Gestalt Theory and Practice

1. Gestalt Therapy
Theory and Practice
ICPPD Diploma Year 2
Ethna Quigley
and
Audrey Henshaw

2. Overview
• Historical Roots
• Definition of Gestalt
• Theoretical Concepts
• The Gestalt Approach to Therapy
• “I” “Thou” Relationship

3. “Perhaps one of the greatest talents of
Frederick “Fritz” Perls the primary founder of
Gestalt therapy and the collaborators Laura
Perls and Paul Goodman, was their ability to
synthesise ideas from many sources to develop
a integrative, theoretical and methodological
therapy, encompassing mind, body, spirit and
interpersonal connection.”
Jennifer Mackewn

4. Historical roots
• Developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Pearls, and
Paul Goodman
• Emerged in the 1950s and 1960s an era of
challenging psychological, sexual, moral, and
societal norms
• Synthesis of different psychological concepts
and approaches

5. Historical Roots
• Psychoanalysis
• Theatre
• Gestalt Psychology and Philosophy
• Field Theory
• Phenomenology
• Holism
• Existential Philosophy
• Psychodrama
• Eastern Religion

6. Historical Roots
The seeds of Gestalt therapy were planted
well in advanced of Fredrick Perls and have
fully germinated in to a comprehensive theory
of psychotherapy and a philosophical
foundation for living. (Bowman 2005 Gestalt
Therapy History Theory and Practice p 5)

7. Definition of Gestalt
 Gestalt is a German word meaning a ‘Whole’ or a
completion that is greater than the sum of its
parts.
 Gestalt cannot be understood as a sum of
smaller, independent events.
An integrated person is aware of all the elements
that unite to make them whole- their body,
feelings, intellect and senses.

8. Practice Definition of Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is a process psychotherapy
with the goal of improving one’s contact in
community and with the environment in
general, spontaneous and authentic dialogue
between client and therapist. Awareness of
differences and similarities [is] encouraged
while interruptions to contact are explored in
the present therapeutic relationship.
(Bowman, 1998, p106)

9. Theoretical Concepts
• Field Theory
• Phenomenology
• Dialogic Relationship
• Holism
• Theory of Self
• Cycle of Awareness
• Contact

10. Field Theory
“The Field is all the co-existing, mutually
interdependent factors of a person in his
environment.”
Clarkson and MacKewan 1993
Group Experiential Exercise demonstrating Field Theory

11. Five Principles of Gestalt Field Theory
( Malcolm Parlett )
1. The Principle of Organisation: Meaning is derived from
seeing the whole, the total situation, everything is
interconnected
2. Principle of Contemporaneity:
Whatever the situation, all that is happening is happening
simultaneously now . Only from the present influence of
the field can we make sense of our present experience.
• Our power is in the present, for many people the power
of the present is lost
• The past is gone and the future has not yet arrived
• To be fully aware is to live in the here and now

12. Five Principles of Field Theory
3. The Principle of Singularity: Everyone is
unique. Each person’s experience is unique
4. The Principle of Changing Process: Nothing is
static. Nothing is permanent. Life is always in
process. Change is occurring all the time.
5. The Principle of Possible Relevance:
Everything in the field has possible meaning.
Everything is part of the total organisation.

13. Phenomenology
• The Phenomenological method of enquiry
used in Gestalt Therapy builds on the belief
that one individual cannot know the truth of
another’s reality.
• Phenomenological enquiry honours the
primary experiences of the client and the
therapist

14. Phenomenology
• Gestalt therapy treats the phenomenology of the
person; their sensations, perceptions, thoughts,
visualisations etc. as seen and experienced from
their point of view.
• The initial goal is for the client to gain awareness
of what they are experiencing and doing now.
• The therapist needs to be aware that their own
way(s) of perceiving clients or their situations are
likely to be different from the clients ways of
perceiving themselves

15. The phenomenological method of
enquiry
• The Gestalt Phenomenological method involves
(Spinelli, 1989)
• Bracketing – setting aside prior assumptions and
biases in order to focus on here and now
experience.
• Describing- rather than explaining or interpreting,
rather than talk about the client is encouraged to
become.
• Equalising- openness to equal significance of all
aspects of the field as described, rather than
assuming a hierarchy of prior importance.

16. The Clinical Application of
Phenomenology
• Listening without judgements
• Raising Awareness
• Staying close to the clients experience as possible
• Exploring how the client makes meaning of their
existence and issues (how the client is co-creating their
problem)
• A shared investigation
• Staying with the obvious (staying with what “is” rather
than what the client talks “about”)
• Frequently returning to the phenomenological method
(Joyce & Sills, 2002)

17. The Dialogic Relationship
• Martin Buber’s philosophy of I –Thou relating
is the heart of Gestalt therapy
“ The human heart yearns for contact – above all
it yearns for genuine dialogue... Each of us
secretly and desperately yearns to be ‘met’ –
to be recognised in our uniqueness, our
fullness and our vulnerability. (Hycner and
Jacobs,1995:9)

18. Dialogic Relationship
• Acceptance – not trying to fix
• Presence – fully present, allowing ourselves to be moved
• Inclusion – an extension of empathy, therapists awareness
• Open Communication – validates and equalises relationship
MacKewen (1993)states:
“The power to heal lies not in the therapist or even in the
client alone but in what happens between them”

19. Holism
• Gestalt Therapy views the person as a unified
whole, focusing on the integration of mind,
body and soul.
• Perls, Hefferline & Goodman (1951) insisted
that it was unintelligible to think of a person
out of context, they called the relationship of
the person in their environment ‘the
organism/environment field

20. Theory of Self
• The Gestalt view of human nature is grounded
in the holistic organismic self-regulating
tendency of the individual to move in the
direction of growth through the process of
need satisfaction; figure formation and
destruction within the environmental field.
• Figure and Ground emphasises the selective
nature of perception, some things will stand
out while others remain in the background.

21. Cycle of Awareness
• Perls believed that our moment to moment
experience is organised in a cyclic pattern
similar to the pattern of birth, growth,
destruction and renewal, observable in nature
and the seasonal flow of change.
• Personal needs, likewise arise, are recognised,
and satisfied and recede.

22. Stages of Cycle of Awareness
• Sensation
• Awareness
• Mobilisation
• Contact
• Withdrawal/Satisfaction
• Integration

23. Interruptions to the Contact Cycle
• There are seven interruptions to the Contact
Cycle:
• Desensitisation
• Deflection
• Introjection
• Projection
• Retroflection
• Egotism
• Confluence

24. Interruptions/Modifications to Contact
The seven traditional ‘interruptions’ to contact
represent one pole of a continuum, each one has
its opposite pole. (Joyce P., Sills C.:113)
Desensitisation....................... Sensitivity
Deflection................................Reception
Introjection..............................Rejection
Projection.................................Ownership
Retroflection.............................Impulsiveness
Egotism......................................Spontaneity
Confluence.................................Withdrawal

25. Desensitisation
• Disturbance in the sensation stage of
contacting by which an individual numbs their
natural ability to sense their world.

26. Deflection
• Deflection is the process of avoiding contact
with either an internal stimulus or one from
the environment e.g. Avoiding eye contact,
being abstract rather than specific, being
polite rather than direct, and excessive use of
language.

27. Introjection
• Introjection is the taking into our system
aspects of the environment without
assimilating them, therefore we do not know
what we need or want
• We swallow them whole and, in the
physiological sense, food, which is not
assimilated, sits heavily in our stomach and
causes discomfort.

28. Projection
• “A Projection is a trait, attitude, feeling or an
aspect of behaviour which actually belongs to
your own personality but is not experienced as
such; instead it is attributed to objects or
persons in the environment and then
experienced as directed towards you by them
instead of the other way round. The projector
unaware for instance that he is rejecting
others, believes that they are in fact rejecting
him” Perls, Hefferline & Goodman(1951)

29. Retroflection
• “Retroflection means that some function
which originally is directed from the individual
towards the world, changes its direction and is
bent back towards the originator”.
Perls 1947

30. Egotism
• Egotism refers to the tendency of a person to
interrupt contact by deliberate introspection
of themselves, evaluating ‘their being’ in a
way that robs the moment of spontaneity.

31. Confluence
• “Confluence occurs when two people or two
parts of the field flow together without a
sense of differentiation”
Perls et al
• The person has a strong need for approval
and acceptance

32. Growth Disorder
• Perls re-named the process of neurosis , growth –
disorder, emphasising the fact that plants and
animals do not prevent their own growth- only
humans do.
• The person avoids awareness of what they really
are, need or want and cling to fixed patterns of
behaviour.
In contrast:
‘People actualise their full potential by knowing and
facing themselves in their wholeness’ (Clarkson &
Mckewan, 1993)

33. 5 Layer Model of Neurosis
• Perls developed a model of neurosis, in which he
proposed a five level structure of neurotic disturbance
(Clarkson & Mckewan 1993)
• 1. Cliche or Phoney Layer characterised by shallow
inauthentic contact , “You Should...”
• 2. Role playing or Phobic layer – person defines
themselves by their roles rather than their real self,
acting according to the role expected. Avoidance of
emotional pain.
• 3. Impasse layer – Game playing is abandoned,
becoming aware of their true feelings and the
contradicting inner struggles. Stuckness and resistance.

34. 5 Layer Model of Neurosis
• 4. Implosive layer – The person experiences
paralysis of these opposing forces within their
inner depths, lack of energy.
• 5. Explosive layer – The force of the person
finds expression, exploding in their own
authenticity of being as they truly are.

35. Unfinished Business and Fixed Gestalts
• Unresolved childhood situations are often the
source of ‘Fixed Gestalts’, these unfinished
situations struggle for closure later in life.
• ‘Some episode of childhood history, some
important early need, was left unsatisfied and
the person did not complete the cycle in a
way that was right for him or her biologically
or psychologically.’ (Clarkson 1989)

36. Contact
• ‘Contact, as described by Perls. Hefferline & Goodman
(1973), is the meeting between one person and
another or the meeting between a person and his
environment’.
• Contact takes place at the boundary of the self and the
environment.
• Through contact one does not have to try to change;
change simply occurs (Polster and Polster,1974:101)
“Contact is the source of our richest joy and our most
intensely painful moments” (Clarkson, 1989:35)

37. The Gestalt Approach to Therapy
• The aim of Gestalt therapy is the restoration of
healthy contact, enabling the person to live life
to their full potential.
• Good Gestalt practice can be described by the
following four characteristics:
Focus on here and now emerging experiences
The offer of a dialogic relationship
A perspective of field theory and holism
A creative, experimental attitude to life and the
process of therapy.

38. Awareness
• ‘Awareness is a form of experiencing. It is the
process of being in vigilant contact with the
most important event in the
individual/environment field, with full
sensorimotor, emotional, cognitive and
energetic support.’ (Yontef, 1979)
• Zones of Awareness – Inner Zone, Outer Zone,
Middle Zone.

39. Paradoxical Theory of Change
• Change occurs when one becomes what he is,
not when he tries to become what he is not.
(Beisser, 1970:77)
• People change when they give up struggling to be
what they would like to become, but instead
allow themselves to be fully aware of what they
are now at this moment in time.
• The Gestalt therapist declines the role of ‘change
agent’ and undertakes a collaborative enquiry to
develop greater awareness for the client.
(Clarkson and McKewan 1993)

40. Creative Indifference
• The concept of creative indifference ‘is based
on the idea that the counsellor does not have
any vested interest in any particular outcome’
(Joyce and Sills, 2001)
• The therapist is not attached in the success of
any single outcome, and holds value on all
aspects of the client as a whole system
(Clarkson and McKewan 1993)

41. I – Thou Relationship
• Gestalt emphasises the importance of
phenomenology, field theory, here and now,
as central to true ‘I - Thou’ relating which
values the authentic meeting of souls.
• Both the therapist and the client are equals
• The therapist acts openly and congruently,
meeting the client with respect and without
judgement.

42. Therapeutic Techniques of Gestalt
Therapy
• The Internal Dialogue exercise – “Top-Dog”, “Under Dog”, working with
polarities.
• Empty Chair – externalises introjects, helps client get in touch with other
aspect of self
• “I take responsibility for...” – added to a client’s statement allows them to
accept their feelings
• Playing the projection – play the role of the untrustworthy person
• Rehearsal exercise – client shares rehearsal out loud
• Reversal technique – a shy person plays the role of an exhibitionist
• Exaggeration exercise – client is asked to exaggerate a movement or gesture
• Staying with the feeling – Therapist encourages the client to stay with the
discomfort of the feeling
• Making the rounds – asking a group member to go to other members of the
group and make a statement

43. Gestalt Experiments
• The Gestalt therapist works creatively with the client and
may design experiments which are appropriate to the
clients process.
• The experiment ‘transforms talking about into doing, stale
reminiscing and theorising into being fully here with all
ones imagination, energy, and excitement. (Zinker, 1977)
• Experiments emerge from authentic contact and
interaction between therapist and client.
• Must be here and now relevant and spontaneous
experiences.
• Are the foundation of experiential learning and new
awareness and insights.

44. Gestalt Approach to Dream Work
• Perls stated that dreams were the ‘royal road to
integration’(1969:71) – the most spontaneous
expression of the existence of the human being.
• Dreams contains an existential message or
statement
• Represent unfinished business
• Are projections of some aspects of the dreamer
• Different parts of the dream are expressions of
the client’s inconsistent and conflicting sides

45. Gestalt Approach to Dream Work
Gestalts Therapists:
 Do not interpret or analyze the dream
 Help the client to re-own aspects of the self that have been
projected on to people or objects in the dream by:
- allowing the client relive the dream in the here and now
- becoming each part of the dream
- engaging in dialogue between the different parts or
characters in the dream
As common themes emerge the client awareness is
sharpened and they may experience an aha moment (Joyce
P & Sills C: 177)

46. Applications of Gestalt Therapy
• Long term therapy
• Brief therapy
• Play therapy
• Group therapy
• Couples therapy
• Organisational therapy

47. Reference
Clarkson, P 1989 Gestalt Counselling in Action. London: Sage Publications
• Clarkson, P. & Mackewn, J. 1993 Fritz Perls. London: Sage.
• Fagan, J. Shepard I.L Gestalt Therapy New York: Harper Colophon Books
• MacKewan, J. 1997 Developing Gestalt Counselling. London: Sage
Publications
• Perls, F., Hefferline,R. Goodman, P. (1951-1969), Gestalt Therapy
Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality. New York: Souvenir
Press.
• Spinelli, E. 1989 Interpersonal World. London: Sage Publications
• Zinker J. 1977 Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy. New York: Vintage
Books
• Yontef, G. 1991 Recent trends in Gestalt therapy, The British Gestalt
Journal, 1: 5-20.