What Kind Of Direction Is Gestalt Therapy?

Video: What Kind Of Direction Is Gestalt Therapy?

Video: What Kind Of Direction Is Gestalt Therapy?
Video: What is Gestalt Therapy? 2024, May
What Kind Of Direction Is Gestalt Therapy?
What Kind Of Direction Is Gestalt Therapy?
Anonim

I do not pretend to present the entire theory and methodology of the direction in a small text, but I will try to give a simple and clear presentation of the basic concepts.

This is a branch of psychotherapy that emerged around the middle of the 20th century. At the heart of Gestalt therapy is psychoanalysis, and existential philosophy, and bodily psychotherapy, and psychology of perception (gestalt psychology), and Eastern philosophy. The very word "gestalt" means a complete, complete form, something complete. This is how the completed situation can be called.

One of the foundations of Gestalt therapy, taken from philosophy, is the acceptance of the unpredictability of life. During human life, both joys and sorrows are inevitable. Grief is what can be viewed as trauma.

If we consider trauma from the perspective of gestalt therapy, then we can say that it is an unfinished developmental situation (unfinished gestalt). Trauma can occur because of an abrupt event (this is called a shock injury) or because of a situation that is not favorable for a person, which lasted for some time and affected life (developmental trauma). Trauma inhibits personal development. Both old traumas from the past and adversity at the moment can have this effect. As a result, various symptoms (anxiety, fears, psychosomatic illnesses …) and troubles in relationships may arise (for example, relationships do not develop or develop in an unfavorable way). Gestalt therapy is a psychological work that contributes to the healing of mental trauma, the completion of unfinished developmental situations, so that a person can further more freely go through life.

Gestalt therapy can be helpful for a variety of needs. But if you try to structure them, then I can say that this can be work with excess experiences (for example, fear, shame, guilt, longing, sadness, etc.) and with feelings of insufficiency (meaning, good relationships, self-esteem, self-esteem etc.). The client and therapist work together to explore how these experiences were shaped in life and what can be done about them. The focus of psychotherapy, as a rule, is gradually changing, a person is working on various issues of concern.

Gestalt therapy has the concept of a "dynamic cycle of contact (or experience)". This is how a person deals with his needs, how he contacts with other people, how he organizes his life - does a person get what he wants, or does something interfere? Working with a gestalt therapist can go through this prism.

Gestalt therapists often ask their clients about feelings and emotions. Feelings and emotions are very important because they indicate a person's condition and his / her needs.

All our needs change over time, this principle is also taken into account in Gestalt therapy. Personal harmonization and finding a fairly good balance (or, as they say in gestalt, good shape) is one of the possible work strategies.

In Gestalt therapy, there is the principle of holism, that is, the unity of the mind and body. Therefore, Gestalt therapists at consultations not only talk about exciting issues, but also pay attention to bodily sensations. Many injuries remain as traces in the body in the form of clamps or loss of sensation. And then it is important to connect work with psychological experiments to respond to experiences and release from bodily symptoms. For example, the famous experimental model is the "empty chair". I can give an example of an experiment to resolve a bodily symptom: during a consultation, the client tries to feel that the person who has offended and frightened him in the past can hear his words. He can express them now and defend himself in a situation that was in the past. So a person can get relief from a body clamp - a lump in the throat.

Ultimately, Gestalt therapy, like any other psychotherapy, is primarily human-centered, and different clients receive their own unique Gestalt therapy.

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