Gestalt Therapy

1. Gestalt therapy focuses on present experience and holistic self-awareness

The awareness of awareness process is discussed by Yontef (1993) and relates to a wider awareness of the whole therapy situation rather than the client simply heightening their awareness of specific problem areas.

Holistic approach. Gestalt therapy emphasizes the here-and-now experience and views individuals as integrated wholes, not just collections of symptoms or behaviors. The goal is to increase self-awareness across physical, emotional, cognitive, and relational dimensions.

Present-centered focus. While past experiences shape us, Gestalt therapists believe healing happens through fully engaging with one's present reality. Techniques like the "empty chair" help bring unresolved issues into current awareness. Clients learn to notice their moment-to-moment experience, including:

• Bodily sensations
• Emotions and moods
• Thoughts and beliefs
• Behaviors and impulses
• Relational patterns

2. The therapeutic relationship is central to healing and growth

The therapist must feel the other side, the patient's side of the relationship, as a bodily touch to know how the patient feels it.

Authentic presence. The Gestalt therapist strives to be fully present and authentic rather than a blank screen. This models healthy relating and creates safety for the client to do the same. Key relational qualities include:

• Genuineness and congruence
• Warmth and acceptance
• Empathic attunement
• Willingness to be impacted by the client

Co-created experience. Therapy is seen as a collaborative endeavor where both client and therapist actively shape the process. The therapist pays close attention to the evolving relational dynamics, using them as a window into the client's broader relational patterns.

3. Creative experimentation and dialogue facilitate deeper self-understanding

An experiment is just what it says; the therapist encourages the client to play with different ways of being with the aim of heightening the client's awareness.

Experiential learning. Gestalt therapy is action-oriented, favoring direct experience over intellectualization. Creative experiments help clients explore new ways of being and relating. Examples include:

• Role-playing dialogues
• Exaggerating gestures or expressions
• Enacting polarities or conflicts
• Using props, art, or movement

Dialogic process. The therapist engages in open, honest dialogue with the client, sharing observations and reactions. This models healthy communication and helps bring unconscious patterns into awareness. The focus is on the "between" - what emerges in the relational space.

4. Field theory emphasizes the interconnectedness of individual and environment

To understand the dynamics of a process, we have to comprehend the entirety of the situation involved, along with all its elements and characteristics.

Contextual view. Field theory posits that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from their environment. Behavior is always a function of the total field - the person in their current life context. This includes:

• Physical surroundings
• Social and cultural influences
• Historical background
• Current life circumstances

Holistic perspective. Rather than focusing solely on intrapsychic factors, Gestalt therapists consider how all elements of a person's field interact to create their current experience. This expands the focus beyond the individual to include systemic and cultural factors.

5. Healthy functioning involves fluid self-regulation and contact with one's environment

In healthy functioning there is usually rapid shuttling between all three zones of awareness with the middle zone functioning to facilitate awareness of what is.

Organismic self-regulation. Gestalt theory emphasizes the innate human capacity for growth and self-healing when in good contact with one's environment. This involves:

• Recognizing emerging needs and impulses
• Taking action to meet those needs
• Withdrawing when satisfaction is achieved
• Remaining open to the next emerging figure

Contact-withdrawal cycle. Health is seen as the ability to move fluidly through cycles of contact and withdrawal with one's environment. Interruptions to this cycle (e.g., deflection, introjection, retroflection) can lead to stagnation and dysfunction.

6. Awareness and acceptance of "what is" precedes authentic change

Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not.

Paradoxical theory of change. Trying to be different than we are creates internal conflict and stagnation. Real change happens when we fully accept and embody our current reality. This creates the safety and ground for natural growth to occur.

Phenomenological method. Gestalt therapists help clients cultivate non-judgmental awareness of their moment-to-moment experience. This involves:

• Bracketing assumptions and expectations
• Describing rather than interpreting
• Attending equally to all aspects of experience
• Staying with what is, rather than what should be

7. Therapists must maintain ethical boundaries while fostering intimacy

Ethical behaviour emerges from an embodied ethical attitude in the world.

Ethical foundation. Clear therapeutic boundaries create safety for deep relational work. Key ethical considerations include:

• Maintaining confidentiality
• Avoiding dual relationships
• Respecting client autonomy
• Obtaining informed consent

Balancing intimacy and boundaries. Gestalt therapy involves cultivating genuine intimacy within professional limits. This requires ongoing self-reflection and supervision to navigate complex relational dynamics, especially around touch and erotic transference.

8. Working with difference requires openness, self-awareness, and cultural competence

Working with difference is a matter of conveying a healthy open attitude through dialogue, holding a genuine interest in the client's phenomenology in relation to their different way of perceiving, within a relationship that takes place in a field of current and historical influences.

Cultural awareness. Therapists must examine their own cultural biases and blind spots to work effectively across difference. This involves:

• Educating oneself about diverse cultures and experiences
• Exploring one's own cultural identity and privilege
• Remaining curious about the client's unique worldview

Power dynamics. Differences in social power and privilege impact the therapeutic relationship. Therapists must be sensitive to historical and systemic oppression while creating space for authentic dialogue across difference.

9. Ending therapy is an important phase for integration and closure

Ending provides the chance for assimilation and to leave the relationship without unfinished business.

Preparing for termination. The ending phase of therapy is crucial for consolidating gains and working through unresolved issues. Key aspects include:

• Reviewing the therapy journey
• Exploring feelings about ending
• Addressing any unfinished business
• Celebrating growth and change

Fostering independence. The goal is for clients to internalize the therapeutic process and continue their growth independently. This may involve developing ongoing self-therapy practices or identifying other sources of support.

Last updated: September 29, 2024