now

One of the three phrases used by Yontef (2010) to describe the core theoretical factors in Gestalt therapy. Here-and-now describes immediacy or an emphasis on being present in the moment.

Field theory

Originally described by Kurt Lewin, this theory emphasizes that individuals and the environment are in a state of constant interaction. It's a holistic perspective in which everything is relational, and nothing occurs in isolation.

What is Gestalt theory spiritually rooted in?

Taoism and Buddhism

Top Dog/Underdog Phenomenon

The top dog is the righteous or know-it-all part of the personality (similar to the superego or conscience) and is typically in conflict with the underdog, which is another part of the personality that undermines or frustrates the top dog.

Character armor

Theodore Reich used this term to describe muscular resistance through which clients defended against their libido

Unfinished buisness

This term refers to experiences from the past that have not been completely finished or processed; Gestalt therapists seek to bring unfinished business from the past into the present counseling session so it can be addressed and "finished"

Gestalt experiments

Treatment methods in which clients are asked to think, act, or speak in a prescribed way as a part of therapy.

Dream work

Working with dreams in ways that help clients own all persons, parts, and objects in their dream is a core procedure or activity in Gestalt therapy.

Gestalt

a German word meaning the unified whole or complete form; focuses on the physical-mental-emotional world of the client

Deflection

a boundary disturbance involving distraction designed to diffuse, reduce, or avoid contact

Self-regulation

a primary focus of gestalt therapy; it is accomplished when one is aware of her or his own needs, sensations, and desires and can therefore deal with them directly and authentically

Figure formation process

a shift in cognitive and perceptual focus; usually refers to the formation of a figure or focus out of what was before in the background

Confluence

a type of boundary disturbance that involves boundary merging or the experience of not knowing where one person stops and the other begins

Emotion-focused therapy (EFT)

an existential approach

Generally, what is Gestalt therapy best described as?

an existential-humanistic-phenomenological therapy

Gestalt therapy

an existential-humanistic-phenomenological therapy; focuses on using here-and-now sensory experiences to enhance self-awareness and facilitate personal growth gestalt therapy occurs within a relational context

Awareness

anything from body sensations to emotions and values; Polster's second phase of Gestalt therapy

Multicultural sensitivity in reference to Gestalt

can be compatible but hazy in emotional application

In a large scale practice-based U.K. study, Gestalt therapy outcomes were equivalent to what?

cognitive-behavioral, person-centered, and psychodynamic approach

Contact

considered the lifeblood of Gestalt therapy and a necessary component of all learning possibilities; it is the exchange of information between self and other (connect and separate)

What characterizes healthy functioning according to Gestalt?

contact, full awareness, full sensory functioning, choice, and spontaneity

Emotion-focused therapy

developed by Leslie Greenberg which integrates person-centered and existential therapy traditions

Gender and Sexuality in reference to Gestalt therapy

evidence of sensitivity to women and feminist issues is mixed

What strategy did Fritz Perls believe was the best for teaching about Gestalt therapy?

experiencing

In Gestalt therapy, what words best describe the respective roles of client and therapist?

expert and expert

What is Fritz Perls's attitude and behavior toward empirical research?

he generally disregarded the practical importance of collecting scientific evidence to support therapy approaches

Historically, when was Gestalt therapy developed?

in the wake of WWII, the rise of facism, and the Holocaust

Dialogic relationship

involves full presence, authenticity, acceptance, and willingness for open communication; therapists should not expect to continuously achieve it but should intend to have this relationship with a client

How is Gestalt similar to Adlerian and Rogerian theories?

it is phenomenological meaning it has to do with the consciousness and direct experience

What is Gestalt therapy all about?

living life to the fullest

Projection

one of the five gestalt boundary disturbances; occurs when one person places his or her emotions or traits onto others

What and how

one of the three phrases used by Yontef to describe the core theoretical factors of Gestalt therapy; this is the emphasis on process over content, a moment-moment examination of what's happening and how it's happening

Holism

primary idea associated with Gestalt theory in which the whole is both greater than and different than the sum of its individual parts

What is the original name for emotion-focused therapy?

process experiential therapy

Gestalt values ________ over _________ in terms of a therapeutic approach

process over client talk

If a therapist were to say tot he client, "Let your fear have a voice and let it speak for a while", what type of Gestalt experiment is he using?

staying with the feeling

Experiments according to Gestalt

techniques or gimmicks used to create new opportunities for acting in a safely structured situation

Bracketing

the cognitive tool therapists use to keep their own judgments and counter-transference from spoiling the dialogic relationship

Therapeutic encounter

the initial phase of the Gestalt therapy process; described as the initial interaction between the therapist and the client

What are Gestalt therapists interested in?

their own and their clients reports of direct experiencing

Why do Gestalt therapists actively comment on the client's physical positions, postures, and gestures?

these motor movements represent emotional and cognitive events within the person

What is the function of boundaries form the Gestalt perspective?

to connect and to separate

What is the purpose of "feeling the actual"?

to help clients wake up to the physical-sensory experience

When does psychopathology occur according to Gestalt?

when natural processes of contact, excitement, self-regulation, and new learning are disturbed; boundary disturbance