| Perls� Gestalt Therapy Daniel M. Burrello How does the Individual Become Maladjusted According to Perls� Gestalt Therapy? To understand the Gestalist idea of maladjustment, one must explore the particular way that Fritz Perls� Gestalt Therapy operates. The central idea of Gestalt is that the individual as more than merely the sum of his or her parts. One of Perls' favorite metaphors for this idea of Gestalt is that of music. In his own words: �Now, take a quite well known gestalt, a melody. A melody can be transposed so that each part, each note, is different from the one that was before, but the melody, the gestalt, is still the same. So, the word "gestalt" comes from the German word �gestalten.� It means �form,� to make a form, a comprehensive �one�� (Perls, 1957). The person is capable of, and has a desire for, movement toward homeostasis, an internal balance of the physical and the mental organism. Unlike earlier methodologies, Perls� Gestalt therapy deals with the �here and now� rather than the past. He sees the present as the only thing that exists and that one�s functioning must allow one to exist and thrive from moment to moment. He also believes that anxiety is a �stopping block� or gap to this sense of presence. He described the unfettered relative boundaries between individuals as the �ego boundary�. He believes that the boundary in relation to the environment truly defines a thing. This concept is best visualized as concentric circles of space. Within this space is that which the individual allows, it identifies the person. Without the space is the rest of the world and this is alien, foreign, and to the individual, suspicious. The limitations of this space can create dissatisfaction with the boundaries; this can lead to a desire to change the environment. The persons and items in the environment must be contacted in order to be judged as within or without our ego boundaries. One must be able to contact nature and others without losing one�s sense of individuality. One�s degree of rigidity can explain why so many objects are never contacted and simply left outside our ego boundary. Fear of losing one�s individuality can lead to �resistance to contact�, and maladjustment in daily life. Feelings about matters in the past, unexpressed are called �unfinished business� and interfere with an individual�s effective �contact� with the world. Resulting maladjustments can include: compulsive behaviors, preoccupation, self-defeating behaviors, and wariness. This �unfinished business� can show in specific, physical ways. The therapist is trained tom watch body language and for physical signs of these blockages. A person is always subjective. True objectivity requires absolute knowledge, an obvious impossibility. Perls sees this integration between the subjective and objective as �awareness�. In this view, the individual is always aware of something. Even if it that they are not aware of anything. This idea passes very close to a Zen Buddhist koan, the idea is that the mind itself is the creator of this awareness and is constantly doing so. And, that this awareness can, in and of itself, be a healing factor. Another parallel between the Zen paradigm and Gestalt Therapy is the idea of the futility of attempting external control. He believes that when one is less confident and less in touch with the world, the more one seeks, without success, to control situations. A particularly easy place to develop problems is during childhood. During formative years, Perls sees frustration as a good thing. This frustration brings all resources to bear upon problems and allows the individual to grow; inoculating the person, as it were, against negative situations. Overindulgence or spoiling, where the parents create dependence rather than self reliance in overcoming obstacles and addressing situations, can be disastrous to the proper development of the child. Society itself usually plays a role in creating adjustment problems for the individual. One has a deeply personal pull toward the attractor of self-actualization. The individual wishes to move toward becoming what they are, what their potential promises. In an inauthentic environment, where society dictates other actualization as authentic rather than the one at the individual�s heart, a conflict will develop and cause trouble. This is especially true if the individual �gives up� and allows the societal pressure to take over. Often, external forces, from parents to political structures, foster a sense of fear using �catastrophic expectations�. This gestalt therapy term describes the fear that everything will go wrong, so the attempt to do a thing, perhaps even a thing that is deeply needed for individual happiness, is not worth attempting. From the Gestalt perspective, �contact� means interacting with the world and others without relinquishing one's sense of individuality. The resistances to �contact� are the defenses that we develop to prevent us from living in and experiencing the present completely. Gestalt Therapy is phenomenological in that the knowledge of the internal is emphasized, rather than that which is external (Butcher, 2000 p. 671). In Gestalt Therapy, layers of neurosis represent a person's individual way of keeping energy blocked so that one can maintain pretenses. Perls described the following layers as if they were part of an onion; the human personality, slowly unfolding. These layers of neurosis are: 1. The phony; this is the stereotypical, the totally inauthentic. This is the socially constructed self in conflict with an inner being that seeks its own way. This concept reminds one of Wilhelm Riech�s ideas regarding �armoring�. 2. The phobic; fears that keep the individual from actually seeing themselves. 3. The impasse; we relinquish power. The point where the individual believes they cannot support themselves further. Catastrophic expectations can occur here. 4. The implosive; we fully experience our deadness. 5. The explosive; we let go of inauthentic roles (Glenn 2002). The five major channels of resistance to contact in Gestalt Therapy are: 1. Introjection is the process of incorporating others� beliefs and standards. 2. Projection is the process of placing aspects of our internal world onto others. 3. Retroflection is the process of doing what we would like to do to others to ourselves. It is a turning upon the self. 4. Deflection is the redirecting of attention onto other individuals or other objects rather then on oneself. 5. Confluence is where no clear distinction between the self and one�s environment exists. In systems theory this might be called enmeshment (Glenn 2002). What are the Goals of Gestalt Therapy? The main goal of gestalt therapy is to assist clients in gaining moment to moment awareness and greater choice. The therapist hopes to make the client note their own awareness processes, so they can be more responsible and can make better choices. The therapist seeks to challenge the client to accept responsibility for internal support and not external support. The therapist hopes to see the client: Gain the ability to seek help from others and offer help to them. Acquire skills to be able to satisfy needs without violating the rights of others. Assume ownership of their experiences (Butcher, 2000 p. 672). �The goal of Gestalt therapy is for the client to become aware of what they are doing, how they are doing it, and how they can change themselves�and, at the same time, to learn to accept and value.� (Gestalt, 2003) What Interventions are Utilized in Achieving the Goals of Gestalt Therapy? Therapists in Gestalt hope through therapeutic techniques and the creation of an �I/thou� relationship with the client, to create experiences inviting a kind of �here and now� awareness. The therapist acts as a catalyst for increased awareness of both foreground and background. Suring therapy, the therapist watches for signs of blockages and exhibitions of non-verbal symptoms of these blockages. Some of the therapeutic techniques used are: 1. The experiment. These are spontaneous and usually one-of-a-kind interactions that evolve out of a moment-to-moment dialogue designed to expose internal conflict. 2. The exercises: Such as making the rounds in a group. One interesting technique is called the empty chair. The therapist asks the client to interact with the chair as if the person they are discussing or even an object is sitting in it. 3. Confrontation: This is a method to invite an owned awareness that may be blocked. 4. Internal Dialogue exercises: This promotes a higher level of integration between the polarities and the conflicts that everyone experiences. 5. Making the round: Saying aloud something involved in blocking awareness. This increases trust. 6. Reversal technique: This technique is used for a person who may be attempting to deny or disown a side of their personality. For example, an overly nice person may be attempting to hide negative feelings about others. 7. Rehearsal technique: So much of our lives is a rehearsing of what we will do later. In this exercise the client rehearses a situation where he or she would be considering all the pros and cons of the situation. Hamming it up is fostered here. The dialogue can be very informative. 8. Exaggeration: Overtly increasing one�s physical reactions to an idea, sometimes in conflict. i.e. clinching the fist while saying �I�m calm�. 9. Staying with the feeling: This is an invitation to go further and explore. 10. Gestalt Dream work: Not the same as Jungian and earlier dream work. The emphasis here is on the client�s interpretation of his or her dream images. (Glenn, 2002) References Butcher, J. Carson, R. & Mineka, S. (2000). Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life. Needham Heights MA: Allyn and Bacon. Gestalt therapy. (2003). [Article posted on the Website 4therapy]. Retrieved July 19, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.4therapy.com/consumer/about_therapy/item.php?uniqueid=4929&categoryid=401& Glenn, I. (2002) Gestalt. [A PowerPoint presentation posted on the Web site University of Central Arkansas]. Retrieved July 18, 2004, from the World Wide Web: faculty.uca.edu/~lglenn/gestalt.ppt Perls, F., Hefferline, R.F. & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality. Highland: The Gestalt Journal Press. Perls, F. (1957) Cooper Union Forum lecture series. [In and article posted on the website The Gestalt Therapy Page]. Retrieved July 18, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.gestalt.org/self.htm |