Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy

Psych422

Chapter8: Gestalt Therapy

Questions?

What key concepts do you know in terms of Gestalt therapy?

View of Human Nature

Self-reliance and reintegration Dialogue b/w client and therapist (therapist has no agenda Spontaneous; here and now experience Human nature is rooted in existential philosophy,

phenomenology, and field theory Individuals have the capacity to self-regulate in their

environment The process of “reowning” parts of oneself that have been

disowned

The Now Existential & Phenomenological – it is

grounded in the client’s “here and now” Initial goal is for clients to gain awareness

of what they are experiencing and doing now Promotes direct experiencing rather than the

abstractness of talking about situations Rather than talk about a childhood trauma the

client is encouraged to become the hurt child

The Now Ask “what” and “how” instead of “why” Our “power is in the present”

Nothing exists except the “now” The past is gone and the future has not yet arrived

For many people, the power of the present is lost They may focus on their past mistakes or engage in

endless resolutions and plans for the future

Unfinished Business Feelings about the past are unexpressed

These feelings are associated with distinct memories and fantasies

Feelings not fully experienced linger in the background and interfere with effective contact

Pay attention on the bodily experience because if feelings are unexpressed they tend to result in physical symptom

Result: Preoccupation, compulsive behavior, wariness

oppressive energy and self-defeating behavior Solution: get in touch with the stuck point.

Contact and Resistances to Contact CONTACT – interacting with nature and with other

people without losing one’s individuality Contact (connect) and Withdrawal (separate)

RESISTANCE TO CONTACT – the defenses we develop to prevent us from experiencing the present fully Five major channels of resistance:

Introjection • Deflection Projection • Confluence Retroflection

Contact and Resistances to Contact

Introjection: uncritically accept others’ belief and standards without thinking whether they are congruent with who we are

Projection: the reverse of introjection; we disown certain aspect of ourselves by assigning them to the environment

Retroflection: turning back to ourselves what we would like to do to someone else Directing aggression inward that we are fearful to

directing toward others.

Contact and Resistances to Contact Deflection: A way of avoiding contact and

awareness by being vague or indirect. e.g., overuse of humor

Confluence: less differentiation between the self and the environment. e.g., a need to be accepted---to stay safe by going

alone with other and not expressing one’s true feeling and opinions.

Clients are encouraged to become increasingly aware of their dominant style of blocking contact

Questions Please provide examples for each five

resistance to contact?

Energy and blocks to energy Pay attention to where energy is located, how it is

used, and how it can be blocked Blocked energy (resistance):

Tension some part of the body; numbing feelings, looking away from people when speaking, speaking with a restricted voice

Recognize how their resistance is being expressed in their body

Exaggerate their tension and tightness in order to discover themselves

Therapeutic Goals Increasing Awareness and greater choice Awareness includes knowing the environment,

knowing oneself, accepting oneself, and being able to make contact.

Stay with their awareness, unfinished business will emerge.

Therapist’s function and Role Increase clients’ awareness Pay attention to the present moment Pay attention to clients’ body language,

nonverbal language, and inconsistence b/w verbal and nonverbal message (e.g., anger and smile)

“I” message

Client’s Experience in Therapy Therapist no interpretation Client making their own interpretation Three-stage (Polster, 1987)

Discovery (increasing awareness) Accommodation (recognizing that they have

a choice) Assimilation (influencing their environment)

Relationship Between Therapist and Client

The quality of therapist-client relationship Therapists knowing themselves Therapists share their experience to clients in the

here-and-now Therapist Use of self in therapy

Therapeutic techniques and procedures

The experiential work Use experiential work in therapy to work through the

stuck points and get new insights

Preparing client for experiential work Get permission from clients Be sensitive to the cultural difference (e.g., Asian

cultural value: emotional control) Respect resistance (e.g., express emotionsfear of

lose control, could not stop, or weakness)

Therapeutic techniques and procedures Increase awareness about the incongruence

between mind and body (verbal and nonverbal expression)

The internal dialogue exercise Making the rounds Rehearsal exercise Exaggeration exercise Staying with the feeling The Gestalt approach to dream work

Therapeutic techniques and procedures

The internal dialogue exercise Top dog (critical parent) and underdog (victim) Empty-chair (two sides of themselves)

Making the rounds Go around to each person and say “What makes it

hard for me trust you is……”

Rehearsal exercise Reverse the typical style (e.g., behave as negative as

possible)

Therapeutic techniques and procedures

Rehearsal exercise May get stuck when rehearsing silently or internally Share the rehearsals out load with a therapist

Exaggeration exercise Exaggerate gesture or movement, which usually

intensified the feelings attached to the behavior and makes the inner meaning clearer.

Staying with the feeling Go deeper into the feelings they wish to avoid

Therapeutic techniques and procedures The Gestalt approach to dream work

Not interpret or analyze dreams Bring dream back to life as though they were

happening now The dream is acted out in the present to become

different parts of the dream Projection: every person or object in the dream

represents a projected aspect of the dreamer. Royal road to integration Dreams serve as an excellent way to discover

personality No remember-refuse to face what it is at that time

From a multicultural perspective Contributions

Work with clients from their cultural perspectives

Limitations Focus on “affect”

Asian cultural value: emotional control Prohibiting to directly express the negative

feelings to their parents.

Summary and Evaluation Contributions

Present-centered awareness Pay attention on verbal and nonverbal cures Bring conflicts or struggles to actually experience

their conflict and struggles Focus on growth and enhancement See each aspect of a dream as a projection of

themselves Increase awareness of “what is” Empirical validation for the effectiveness

Summary and Evaluation Limitations

Ineffective therapists may manipulate the clients with powerful experiential work

Some people may need psycho-education