Gestalt
Gestalt therapy is more than just talk therapy. It is active and fluid. By stressing personal responsibility and awareness of one’s experiences, it empowers individuals to consciously choose a better way of ‘being’ in their environment. In the end, it frees individuals to live life more fully in the present.
The word “gestalt” means whole. Gestalt therapy was developed by psychotherapist Frederich Perls on the principle that humans are best viewed as a whole entity consisting of body, mind, and soul, and best understood when viewed through their own eyes, not by looking back into the past but by bringing the past into the present. Gestalt therapy emphasizes that to alleviate unresolved anger, pain, anxiety, resentment, and other hard feelings, these emotions cannot just be discussed, but must be actively expressed in the present time.
Perls believed that we are not in this world to live up to others’ expectations, nor should we expect others to live up to ours. By building self-awareness, gestalt therapy helps clients better understand themselves and how the choices they make affect their health and their relationships. With this self-knowledge, clients begin to understand how their emotional and physical selves are connected and develop more self-confidence to start living a fuller life and more effectively deal with problems.
The objective of Gestalt Therapy, in addition to overcome symptoms, is to enable the client to become more fully and creatively alive and to be free from the blocks and unfinished issues.
At the centre of Gestalt therapy lies the promotion of “awareness”. The individual is encouraged to become aware of his or her own feelings and behaviours, and their effect upon his environment in the here and now. The way in which he or she interrupts or seeks to avoid contact with the present environment is considered to be a significant factor when recovering from psychological disturbances. By focusing the individual on their self-awareness as part of present reality, new insights can be made into their behaviour, and they can engage in self-healing.
Gestalt therapy is a sound science and a powerful means for facilitating and nurturing the full functioning of the human person with the potential of bringing about human healing, growth, and wholeness.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from PixabayImportant concepts of gestalt therapy
- We are not made up of separate parts.
Remember, ‘gestalt’ refers to wholeness. Gestalt therapy does not see as us a mind vs. body, body vs. soul, or even as either thinking or feeling.
- It believes we work as a whole
Focuses less on differentiating ‘parts’ of someone and more on the way our whole being responds to the environments around it.
- We also aren’t separate from what’s around us.
Just as we are not made up of separate pieces, we also cannot deny the influence of the environments we live in and the people around us we relate with.
- To be healthy and happy, we need to be aware.
If our esteem is too low to trust ourselves, or we are blinded by past experiences and fantasies, we stand very little chance of being able to choose and change our responses and environments.
- To be aware, we need to be present.
If we are always worrying about the past or future we can’t be conscious of our real thoughts and feelings.
- Responsibility is key.
Blaming others leaves us powerless. We need to learn how to get our needs met while still respecting the needs of others and take charge of our choices.
Gestalt therapy is a sound science and a powerful means for facilitating and nurturing the full functioning of the human person with the potential of bringing about human healing, growth, and wholeness.
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