Gestalt therapy « Beth Rogerson – www.bethrogerson.com

Gestalt Therapy

The following is a summary of how I was trained in Gestalt Therapy at the Gestalt Institute in Cleveland Ohio. This is how you might experience Gestalt Therapy to be used in my practice.

Some historical facts and The evolution of Gestalt Therapy
How Gestalt Therapy is typically applied now
Phenomenology as it is used in Gestalt Therapy
The “Here and Now”
Awareness and Dialogue
Awareness and Dialogue (therapeutic conversation)
How Gestalt Therapy is done
The use of experiment/exercises in Gestalt Therapy
The beginning at the end

Some historical facts and The evolution of Gestalt Therapy
There is nothing here under these headings because I thought although important it was a bit boring to begin with this information so I put it at the end. However, feel free to go now directly to the end of this written piece if you would like to read about this beginning information first.

How Gestalt Therapy is typically applied now
The interpersonal relationship has been given a more central role in Gestalt Therapy. More attention is given to focusing more on ones own experience and the meaning one makes of those experiences alongside personal interactions as important sources of self knowledge and growth.
In summary, in the therapy session, there is more of a focus on the therapeutic relationship and specifically the type of contact between client and therapist and less use of active experimentation than in the past us of Gestalt Therapy. In this conversational therapy the Gestalt Therapist pays attention to what is occurring at the contact boundaries between the self and others, and work to enhance the client’s awareness of their own processes, needs, and wants.
Often, Gestalt therapists focus on people’s nonverbal behavior and their use of language. For example, a client’s attention may be focused on a sigh or an opening and closing of fingers or to and experiment with the effect on their experience changing the word “it” into “I” when conversing.
Clients are encouraged to follow their awareness as it makes contact with or withdraws from the environment. Gestalt Therapy offers clients a way of exploring their manner of constructing reality in the moment that it is occurring. This is aimed at helping people become aware of their own free will in constructing reality and in identifying and reworking any unfinished business from past experiences that may have stopped contact with present reality.
In doing this, like Existential Therapy, Gestalt Therapy facilitates the individual in becoming more authentic: exactly who they are when they interact with others.
Unlike psychoanalysis, Gestalt Therapy does not focus on talking about the client’s past. The past is not neglected, but its importance, including that of one’s childhood, is not in what happened then, but in how it affects now. What we experienced as we developed, and how we adapted to that experience, come into the present as both our “unfinished business” and our character/personality styles, or ways of being in the world. Gestalt therapists deal directly with these elements in the “here and now”, working with the contact styles and focused awareness to help their clients complete and work through unfinished business and learn to experience and appreciate who they are fully. By learning to follow their own ongoing process, and to fully experience, accept, and appreciate their complete selves, Gestalt Therapy clients can free themselves to move past emotional pain, fear, anxiety, depression or low self esteem. They can then discover who they really are, and allow themselves to develop in the ways appropriate for them now.

Phenomenology as it is used in Gestalt Therapy
Phenomenology is raw data (unlabeled) of an individual’s ongoing present experience. Different definitions explain it as: that which is observed, the definition of phenomenology in Latin means “appearance”, the Greek definition means to “show forth” and in Gestalt Therapy we describe it as behavior that is observed of the individual in the “Here and Now”.

The “Here and Now”
“The Here is where I am” (the present). The range of one’s “Here” is determined by the space one occupies and the range of ones senses. Gestalt Therapy works with what is subjectively felt by the client in the present as well as what is “objectively” observed as real and important data. This contrasts with approaches that treat what the client experiences as “mere appearances” and uses interpretation to find “real meaning.” Said again, WHAT THE CLIENT EXPERIENCES IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE INTERPRETATED TO FIND THE REAL MEANING.

Awareness and Dialogue
THE GOAL OF GESTALT THERAPY is awareness, or insight. This includes greater awareness in a particular area and also greater ability for the client to bring automatic habits into awareness as needed. Awareness includes knowing the environment, taking responsibility for choices, self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the ability to make contact.

Awareness and Dialogue (therapeutic conversation) are the two primary therapeutic tools in Gestalt Therapy.Awareness is a form of experience that may be generally defined as being in touch with one’s own existence, with what is happening in the moment. The act of awareness is always here and now, although the content of awareness may be from the past or in the future. The act of remembering is now; what is remembered is not now.

How Gestalt Therapy is done
Gestalt Therapy is an exploration rather than a direct modification of behavior. The goal is growth and autonomy through and increase in consciousness. Rather than maintaining distance and interpreting, the Gestalt therapist meets the client and guides active awareness work. The therapist’s active presence is alive and excited (warm) honest and direct. Clients can see, hear and be told how they are experienced, what is seen, how the therapist feels, what the therapist is like as a person. Growth occurs from real contact between real people. Clients learn how they are seen and how their awareness process is limited, not primarily by talking about their problems, but by how they and the therapist engage each other.
Successful psychotherapy achieves integration. Integration requires identification with all vital functions—not with only some of the client’s ideas, emotions and actions. Any rejection of one’s own ideas, emotions or actions results in alienation. Reowning these parts allows the person to be whole. The task, then, in therapy is to have the person become aware of previously rejected parts of oneself and consider them and assimilate them.

The use of experiment/exercises in Gestalt Therapy
The experimental method involves setting up exercises in the session not so much to be completed as to promote discovery of Intrapsychic processes, and are flexible and are created out of the experience in the moment by the client and therapist. Therapists asked clients to become aware of and experience the interruptive processes that prevent feelings or needs from being expressed or acted upon. In this way clients were able to gain insight into their own experience by discovery rather than interpretation. Creative use of imagery and experiment involved “try this” followed by “what do you experience now?’ Observable behaviors were tried out in the here and now to generate experience and feelings, which were then attended to and explored by the client and therapist. The therapist frequently asks experience-oriented questions:
1.What are you aware of?
2.What do you experience?
3.What do you need?
4.What do you want or want to do?
In more fragile clients who may not have developed a strong sense of self or boundary between self and other then the development of awareness is more of a long-term objective. Not only are a very wide variety of interventions and experiments used, but therapists are invited to be creative along with their clients about finding or creating other techniques that apply the principles and fit the moment. Gestalt Therapy has been called “permission to be creative”

The beginning at the end
Some facts about Gestalt Therapy and its early beginnings

Gestalt Therapy is described as a phenomenological-existential therapy founded by Frederick (Fritz) and Laura Perls in the 1940s. It grew from the theories of Gestalt Psychology of the 1920′s. Early Gestalt psychologists in the 1920′s began exploring the human need for constructing patterns unconsciously and invisibly.
Max Wertheimer was the first to apply the theories of Gestalt in the 1920′s to problem solving. He stated that if the parts of the problem can be seen as a whole rather than to be isolated then the learner will gain a “new” deeper view of the same situation. The term “Pragnanz”( a German word for precision) was a term applied by Wertheimer to a concept which states that when human beings grasp things as wholes then a mimimal amount of energy is used in thinking. (for more go to the following web site www.gestalttheory.net/archive/wert1.html

To discover more of this human phenomenom they experimented with optical experiments to explore further the patterns that could exist in human perception. The famous Old-Woman/Young-Woman drawing, for example, consists of a single set of lines. In this single image, one can see two figures depending on how one’s eye patterns or structures or interrelates those lines. The human eye does not add any anything to the image, but only organizes the lines presented to it, creating wholes out of disconnected experiences. The eye makes patterns, and then it fits all the extraneous details into those patterns. For a figure to be perceived, it must stand apart from its background–the figure-ground segregation is lost. In the Old-Woman/Young-Woman pattern one can wonder is the figure a young or an old woman?

Gestalt Psychology is applied to Gestalt therapy. It is Gestalt Therapy that teaches therapists and clients how to pay attention to how one is perceiving, feeling, and acting rather than interpreting, and analyzing. Gestalt Therapy is CURRENTLY seen as being based on three fundamental principles: field theory, emphasizing that everything is related, and in change, phenomenology, which emphasizes ones own experience and the creation of ones own meaning; and dialogue, (therapeutic conversation) an open conversation between the client and the therapist for therapeutic purposes.


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Counseling What is psychotherapy/counseling? Some questions you might have about therapy/counseling Gestalt therapy Archives Search Search for:		Gestalt Therapy The following is a summary of how I was trained in Gestalt Therapy at the Gestalt Institute in Cleveland Ohio. This is how you might experience Gestalt Therapy to be used in my practice. Some historical facts and The evolution of Gestalt Therapy How Gestalt Therapy is typically applied now Phenomenology as it is used in Gestalt Therapy The “Here and Now” Awareness and Dialogue Awareness and Dialogue (therapeutic conversation) How Gestalt Therapy is done The use of experiment/exercises in Gestalt Therapy The beginning at the end Some historical facts and The evolution of Gestalt Therapy There is nothing here under these headings because I thought although important it was a bit boring to begin with this information so I put it at the end. However, feel free to go now directly to the end of this written piece if you would like to read about this beginning information first. How Gestalt Therapy is typically applied now The interpersonal relationship has been given a more central role in Gestalt Therapy. More attention is given to focusing more on ones own experience and the meaning one makes of those experiences alongside personal interactions as important sources of self knowledge and growth. In summary, in the therapy session, there is more of a focus on the therapeutic relationship and specifically the type of contact between client and therapist and less use of active experimentation than in the past us of Gestalt Therapy. In this conversational therapy the Gestalt Therapist pays attention to what is occurring at the contact boundaries between the self and others, and work to enhance the client’s awareness of their own processes, needs, and wants. Often, Gestalt therapists focus on people’s nonverbal behavior and their use of language. For example, a client’s attention may be focused on a sigh or an opening and closing of fingers or to and experiment with the effect on their experience changing the word “it” into “I” when conversing. Clients are encouraged to follow their awareness as it makes contact with or withdraws from the environment. Gestalt Therapy offers clients a way of exploring their manner of constructing reality in the moment that it is occurring. This is aimed at helping people become aware of their own free will in constructing reality and in identifying and reworking any unfinished business from past experiences that may have stopped contact with present reality. In doing this, like Existential Therapy, Gestalt Therapy facilitates the individual in becoming more authentic: exactly who they are when they interact with others. Unlike psychoanalysis, Gestalt Therapy does not focus on talking about the client’s past. The past is not neglected, but its importance, including that of one’s childhood, is not in what happened then, but in how it affects now. What we experienced as we developed, and how we adapted to that experience, come into the present as both our “unfinished business” and our character/personality styles, or ways of being in the world. Gestalt therapists deal directly with these elements in the “here and now”, working with the contact styles and focused awareness to help their clients complete and work through unfinished business and learn to experience and appreciate who they are fully. By learning to follow their own ongoing process, and to fully experience, accept, and appreciate their complete selves, Gestalt Therapy clients can free themselves to move past emotional pain, fear, anxiety, depression or low self esteem. They can then discover who they really are, and allow themselves to develop in the ways appropriate for them now. Phenomenology as it is used in Gestalt Therapy Phenomenology is raw data (unlabeled) of an individual’s ongoing present experience. Different definitions explain it as: that which is observed, the definition of phenomenology in Latin means “appearance”, the Greek definition means to “show forth” and in Gestalt Therapy we describe it as behavior that is observed of the individual in the “Here and Now”. The “Here and Now” “The Here is where I am” (the present). The range of one’s “Here” is determined by the space one occupies and the range of ones senses. Gestalt Therapy works with what is subjectively felt by the client in the present as well as what is “objectively” observed as real and important data. This contrasts with approaches that treat what the client experiences as “mere appearances” and uses interpretation to find “real meaning.” Said again, WHAT THE CLIENT EXPERIENCES IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE INTERPRETATED TO FIND THE REAL MEANING. Awareness and Dialogue THE GOAL OF GESTALT THERAPY is awareness, or insight. This includes greater awareness in a particular area and also greater ability for the client to bring automatic habits into awareness as needed. Awareness includes knowing the environment, taking responsibility for choices, self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the ability to make contact. Awareness and Dialogue (therapeutic conversation) are the two primary therapeutic tools in Gestalt Therapy.Awareness is a form of experience that may be generally defined as being in touch with one’s own existence, with what is happening in the moment. The act of awareness is always here and now, although the content of awareness may be from the past or in the future. The act of remembering is now; what is remembered is not now. How Gestalt Therapy is done Gestalt Therapy is an exploration rather than a direct modification of behavior. The goal is growth and autonomy through and increase in consciousness. Rather than maintaining distance and interpreting, the Gestalt therapist meets the client and guides active awareness work. The therapist’s active presence is alive and excited (warm) honest and direct. Clients can see, hear and be told how they are experienced, what is seen, how the therapist feels, what the therapist is like as a person. Growth occurs from real contact between real people. Clients learn how they are seen and how their awareness process is limited, not primarily by talking about their problems, but by how they and the therapist engage each other. Successful psychotherapy achieves integration. Integration requires identification with all vital functions—not with only some of the client’s ideas, emotions and actions. Any rejection of one’s own ideas, emotions or actions results in alienation. Reowning these parts allows the person to be whole. The task, then, in therapy is to have the person become aware of previously rejected parts of oneself and consider them and assimilate them. The use of experiment/exercises in Gestalt Therapy The experimental method involves setting up exercises in the session not so much to be completed as to promote discovery of Intrapsychic processes, and are flexible and are created out of the experience in the moment by the client and therapist. Therapists asked clients to become aware of and experience the interruptive processes that prevent feelings or needs from being expressed or acted upon. In this way clients were able to gain insight into their own experience by discovery rather than interpretation. Creative use of imagery and experiment involved “try this” followed by “what do you experience now?’ Observable behaviors were tried out in the here and now to generate experience and feelings, which were then attended to and explored by the client and therapist. The therapist frequently asks experience-oriented questions: 1.What are you aware of? 2.What do you experience? 3.What do you need? 4.What do you want or want to do? In more fragile clients who may not have developed a strong sense of self or boundary between self and other then the development of awareness is more of a long-term objective. Not only are a very wide variety of interventions and experiments used, but therapists are invited to be creative along with their clients about finding or creating other techniques that apply the principles and fit the moment. Gestalt Therapy has been called “permission to be creative” The beginning at the end Some facts about Gestalt Therapy and its early beginnings Gestalt Therapy is described as a phenomenological-existential therapy founded by Frederick (Fritz) and Laura Perls in the 1940s. It grew from the theories of Gestalt Psychology of the 1920′s. Early Gestalt psychologists in the 1920′s began exploring the human need for constructing patterns unconsciously and invisibly. Max Wertheimer was the first to apply the theories of Gestalt in the 1920′s to problem solving. He stated that if the parts of the problem can be seen as a whole rather than to be isolated then the learner will gain a “new” deeper view of the same situation. The term “Pragnanz”( a German word for precision) was a term applied by Wertheimer to a concept which states that when human beings grasp things as wholes then a mimimal amount of energy is used in thinking. (for more go to the following web site www.gestalttheory.net/archive/wert1.html To discover more of this human phenomenom they experimented with optical experiments to explore further the patterns that could exist in human perception. The famous Old-Woman/Young-Woman drawing, for example, consists of a single set of lines. In this single image, one can see two figures depending on how one’s eye patterns or structures or interrelates those lines. The human eye does not add any anything to the image, but only organizes the lines presented to it, creating wholes out of disconnected experiences. The eye makes patterns, and then it fits all the extraneous details into those patterns. For a figure to be perceived, it must stand apart from its background–the figure-ground segregation is lost. In the Old-Woman/Young-Woman pattern one can wonder is the figure a young or an old woman? Gestalt Psychology is applied to Gestalt therapy. It is Gestalt Therapy that teaches therapists and clients how to pay attention to how one is perceiving, feeling, and acting rather than interpreting, and analyzing. Gestalt Therapy is CURRENTLY seen as being based on three fundamental principles: field theory, emphasizing that everything is related, and in change, phenomenology, which emphasizes ones own experience and the creation of ones own meaning; and dialogue, (therapeutic conversation) an open conversation between the client and the therapist for therapeutic purposes.
		© 2009 - 2012 Beth Rogerson.

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