Chapter 8

(T/F) According to Perls, awareness of and by itself is not sufficient to lead to change; clients must also put their experiences into some type of cognitive framework if change is to happen.

False

(T/F) Genuine knowledge is the product of what the person understands of the situation of another.

False

(T/F) Gestalt theory is best considered as a form of psychoanalytic therapy.

False

(T/F) Gestalt therapy focuses on the cognitive aspects of therapy.

False

(T/F) Gestalt therapy is designed for individual counseling, and it typically does not work well in groups.

False

(T/F) Gestaltists typically ask why questions in the attempt to get clients to think about the source of their problems.

False

(T/F) One of the contributions of Gestalt therapy is the vast empirical research that has been done to validate the specific techniques used.

False

(T/F) Retroflection involves doing to others what we would like them to do to us.

False

(T/F) Since Gestalt therapy focuses on the here-and-now, the past is neither explored nor given emphasis.

False

(T/F) The Gestalt approach to dream work consists of the therapist interpreting the meaning of the symbols in the dream.

False

(T/F) The Gestalt therapist typically uses diagnosis and interpretation as a basic part of the therapeutic process.

False

(T/F) The goal of Gestalt therapy is to solve basic problems, to resolve one's polarities, and to help the individual to adjust to his or her environment.

False

(T/F) Therapy is based upon the successful resolution of the transference relationship.

False

(T/F) A Gestalt therapist pays attention to ways the client uses language.

True

(T/F) A current trend in Gestalt therapy is toward greater emphasis on the client/therapist relationship rather than on techniques.

True

(T/F) Although Perls used a highly confrontational approach in dealing with client avoidance and resistance, the confrontational model is not representative of contemporary Gestalt therapy.

True

(T/F) Blocked energy is a form of defensive behavior.

True

(T/F) Both contact and withdrawal are necessary and important to healthy functioning.

True

(T/F) Gestalt group therapists use experiments to encourage clients to move from talking about action to taking action.

True

(T/F) Gestalt techniques can be considered experiments.

True

(T/F) Gestalt therapies view a client's avoidance behavior as related to unfinished business.

True

(T/F) Gestalt therapy is lively and promotes direct experiencing rather than the abstractness of talking about situations.

True

(T/F) Gestalt therapy makes use of a wide variety of techniques that are designed to increase the client's awareness of his or her present experiencing.

True

(T/F) In Gestalt terms, awareness refers to our connectedness to our external and internal worlds.

True

(T/F) In Gestalt therapy, a client's resistance is welcomed and used to deepen their therapeutic work.

True

(T/F) In the Gestaltist view, unfinished business is best explored in the present.​

True

(T/F) Most of the Gestalt techniques are designed to intensify one's experiencing.

True

(T/F) Part of success in using Gestalt techniques is contingent upon preparing clients for these techniques.

True

(T/F) People who rely on retroflection tend to inhibit themselves from taking action out of fear of embarrassment, guilt, and resentment.

True

(T/F) Since Gestalt therapists believe that questions have a tendency to keep the questioner hidden, safe, and unknown, they often ask clients to change their questions into statements.

True

(MC) __________ involves blurring the differentiation between the self and the environment.

a. C​onfluence

(MC) W​ho among the following is not considered a relational Gestalt therapist?

a. F​ritz Perls

(MC) Which of the following is not one of Miriam Polster's three stages in her integration sequence?

a. Reunification

(MC) The basic goal of Gestalt therapy is:

a. attaining awareness and contact with the environment

(MC) Which of the following is not true about the Gestalt view of the role of confrontation in therapy?

a. ​ It is not possible to be both confrontational and gentle with clients.

(MC) In Gestalt therapy, the relationship between client and counselor is seen as:

a. ​ the heart of therapy.

(MC) According to the Gestalt perspective, if people do not remember their dreams:

a. ​ they may be refusing to face what is wrong with their lives.

(MC) Often Greta, who struggles to feel good about herself, comes to sessions with slouched posture. In order to help Greta gain a clearer understanding of the inner meaning of her slouched posture, a Gestalt therapist might:

a. ​ask Greta to exaggerate her poor posture, which is likely to intensify her feelings attached to it.

(MC) When a client recognizes he or she has a choice describes which stage of Miriam Polster's threestage integration sequence?

b. A​ccommodation

(MC) Which technique takes an anticipated event and brings it into the present moment to act out?

b. F​uture projection

(MC) Erving Polster believes that storytelling:

b. can be the heart of the therapeutic process

(MC) The Gestalt therapist:

b. pays attention to the client's nonverbal language.

(MC) In Gestalt theory, the experiment is:

b. tailored to fit the client's unique needs and presented in an invitational manner

(MC) A Gestalt technique that is most useful when a person attempts to deny an aspect of his or her personality (such as tenderness) is:

b. t​he reversal exercise.

(MC) Which of the following is not true about Fritz Perls?

b. ​ During his childhood, he was a model student.

(MC) Which of the following is not one of the Gestalt group leader's roles?

b. ​ Evoking group catharsis

(MC) One of the main contributions of the Gestalt approach is its:

b. ​ emphasis on learning to appreciate and fully experience the present moment.

(MC) The empty chair technique:

b. ​ is a vehicle for the technique of role reversal.

(MC) According to Gestalt theory, people use avoidance in order to:

b. ​ keep from feeling uncomfortable emotions.

(MC) A critical difference between early Gestalt therapy and relational Gestalt therapy is the:

b. ​approach to confrontation.

(MC) When a client learns how to influence his or her environment describes which stage of Miriam Polster's threestage integration sequence?

c. A​ssimilation

(MC) __________ are preplanned activities that can be used to elicit emotion, produce action, or achieve a specific goal.

c. E​xercises

(MC) Empirical support for Gestalt therapy is:

c. becoming stronger

(MC) A teenage girl is angry with her parents and cuts on her arm. In Gestalt terms, she is most likely engaging in:

c. r​etroflection.

(MC) Which of the following Gestalt techniques involves asking one person in a group to speak to each of the other group members?

c. ​ Making the rounds

(MC) When a person experiences an internal conflict (namely a conflict between top dog and underdog), which of the following techniques would be most appropriate?

c. ​ The internal dialogue exercise

(MC) Mariah tells her therapist, a Gestaltist, that she dreamt she got married to a pit bull and felt uneasy about telling her parents that she married a dog. When her parents discovered their son-in-law was a pit bull, they disowned her and suddenly became dogs themselves. In response to this dream, Mariah's therapist:

c. ​ should assist her client in reliving the dream as though it was happening in the now and have her become each part of the dream.

(MC) According to Gestalt theory, all of the following are true about contact except:

c. ​ withdrawal after a good contact experience indicates neurosis.

(MC) It is essential that counselors establish a relationship with their clients, so that the clients will:

c. ​feel trusting enough to participate in the learning that can result from Gestalt experiments.

(MC) Field theory asserts that:

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

(MC) Because of his need to be liked, Jose makes careful efforts to get along with everyone and minimize interpersonal conflicts. Which boundary disturbance is Jose exhibiting?

d. C​onfluence

(MC) __________ grow out of the interaction between client and therapist and emerge within this dialogic process.

d. E​xperiments

(MC) Which of the following aspects of a client's use of language would a Gestalt therapist not focus on?

d. S​emantics

(MC) The five different kinds of contact boundary disturbances include all of the following, except:

d. i​ntroflection.

(MC) Prerequisites for good contact involves all of the following except:

d. projection.

(MC) Which of the following is not true about Gestalt techniques?

d. ​ Experiments are always carried out during the therapy session, rather than outside it.

(MC) The paradoxical theory of behavior change suggests:

d. ​ authentic change occurs more from being who we are than from trying to be who we are not.

(MC) Contemporary Gestalt therapists view client resistance as a:

d. ​ creative adjustment to a situation and something to be respected.

(MC) Gestalt therapy is a form of:

d. ​ existential therapy.

(MC) A contribution of this therapeutic approach is:

d. ​ the exciting way in which the past is dealt with in a lively manner by bringing relevant aspects into the present.