Gestalt Therapy

The Art of Contact

Serge Ginger

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780429914287
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Gestalt Therapy has been developing steadily for the last 50 years, in America as well as in Europe. It is cureently practieed in diffeeent eettings: individual, group, and family therapies; personal growth; social, medical and business organizations.

Chapter One
What is Gestalt?

Gestalt Theory

OK, so why do we use this unusual word Gestalt, and what exactly does it mean?

In fact, Gestalt is a German word. That’s why it is spelt with a capital G, except when used as an adjective. Gestalt is sometimes translated as “shape, form or figure” (as in “Gestalt Theory” = “theory of shape or form”), but the real meaning of the word is much richer and more complex, and is impossible to translate. That is why we use the German word in English, Russian, French and even Japanese!

The verb gestalten means “to give shape or significant structure to”. The result, the Gestalt, is a complete shape or figure, which has structure and meaning. For example, a table may take on a different meaning, if it is used for work (covered with books) or for dining (set with tablecloth, plates and cutlery): its overall Gestalt has changed.

Since the very beginning of our life, the first important “shape” or “figure” that we recognize is a Gestalt: our mother’s face. The newborn does not distinguish the details, but the form as a whole is “significant” for him.

The way we see things follows certain rules: a global appreciation (such as a human face) cannot be reduced to the sensory appreciation of each component; similarly, water is not just oxygen and hydrogen, neither is a symphony a simple string of notes. In each of these examples, the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

At the same time, a part within a whole is different from the part on its own, or the same part within another whole—the part’s identity depends upon its position and function relative to the whole. Thus, a shout at a ball game is not the same as a shout in a deserted street; singing naked in the shower is quite different to singing naked in Times Square!

In order to understand a particular behavior or situation, it is not enough to analyze it. A synthetic point of view is most important, to appreciate the situation in the larger overall context. Rather than paying attention only to details, we can step back and see the “big picture”: the “context” is often more important than the “text”. To appreciate a political event in another country, it is not enough to send a foreign correspondent; it is more important to have a global, synthetic appreciation of the international economy and an understanding of what is at stake.

Gestalt Therapy

Having touched on some of the general principles of Gestalt Theory, let us turn to what this book is really about: the applications in Gestalt Therapy (GT). To avoid confusion, I could systematically use the word “therapy”, but I will deliberately refrain from doing so, as “therapy” is often interpreted as “treatment of illness”, in spite of the statement from the WHO (the World Health Organization) saying that:

“Health is not the absence of illness or of infirmity, but is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.”

In such a global, “holistic” (from the Greek, “holos”, whole) point of view, Gestalt therapy aims for the development and maintenance of such a harmonious state and not for a “cure”. Cure refers implicitly to a state of “normality”, which is the opposite of the Gestalt approach. In Gestalt, the right to be different is highly valued, as is the uniqueness of each person.

This notion of therapy is similar to that of personal development, the growth of human potential. It is quite different from normalizing influences, based on health and social adaptation. The very first Greek “therapists” were not caretakers, they were slaves, whose job was looking after statues of gods; subsequently, there was a Jewish sect of monks, called “therapists”, who analyzed sacred texts. Both of these roles involved strengthening the links between gods and men or between Heaven and Earth, mind and matter, between the Word and the flesh. To begin with, therapy sought psychosomatic harmony and not medical care. This is the sense that has most meaning in the “new humanistic therapies”, which include Gestalt.

Thus, for Goldstein (New York, 1934), one of Perls’ (the founder of Gestalt) mentors,

“Normal must be defined, not by adaptation, but on the contrary, by the ability to invent new norms.”

Gestalt Therapy: who is it for?

Gestalt Therapy is used in a variety of situations, with multiple aims:

• Individual psychotherapy (the client with the therapist);
• Couple therapy (the two spouses together);
• Family therapy (several family members at the same time);
• Group therapy, or development of personal potential;
• Within organizations (schools, psychiatric hospitals, institutions for maladjusted youth, etc.);
• In businesses, industry and commerce, to improve contact and communication, enrich human relations, manage conflicts, and stimulate creativity.

Gestalt Therapy is not limited to those suffering from psychological, physical or psychosomatic difficulties. It also helps people faced with existential problems, which are, unfortunately, very common (conflict, separation, sexual problems, loneliness, bereavement, depression, unemployment, etc.). Gestalt can in fact be useful to any person (or group) seeking to develop hidden potential, not only well-being but also “better-being”, a better quality of life.

To summarize, Gestalt is a natural, universal approach, for people of all ages, all levels, from diverse cultural backgrounds and in a variety of situations. In fact, Perls considered his method too good to be reserved for the ill and the odd, and he often spoke of it, in a provocative manner, as “therapy for normal people”.

Gestalt Therapy: History and Geography

So what is this “new therapy”, still incompletely defined for the public, and also known as here-and-now therapy, contact therapy, existential psychoanalysis, integrative therapy, imaginary psychodrama ... and who knows what else?

By the 1980’s, Gestalt had become one of the most widespread therapeutic, personal development and training methods in the USA. In some countries, it became as popular as psychoanalysis. In the USA, Gestalt is frequently taught to psychologists, social workers, ministers, youth workers and the Army. It is estimated that several hundreds of thousands of people have had individual or group sessions.

With its European roots, Gestalt rapidly became popular in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic countries. It is now continuing to spread over every continent: Canada, Latin America, Australia, Russia, Japan, etc. In Germany, Gestalt is taught in many institutes since 1969, and there are now over 2,000 professionals (including social workers, trainers, consultants, teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists—as well as Gestalt-pedagogues and Gestalt-gerontologists).

Gestalt Therapy: a brief presentation

Gestalt was developed from the intuitions of Fritz Perls, a Jewish psychoanalyst from Germany, who immigrated to the USA at the age of 53.

Gestalt Therapy was conceived with Ego, Hunger and Aggression Perls’ first book. It was published in 1942, in South Africa, where Perls lived for a time during Nazi persecution.

Gestalt Therapy was born and baptized in 1951, when the book Gestalt Therapy was published in New York. The Gestalt movement grew slowly, and became famous much later in California, in 1968. The “hippies” were questioning the established value systems, and were seeking creativity (“Power to the imagination!”) and responsibility for one’s actions (“self-management”). It was time to emphasize being rather than having, knowledge instead of power.

Today, Gestalt rather than being just another psychotherapy, can be seen as a true existential philosophy, an “art of living” with authentic contact, and a way of looking at how we relate to the world. Traditional priorities are often reversed: synthetic global view is valued over analytical approaches; looking to the future (finalism) is more important than looking for “causes” in the past; creativity and originality are emphasized, rather than normalization.

Perls and his colleagues (especially Laura Perls and Paul Goodman) had the genius to build a coherent synthesis of several philosophical, methodological and therapeutic methods, from Europe, America and the East. A new “Gestalt” was formed, where “the whole is different from the sum of its parts”: by using traditional “bricks”, a new and completely original structure was created (with the same bricks, one can build a prison or a cathedral . .. ).

Gestalt is at the intersection of psychoanalysis, Reichian body therapies (from Wilhelm Reich, psychoanalyst and Freudian dissident), psychodrama, phenomenological and existential approaches and Eastern philosophies.

Gestalt develops a unifying vision of the human being, which integrates senses, feelings, thought, social relationships and spirituality. This paves the way towards a holistic experience, where the body can “speak” and words can be “seen and felt”.

The emphasis is on becoming aware of what is happening here and now (present experience may of course include feelings about a past event). Physical sensations and emotions find their place: these are so often taboo in modern cultures, and lead towards strictly controlled public expression of anger, sadness, worry, but also affection, love and joy!

Authentic contact with others, creative adjustment (creative adaptation of the organism to its environment), and awareness of repetitive reactions and habits that are no longer useful can all be improved. Gestalt highlights these blockages in our normal cycle of need-fulfillment, it also highlights our avoidances, our fears, our inhibitions and our illusions.

Gestalt not only tries to explain why, it encourages experimentation with new solutions for old problems. It is not just a matter of “knowing why”: Gestalt adds “feeling how”, which motivates change.

In Gestalt therapy, each person is responsible for his own choices and avoidances. The individual works at the rate and level that suits him, according to what emerges in the present moment. He may see, hear or feel something, he may be preoccupied by a current problem or by unfinished business from the past; he may worry about the future. The session is individualized, and the client works on his own probl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 What is Gestalt?
• 2 The Therapist is incarnate
• 3 Fritz Perls, the Father of Gestalt Therapy
• 4 The Theory of the Self
• 5 Gestalt-Pedagogy and Socio-Gestalt
• 6 Gestalt and the Brain
• 7 Dreams in Gestalt Therapy
• 8 The Body, the Emotions
• 9 Vital Drives: Aggression and Sexuality
• 10 The Personality Profile (Psychopathology
• 11 Twenty Basic Notions
• Annexes
• INDEX
• FOR FURTHER INFORMATION