Gestalt Therapy and Its Direct Relationship to Gestalt Psychology - Research Paper Example

Gestalt therapy grew out of Gestalt psychology because of the work of Frederick “Fritz” Perls. Perls believed that the individual must look at their own life and see how it was working or not working for them. Gestalt psychologists were the first to understand that it was important to look at the whole person and that the unconscious part of that person was very important. They believed that the Behaviorists were missing the truth of what man would become. This research paper is a study of the history of Gestalt psychology and its influence on Gestalt therapy. It provides insight into what the individual may need to understand when dealing with therapy issues. The Emergence of Gestalt Therapy from Gestalt Psychology Gestalt therapy is a model that some people have found difficult to use because it makes an individual take a hard look at how their life looks now. They are expected to be introspective but to keep their observations of their life in the current moment. They are also encouraged to move past difficulties and find their own way to move forward. Historically, Gestalt therapy was influenced by many psychological theories but it grew out of Frederick Perls criticism of behaviorism and Gestalt psychology. What is interesting is that many therapists embraced Gestalt therapy and continue to practice it today. Brief History of Gestalt Psychology Gestalt psychology was one of the theories that came to fruition as behaviorism began to diminish. Gestalt psychologists realized that humans were complex and breaking their behavior into smaller parts did not work well. To Gestalt psychologists, consciousness was very important to studying behavior (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). Gestalt psychologists believed that the mind was able to, through its perception, can create an entire experience. This idea was promoted by Immanuel Kant and later promoted and expanded by other psychologists. In looking at this train of thought, Gestalt psychologists believed that when an individual sees an object, they make a perception of that object that does not change even when their perception of the object may change. These two early ideas would begin to form the foundation for Gestalt therapy. Henry James promoted the idea of consciousness and felt that it was "artificial abstractions" (Schultz and Schultz, 2004, p. 361). He acknowledged that people did not see an object as a series of small parts, but as an entire object. Eventually, a major concept of Gestalt psychology, phenomenology, would become a concept that would carry over into Gestalt therapy. Major Psychologists in the Field Max Wertheimer is credited with the start of Gestalt psychology and his work grew out of a research study he conducted with the help of Koffka and Kohler. He discovered that when people see motion, they see it as a continuous light rather than segments of light. Wertheimer called this phenomenon, phi phenomenon. When other psychologists questioned he, he stated that movement did not have to be explained because it could not be categorized into smaller parts (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). Koffka was another early psychologist who understood that perception had a role in understanding human beings. One challenge was that because he wrote an article about perception, other psychologists felt that Gestalt psychology was only about perception, which meant it had no relevance to other areas of psychology. However, Gestalt psychology had a broader scope that included the cognitive process like thinking, learning, and other areas of consciousness. Kohler began working in animal experiments with chimpanzees until he became bored with studying animals on a daily basis. However, his experiments would set the stage for gaining information about problem solving and restructuring of the filed of perception (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). The Changing Zeitgeist and The Revolt by Gestalt Psychologists The Zeitgeist was well known in the beginning aspects of education and psychology, and physics was the next area of change. For Gestalt psychology, this change helped their cause because physics acknowledged that atoms and other matter had to be seen as an entire unit instead of small particles. By the end of the 19th century, the Zeitgeist in physics was changing how psychology would be studied. This new Zeitgeist was accepting that there were fields of force that existed. These fields were involved in magnetism and other concepts. Because physicists were describing these fields as organic wholes, Gestalt psychologists saw this as a way to talk about the individual as an organic whole rather than looking at segmented parts of their personality. Principles Gestalt Psychology The basic Gestalt psychology principles that carried over into Gestalt therapy primarily dealt with how consciousness impacted humanity. What is interesting, is that there was a challenge between Gestalt psychologist and Gestalt therapist. Therapists understood the similarity between these two models but psychologists rejected the idea that there were any similarities between the two systems (Sherrill, 1986). The idea of perceptual organization was important to the future of Gestalt therapy. This concept suggested that individuals perceive both motion and objects in the same way. This concept was called perceptual organization. They believed that when an individual saw an object, perceptual organization happened at the same time (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). Gestalt psychologists also believed that the brain was complex and did not see a difference between individual objects and a larger group. Generally, what will happen is that the brain will automatically categorize groups of objects that match each other. The basic principles that were associated with this concept were proximity, continuity, similarity, closure, simplicity and figure/ground. These concepts would carry over into working with individuals in therapy. Introduction to Gestalt Therapy Frederick "Fritz" Perls is credited with the founding of Gestalt therapy. Historically, he was a psychoanalyst who at first enjoyed some of the work of Freud. Clearly, Perls paid close attention to Freuds work as he developed Gestalt therapy. He adopted some of Freuds principles because he saw them as creative. However, he did not use Freuds work verbatim. Instead, he used some of the work as a foundation for his own work and then improved what he had learned from Freud. He did see that the EGO created a hunger in the individual on many levels. This hunger can lead to aggression and it can make an individual develop defense mechanisms (Perl, 1968). His work came on the heels of behaviorism and he had several criticisms of the behaviorists. One of the first criticisms he had was that human behavior could not be segmented as the behaviorists believed. He believed that human beings were more complex and that when working with their behavior, an individual must look at the whole person, their environment and any other influences that may be a part of their lives. Perls further believed that man was a living organism and as such, had a body, mind, and soul (Perls, 1969). Although Perls started in Germany, he went to South America when the Nazi Regime took hold and later went to America. In America, he began to see how people spent a lot of time in therapy that they did not have to do if they took responsibility for themselves (Perls, 1988). He and his wife took his ideals from psychology and began to practice it within therapy. He understood that there should be direct interaction between the therapist and the patient, and that the role of the therapist was to facilitate the session and help the individual come to their own conclusions. Basic Concepts of Gestalt Therapy Within the direct interaction of the therapist with the client, the emphasis was on the direct experience that the patient was having in the now moment. Perls believed that centering them in the here and now, using active experimentation, would bring them into a sense of themselves quickly (Yontef, 1996). Yontef suggests that Gestalt therapy was both phenomenological and existential at the same time. The phenomenological aspects taught an awareness in which perceiving, acting, and feeling were more important to the therapeutic process than pre-existing attitudes. This means that the process that is currently happening -- in the now moment-- is more important than anything else. Gestalt therapy is not concerned with what is said during the session. Many of the concepts that Gestalt psychologists started were also used in Gestalt therapy. As an example, field theory grew out of the idea that the whole person was important. The field in question was actually the entire dimensions of an individual and all the elements that make them who they are, and any action is put in the now moment. Everything becomes descriptive rather than speculative. It is not the intent that the individual will interpret what is happening but will observe and describe it as they see it immediately (Yontef, 1993). Dialogue and how it relates to the relationship between the individual and themselves in the healing process is also important. Gestalt therapy helps an individual create their own support for contact or for withdrawal. Support is seen as anything that allows an individual to contact or withdraw from a situation. Some examples of this include body support, concern for other people, energy, or breathing (Yontef, 1996). There are four characteristics of dialogue that are important: 1. Inclusion -- which is an opportunity for someone to put themselves into someone elses experience without judging it. This allows the individual to observe a situation where they may be having problems. This gives a client a safe way to talk about a situation and come to their own awareness. 2. Presence -- the therapist is always in the present moment with the client. They share observations, feelings, their own personal experiences, or thoughts that are pertinent to the issue being presented. 3. Commitment to dialogue-- contact happens between people and the therapist interacts with the client by allowing dialogue to happen. They do not try and manipulate the situation or push the client towards a specific conversation. 4. Dialogue is lived -- dialogue is active and not just passively talked about. An individual could use many ways to express dialogue which could include song, words, or dancing as long as they were moving energy forward (Yontef, 1993). These four aspects of dialogue help the individual find their own personal way to develop their awareness. Perls saw his work as a way to help clients mature. He suggested that an individual became a whole person when they were able to bring all the aspects of themselves together into a fully functioning individual (Perls, 1988). In looking at how Gestalt therapy and Gestalt psychology are similar, the following comparison chart is useful: Table 1: Comparison Off Gestalt Therapy with Early Gestalt Psychology. Daniels, 2005, 2-3). EARLY GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY GESTALT THERAPY Emphasis on pattern, whole, configuration Persons whole being (speech, posture, action) etc. manifests his or her way of encountering the world Figure/ground Successive emergence of one issue/dominant need after another into foreground (personality gestalten) in a dynamic manner Transposition Same behavior/thought/emotional pattern recurs in different spatial & temporal contexts Lewins Zeigarnik effect / tension systems Unfinished situations The perceptual field The organism / environment field Perceptual closure Finishing unfinished situations Perceptual organization Contact boundaries The "aha" experience in learning The "aha" experience in recognizing personal defensive mechanisms & existential truths The whole is different from the sum of its parts Organized configurations of ways of being in the world Goldsteins "self-actualization" Organismic self-regulation Goldsteins "a reflex is an act of the whole organism" Specific behaviors & mannerisms reveal larger conflicts & issues Awareness rather than introspection Development of awareness rather than focus on intellectual understanding We select what we are interested in attending to We select what we attend to and avoid Meaning of anything changes according to context Meaning of anything changes according to context Some Gestalt psychologist felt that Gestalt therapy was not true Gestalt as the name implied. According to Daniels (2005) the psychologists were both correct because Gestalt therapy brings together many influences that came from the old Gestalt psychology. The psychologists are wrong because Gestalt therapy is based in reality which is at the center of the process in order to help the individual find their own personal growth. Perls expanded on what Freud did and ignored many theories that he felt did not make sense. He did this because he felt that people should confront situations head on and learn to deal with whatever comes to them. Gestalt uses techniques and tools to help the individual sharpen their awareness of themselves. When the individual has unfinished business form past situations or are having concerns dealing with their future, Gestalt therapy helps concerns dealing wit their future, Gestalt therapy helps the individual observe the situation in the present moment. Techniques of Gestalt Therapy Perls understood that all clients had created different defensive behaviors that dealt with various situations in their lives. He saw that people developed these defenses because of a need for survival against perceived threats. These defenses helped them keep a sense of balance. However, defenses create the labels of good or bad to each situation which he saw as the job of the Ego. Perls dealt with peoples defenses by addressing them directly. He would do this using another technique he called the movie screen. In this technique, the client was asked to observe the situations they saw as bad as though they were watching a movie. By observing them as a movie, the client was encouraged not to judge them but only to talk about them in the now moment (Perls, 1969). The concept of balance is the major theme that urns through Gestalt therapy. An important aspect of balance is the need for closure. Closure brings an individual out of a state of frustration and brings them back to balance (Barlow, 1981). Gestalt therapy helps the individual find closure and therefore helps them find their own sense of balance. Out of Gestalt therapy a sense of holism for clients grew. Perls knew that the whole person was important to the individuals total growth into their reality. He saw that he body and the soul were the same thing--they were just seen differently by some (Perls, 1966). Perls also saw that the individual must be given the tools to solve their present problems so that they would be able to solve their problems after therapy (Barlow, 1981). Gestalt therapy works with individuals and with groups, and they provide an opportunity for supervision for new counselors. Melnick and Fall (2008) suggest that supervision is necessary to help counselors better monitor the progress of clients. Counselors must be in touch with their own experiences so they can help clients more effectively. Conclusion Gestalt therapy has a direct relationship to Gestalt psychology but it was also influenced by many other psychology theories. Perls redefined how the ego worked in helping individuals delve deeper into themselves and helped them to create a stronger sense of themselves. Perls contributions to the counseling field created an opportunity for him to develop themselves and move away from neurotic tendencies. Gestalt therapy had its roots in Gestalt psychology and Fritz Perls created a strong foot hold for Gestalt therapy among other therapies of the time. Today, there many people who still practice Gestalt therapy and it has taken its place along the other therapies. References Barlow, A.R. (1981). Gestalt: Antecedent influence or historical accident. The Gestalt Journal, 14 (2). Retrieved January 10, 2011 from http://www.gestalt.org/barlow.htm Daniels, V. (2005). Fritz Perls and Gestalt therapy and comparisons with classical Gestalt psychology. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/gestaltsummary.html Melnick, J. and Fall, M. (2008). A Gestalt approach to group supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 48. 48-52. Retrieved January 10, 2011 from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-12238057/A-gestalt-approach-to- group.html Perls, F.S. (1969). Ego, hunger and aggression: The beginning of Gestalt therapy. NY: Random House. Perls, F.S. (1988). Gestalt therapy verbatim. NY: The Center for Gestalt Development. Schultz, D.P. and Schultz, S.E. (2004). A history of modern psychology. 8th Edition. CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Sherrill, R.E. (1986). Sherril on Gestalt therapy/psychology. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.gestalt.org/sherrill.htm Yontef, G. (1996). Gestalt therapy: An introduction. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.gestalt.org/yontef.htm Read More