Basic principles, methods and techniques of Gestalt therapy

• October 6, 2018
• Psychotherapy
• Michail Shattrie

Gestalt is an unfamiliar word to many, but the concept of Gestalt therapy has been known for decades. Most of the techniques that have appeared over the fifty years of its existence have formed the basis of modern psychotherapy. Among them are the “here and now” principle borrowed from Eastern philosophy, the holistic method according to which the world and man are an integral phenomenon, the principle of mutual exchange and self-regulation with the environment, the paradoxical theory of changes that occur with a person when he becomes who he is, not trying to play other roles; the same “empty chair” technique, when claims are expressed to an imaginary interlocutor, and not to a real one.

In simple terms, what is Gestalt therapy? We can say that it is a universal direction of psychotherapy that lays the foundation for working with the inner world - from childhood fears to coaching of top officials.

In psychology, Gestalt therapy involves the perception of a person as a single whole, combining the unconscious and conscious, past and future, mind and body, hatred and love. All this exists only at a specific moment in time, since the past no longer exists and the future has not yet arrived. A person is not able to exist in isolation, and the outside world is considered the environment in which our life is possible and which nourishes us. It is possible to receive what we need and give what overwhelms us only in contact with the outside world. When such mutual exchange is violated, a person’s life freezes and loses its meaning.

Gestalt therapy is aimed primarily at restoring relationships with the world, and not at recognizing mistakes and understanding why a person walks in circles.

Definition

As one of the areas of psychotherapy, the Gestalt method was formed in the middle of the last century. The theory of this therapy includes a number of practices, including traditional psychoanalysis, body-oriented therapy, Gestalt psychology, psychodrama and many other concepts. The term "gestalt" is of German origin - the word gestalt is translated as "shape, figure." The concept of gestalt, in simple terms, is a holistic image of a specific situation. From a scientific point of view, Gestalt is understood as a holistic structure located on the field of interaction between the environment and a person and covering the gap between the emergence of a need and its satisfaction. The founder of Gestalt therapy is considered to be the psychologist Friedrich Perls, who laid the foundation for the direction of psychology, according to which a person and his environment are a single whole.

What is Gestalt psychology?

Gestalt psychology (German gestalt - image, form; gestalten - configuration) is one of the most interesting and popular trends in Western psychology, which arose during the period of open crisis in psychological science in the early 1920s. in Germany. The founder is the German psychologist Max Wertheimer

.
This direction was developed not only in the works of Max Wertheimer, but also of Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Keller, Kurt Koffka and others. Gestalt psychology is a kind of protest against Wundt’s molecular program for psychology. Based on studies of visual perception, “ Gestalt
” configurations were derived (Gestalt is a holistic form), the essence of which is that a person tends to perceive the world around him in the form of ordered integral configurations, and not individual fragments of the world.

Gestalt psychology opposed the principle of dividing consciousness (structural psychology) into elements, and constructing complex mental phenomena from them according to the laws of creative synthesis. Even a peculiar law was formulated, which sounded as follows: “the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.” Originally the subject

Gestalt psychology was a phenomenal field, later there was a fairly rapid expansion of this topic, and it began to include issues studying the problems of mental development; the founders of this direction were also concerned with the dynamics of personality needs, memory and creative thinking of a person.

Boundary and contact

Let's consider the basic concept of Gestalt therapy. Contact is the interaction of environmental capabilities and human needs. The latter can be satisfied only if a person comes into contact with the outside world:

• Food is required to satisfy hunger.
• Water is required to quench thirst.
• The need for communication is satisfied by contact with other living beings.

The contact boundary is the place where a person meets the outside world. In most cases, it is perceived as a line between the human body and what is located outside. However, such boundaries are not so precise and clear in all cases.

Human nature in the context of Perls' theory

The principle of holism (integrity). In general, this principle says that the state of the whole is not determined by a simple summation of the states of its elements, but is a single whole and qualitatively different from this sum. At the same time, in themselves, the processes and states of individual parts of this whole are exhaustively determined by the nature of the whole itself. In other words, a person functions as a single organism, whose physiology, thought processes, and emotions cannot be divided and studied separately.

Human emotions have three aspects - they can be functions of thinking, physiology and senses.

The principle of homeostasis, plus dialectics. Perls applied this principle to the psychological reality of the individual, believing under it the ability of the system to maintain the internal balance (constancy) of its state through opposition (comparing opposites). Logically assuming that human thinking is associated with an understanding of opposites and is actually based on their opposition (evaluation), Perls put forward the concept of psychological balance of the individual. This concept was that any organism has a desire for balance or equilibrium, that is, peace and absence of change.

In Perls's understanding, the thought process was based on comparison, when one thing could only be known in the context of its opposite (without cold there is no hot, without good there is no evil, etc.).

Every moment, a single organism was affected by many different factors, both external and internal, naturally striving to upset the balance of the entire system as a whole. As a result of the desire to preserve the original state, an opposite tendency develops to restore the overall balance. This tendency is a basic need of the body and in the process of this self-regulation an image of the current need is created, with which the desire to satisfy it is currently associated. The need may or may not be satisfied, but in any case, in the process a figurative figure-ground situation (or gestalt) is created - an image of a significant need against the background of content that is less significant at the moment. This is due to the peculiarities of human perception - to perceive things intentionally, that is, to always fix attention on a specific significant object, which is what phenomenology talks about.

In the process of satisfying a significant need, psychological stress decreases, balance is restored, that is, the current need-satisfaction situation ends.

So, the mentioned homeostasis is a process during which a person satisfies his need over and over again, returning the desired balance.

According to Perls, since external and internal factors constantly (simply by virtue of their presence) tend to throw the system out of balance, the process of the emergence of needs and their satisfaction arises again and again. In this case, needs are understood as both physiological and psychological, which is natural if we understand the body as a whole. As for relations with the outside world in the context of satisfying needs, Perls identified two strategies of behavior - autoplastic (the desire to adapt behavior to the outside world) and alloplastic (adaptation of the outside world to one’s interests).

From the above, it can be understood that the figure-ground state (or gestalt) arises as an image of awareness of the current need and, due to the continuity of the process, is a constantly incomplete state that creates psychological tension, since the gestalt certainly requires completion (the need must be realized) . The dominant need creates what is called a figure in Gestalt, and less significant needs temporarily fade into the background.

Perls's attitude to human consciousness in the context of current needs is indicative. He believed that it is not just some kind of system serving these needs, but the very essence of consciousness, identical to the need and the situation that unfolds around it. That is, consciousness is the emergence and development of a need, as well as ways of its implementation - establishing relationships with the world, oneself, etc.

Personality and dominant instincts. According to Sigmund Freud's theory of personality, the basic human instinct was the sexual instinct and, in accordance with this view, the basic human need was the sexual need. Fritz Perls, without questioning this premise, nevertheless argued that such a view is one-sided and does not fully take into account another original biological need of man - the need for food. Purls called this need the hunger instinct. Thus, he identified two basic needs.

Purls associated the hunger instinct with certain events in human development related to the satisfaction of this need at an early age. These are the four stages of human development - prenatal (intrauterine), predental (associated with satisfying hunger through sucking), incisor (biting), molar (biting and chewing). From Perls’s point of view, these four stages had a direct connection with the psychological characteristics of the individual, so the predental was associated with impatience, the incisor with aggression, the molar with assimilation (or assimilation). Thus, by analogy with the stages of development, the most mature human behavior is always associated with assimilation (not only of food, but in general of all information coming from the outside world).

Aggression and defensive behavior. According to Perls, aggression carried an important biological function, ensuring the satisfaction of needs through contact with the environment. The role of aggression was to remove obstacles to a significant need. Moreover, its true goal was precisely the removal of obstacles, and not destruction, since the destruction of any object presupposes the impossibility of its use (assimilation) in the future. If we draw a parallel with the process of satisfying the hunger instinct, then there is undoubtedly a connection with the process of biting and subsequent chewing of food.

According to Perls, the impossibility of realizing the natural manifestations of biological aggression (its suppression) led to obvious psychological problems and here there is an obvious analogy with Freud's theory of suppressed aspirations of ID.

Defense is an instinct associated with self-preservation, and it can take various forms, from aggressive behavior to flight.

The principle of reality. A person is always in the process of interaction with the world around him, and since this communication is always connected with the satisfaction of needs, therefore, a person is not limited to simply perceiving events, but actively intervenes in this process. It is important to clarify that this intervention applies to both the external and internal world (psyche). To realize one’s needs, it is advisable to conditionally divide the world into external and internal, therefore, each individual in the process of development creates this division, which is why the concept of subject and object arises in consciousness. The boundaries between these two worlds follow the line of our interests, because man creates this division himself, and this boundary is in the process of constant change, depending on many factors - physiological instruments of perception (sense organs), the needs of the individual, his ideas about the external and internal, from self-concept, etc. Moreover, in general, this is the boundary of contact with the environment, along which events occur.

The concept of Ego in Pearls' theory. The ego is inextricably linked with interaction with the outside world, this interaction is the reason for its appearance, and the boundaries of the EGO are determined by the boundaries of this contact. According to Perls, a person functions as a person only in the place of meeting with what he considers alien (different from the self).

Subjective awareness of oneself as separate from the world is the essence of the Ego.

According to the Gestalt concept, the ego personality is always considered in the context of its needs.

Personal development. The essence of personality development and change is the satisfaction of constantly emerging needs, which occurs through the assimilation of fragments of the surrounding world. Essentially, this is a continuous chain that looks like this: need - imbalance - aggressive contact - satisfaction through assimilation - new equilibrium , etc. Thus, the personality is almost always in a state of another unfinished gestalt (unsatisfied need). Based on this principle, understanding a psychologically healthy individual is possible only in the context of constant satisfaction of needs, or otherwise, a constantly completing gestalt, and if so, then the concept of psychological growth (actualization) also follows from this, and this is a movement towards the ability to become more and more effective “ cover” an urgent need.

The formation of complete and comprehensive gestalts is a prerequisite for mental health and growth” (F. Perls. 1951).

Alienation and identification

Both phenomena are characteristic of borders, where they arise. Identification implies classification into “one’s own” and “alien’’, where “one’s own” is understood as what is close and dear in any circumstances. Positive relationships - love, partnership, friendship - do not go beyond internal boundaries. The category of “strangers” includes negative relationships that are rejected by a person. Violation of boundaries provokes numerous problems that a person overcomes.

When is Gestalt formed?

The life of any person is accompanied by a variety of gestalts of different scales - both small and large. Among them are relationships with parents, children and friends, quarrels with loved ones and close people, conversations with colleagues, feelings of falling in love, friendship. Gestalt arises spontaneously and not by the will of a person, but as a consequence of the emergence of a need that requires prompt satisfaction. It begins and ends, the latter at the moment the need is satisfied. Absolutely all a person’s desires cannot be fulfilled, and therefore the cycle of closing the gestalt may vary in duration.

Ideas, laws, principles

Key ideas of Gestalt psychology

The main thing that Gestalt psychology works with is consciousness. Consciousness is a dynamic whole where all elements interact with each other. A striking analogue: harmony of the whole organism - the human body works flawlessly and regularly for many years, consisting of a large number of organs and systems.

• Gestalt
  is a unit of consciousness, an integral figurative structure.
• The subject of
  Gestalt psychology is consciousness, the understanding of which should be based on the principle of integrity.
• The method
  of cognition of gestalts is observation and description of the contents of one’s perception. Our perception does not come from sensations, since they do not exist in reality, but is a reflection of fluctuations in air pressure - the sensation of hearing.
• Visual perception
  is the leading mental process that determines the level of mental development. And an example of this: a huge amount of information obtained by people through the organs of vision.
• Thinking
  is not a set of skills formed through errors and trials, but a process of solving a problem, carried out through structuring the field, that is, through insight in the present.

Laws of Gestalt psychology

Law of figure and ground:

The figures are perceived by a person as a closed whole, but the background is perceived as something continuously extending behind the figure.

Law of Transposition:

The psyche reacts not to individual stimuli, but to their relationship. The meaning here is this: elements can be combined if there are at least some similar features, such as proximity or symmetry.

Law of Pregnancy

: There is a tendency to perceive the simplest and most stable figure of all possible perceptual alternatives.

Law of constancy:

everything strives for permanence.

Law of Proximity:

the tendency to combine elements adjacent in time and space into a coherent image. For all of us, as we know, it is easiest to combine similar items.

The law of closure
(filling in the gaps in a perceived figure):
when we observe something completely incomprehensible to us, our brain tries with all its might to transform, translate what we saw into an understanding accessible to us. Sometimes this even carries danger, because we begin to see something that is not in reality.

Gestalt principles

All of the above-mentioned properties of perception, be it figure, background or constants, certainly interact with each other, thereby carrying new properties. This is gestalt, the quality of form. Integrity of perception and orderliness are achieved thanks to the following principles:

• Proximity (everything nearby is perceived together);
• Similarity ( things that are similar in size, color or shape tend to be perceived together);
• Integrity (perception tends towards simplification and integrity);
• Closedness (the figure acquires a form);
• Contiguity ( proximity of stimuli in time and space. Contiguity can determine perception when one event causes another);
• Common area (Gestalt principles shape our everyday perceptions along with learning and past experience).

Gestalt - quality

The term “Gestalt quality” (German: Gestaltqualität) was introduced into psychological science X.

Ehrenfels to designate the holistic “gestalt” properties of certain formations of consciousness. The quality of “transpositivity”: the image of the whole remains, even if all the parts change in their material, and examples of this:

• different keys of the same melody,
• paintings by Picasso (for example, Picasso’s drawing “Cat”).

Constants of perception

Size constancy:

the perceived size of an object remains constant, regardless of changes in the size of its image on the retina.

Form constancy:

the perceived shape of an object is constant, even when the shape on the retina changes. It is enough to look at the page you are reading, first straight ahead, and then at an angle. Despite the change in the “picture” of the page, the perception of its shape remains unchanged.

Brightness constancy:

The brightness of the object is constant, even under changing lighting conditions. Naturally, subject to the same lighting of the object and the background.

Figure and ground

The simplest perception is formed by dividing visual sensations into an object - a figure

, located on
the background
. Brain cells, having received visual information (by looking at a figure), give a more active reaction than when looking at the background. This happens for the reason that the figure is always pushed forward, and the background, on the contrary, is pushed back, and the figure is also richer and brighter in content than the background.

Gestalt cycle

An ideal cycle looks like this:

1. Formation of need.
2. Finding ways to implement it.
3. Satisfying a need.
4. Ending the contact.

The process can be complicated by various external or internal factors, which does not allow the cycle to be completed, since the contact boundary is broken.

The Gestalt remains in consciousness if the process is completely completed. An unclosed gestalt torments a person throughout his life, interfering with the satisfaction of other needs. Often it becomes the cause of malfunctions in the functioning of the protective mechanisms of the psyche.

Advantages and disadvantages

There is no single correct technique for studying the psychological state. There are those that are suitable specifically for a particular person. Each of them has its pros and cons. Gestalt therapy is no exception. Its advantages include:

1. No restrictions on the use of any methods. There is room for experimentation here.
2. Therapy solves a wide range of problems, from finding the meaning of life to everyday difficulties.
3. The psychologist works with each client individually. It doesn't use templates.
4. In the process of work, a person’s views, his worldview, and principles are taken into account.
5. The specialist goes to the result that the client needs.
6. There is no testing of new techniques during the session. The focus is entirely on the patient's personality.

The disadvantages of Gestalt therapy include:

1. The person does not receive direct advice or a plan of action.
2. During work you have to use feelings, emotions, sensations. You may need to go through difficult situations again.
3. Even 5 sessions are not enough to solve the problem. Treatment takes much longer.

And one more minus - effectiveness largely depends on the professionalism of psychologists. Therefore, to start working, they need to undergo special training in Gestalt therapy.

What defense mechanisms can fail?

Among these are the following:

1. Introjection. Introducing the assessments, attitudes and motives of other people into a person’s inner world without a critical attitude towards them. Introjection plays a huge role in the development of a child’s psyche, as it allows him to become a personality. Pathological introjection comes from the perception of all habits, ideas and principles without combining them with accumulated life experience.
2. Projection. The tendency to shift responsibility from a person to the world around him. People most often resort to projection when they cannot cope with their own negative emotions. Healthy relationships with other people are built through normal projection. Its pathological form can replace reality.
3. Merger or confluence. A condition characterized by the absence of contact boundaries. In advanced cases, a person may lose awareness of himself. Temporary fusion is normally observed in mother and infant or lovers. Identification of the psyche of such people in most cases occurs in a short period of time. Pathological fusion is accompanied by over-control of other people.
4. Retroflexion. The desire to do with yourself what you want to do with other people, or receive from them. Pathological retroflexion is often accompanied by psychosomatic illness and auto-aggression. In advanced cases, it can lead to human suicide.

The gestalt must be closed in all cases to avoid trouble. If this is impossible, then you should contact a specialist - a Gestalt therapist.

School of Gestalt Psychology

The school of Gestalt psychology traces its origins (ancestry) to the important experiment of the German psychologist Max Wertheimer - the “phi-phenomenon”

, the essence of which is as follows: M. Wertheimer, using special instruments - a strobe and a tachiostoscope, studied two stimuli in test people (two straight lines) by transmitting them different speeds. And I found out the following:

• If the interval is large, the subject perceives the lines sequentially
• Very short interval – lines are perceived simultaneously
• Optimal interval (about 60 milliseconds) – a perception of movement is created (the subject’s eyes observed the movement of a line “to the right” and “to the left”, and not two lines of data sequentially or simultaneously)
• At the optimal time interval - the subject perceived only pure movement (realized that there was movement, but without moving the line itself) - this phenomenon was called the “phi-phenomenon”.

Max Wertheimer outlined his observation in the article “Experimental studies of motion perception” - 1912.

Max Wertheimer -

famous German psychologist, founder of Gestalt psychology, became widely known for his experimental work in the field of thinking and perception. M. Wertheimer (1880 -1943) - born in Prague, received his primary education there, studied at universities - Prague, in Berlin with K. Stumpf; from O. Külpe - in Würzburg (received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1904). In the summer of 1910 he moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he became interested in the perception of movement, thanks to which new principles of psychological explanation were later discovered.

His work attracted the attention of many prominent scientists of the time, among them was Kurt Koffka, who participated in Wertheimer's experiments as a test subject. Together, based on the results and the experimental research method, they formulated a completely new approach to explaining the perception of motion.

This is how Gestalt psychology was born. Gestalt psychology becomes popular in Berlin, where Werheimer returns in 1922. And in 1929 he was appointed professor in Frankfurt. 1933 - emigration to the USA (New York) - work at the New School for Social Research, here in October 1943 he dies. And in 1945 his book was published: “Productive Thinking”

, in which he experimentally explores the process of problem solving from the perspective of Gestalt psychology (the process of clarifying the functional meaning of individual parts in the structure of a problem situation is described).

Kurt Koffka (1886 – 1941) is rightfully considered the founder of Gestalt psychology. K. Koffka was born and grew up in Berlin, where he received his education at the local university. He was always especially fascinated by natural sciences and philosophy; K. Koffka was always very inventive. In 1909 he received his doctorate. In 1910, he fruitfully collaborated with Max Wertheimer at the University of Frankfurt. In his article: “Perception: An Introduction to Gestalt Theory,” he outlined the basics of Gestalt psychology, as well as the results of many studies.

In 1921, Koffka published the book “Fundamentals of Mental Development”

, dedicated to the formation of child psychology.
The book was very popular not only in Germany, but also in the United States. He was invited to America to give lectures at the universities of Cornell and Wisconsin. In 1927, he received a professorship at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he worked until his death (until 1941). In 1933, Koffka published the book “Principles of Gestalt Psychology
,” which turned out to be too difficult to read, and therefore did not become the main and most complete guide to studying the new theory, as its author had hoped.

His research on the development of perception in children revealed the following: the child, as it turned out, actually has a set of not very adequate, vague images of the outside world. This prompted him to think that the combination of figure and background against which a given object is demonstrated plays an important role in the development of perception. He formulated one of the laws of perception, which was called “transduction”. This law proved that children do not perceive colors themselves, but their relationships.

Stereo effect

In simple terms, what Gestalt therapy is, we can say that it primarily means contact therapy, which makes it unique. In psychotherapy, it is the only practice in which the specialist acts as himself, and does not take a neutral position as in classical psychoanalysis. The therapist has the right to his own desires and feelings, which he presents to the client during the session if necessary.

Who is a Gestalt therapist? This is a specialist to whom people come for help when they want to change something in themselves or their own lives. However, the therapist does not take on the role of someone who knows exactly what the client needs to do, and only facilitates the person’s meeting with his essence and inner “I”.

The therapist embodies part of the world with which the patient tries to build an ordinary relationship. During communication with the therapist, the client transfers to him his own stereotypes about people, norms of behavior and reactions to him, faced with the response of a specialist who does not adapt to the world of the person with whom he comes into contact. In most cases, such a reaction, characteristic of the Gestalt approach, causes bewilderment on the part of the client, since it does not fit into his usual scenario and forces him to go beyond expectations, fears, ideas and grievances. The patient begins to study his own reaction to an unexpected situation, new restrictions or opportunities. As a result, a person understands that he can maintain his own identity while maintaining intimate contact with other people. The freedom he lost to get out of the vicious circle or scenario returns again. The experience gained can be integrated by the individual into his life.

The main goal of the Gestalt approach in psychology is to return to a person his own boundaries, freedom of action and handling of life. The client in the therapeutic process is an equal participant and creator, and not an object of analysis. He is the one who knows where the way out of this situation is.

What is the role of a Gestalt therapist?

Gestalt therapy is a type of work with a patient where the therapist plays a vital role in the session:

• the therapist conducts experiments and observes the phenomena identified in his process, that is, asks the person to talk about a life situation or problem, and then observes his reaction, feelings and emotions, analyzes behavior and plans further steps in the work;
• the doctor can intervene in the experiment, direct it in the right direction, push the patient to self-awareness, and focus his attention on key elements;
• After the session, the Gestalt therapist discusses the identified phenomena, asks the client about his expectations and needs and correlates the answers received with the results of the phenomena identified during the session;
• in accordance with the humanistic approach to therapy, the doctor analyzes the experiment together with the patient, avoiding the position of a mentor and teacher. The therapist discusses the identified phenomena with the client on an equal basis, reveals himself as a person and shares his experience.

Thus, the personal qualities of the doctor play an important role in the effectiveness of therapy. One of the main concepts of this area of ​​​​work with a patient is dialogue, therefore, without the proper qualities of a therapist, building the most comfortable communication with a client is impossible.

Whales of Gestalt therapy

Psychoanalysis of this type is built on several pillars:

1. Awareness. Experience of oneself, sensory experience obtained as a result of contact. One of the moments when a person has an inner knowledge of who he is and what is happening to him. At a certain point in time, awareness, perceived as insight, becomes continuous. It entails responsibility as an understanding that a person chooses his own way of life. Initially, this causes resistance, since it deprives the benefit of the psychological game and demonstrates the whole underside of suffering and exploits. The reward after meeting our own “shadow” as a result of a therapy session is the understanding that the power over life and relationships with other people belongs only to us.
2. The principle of reality. Accepting it is extremely difficult, unlike explaining it. A certain reality is formed on the basis of sensations, but at the same time a person’s opinion about it and its interpretation are formed. Such reactions are more varied than facts, and in most cases they are stronger than sensations. In conversations about what it is, Gestalt therapy is often called therapy of the obvious: when forming judgments, the specialist relies on what he hears and sees, and not on the client’s own generalizations and thoughts. The therapist tries to avoid interpretation and judgment, but asks the patient questions “how?” So what?". Long-term practice of using gestalts in psychotherapy has shown that in order for a person to understand a situation, it is enough to focus on the process, and not on its content. Meeting reality deprives the individual of all illusions, to which he reacts with resistance. Some group members admit that such experiences were true, but treacherous for them. Reality often forces you to admit reality and completely change your life, which is scary.
3. Here and now. We all live in the present. The past is already over, the future has not yet arrived. Change is possible only here and now, like any other action. This principle of Gestalt therapy does not imply a denial of the past: the experience accumulated by the client remains with him and determines his behavior and reactions at a particular moment in time, including during a psychotherapy session. Despite this, here and now the patient communicates with the therapist on a specific topic, which provokes the question - why now and about this?
4. Dialogue. The collision of two worlds - therapist and client - in Gestalt therapy. When they come into contact, one can explore the boundaries that arise between “not-me” and “me.” The patient for the first time (in most cases) has an experience formed as a result of interaction with someone who is not him, but retains his identity. The method is based on the I-You relationship in which I collide with feelings, You with other feelings and what happens between them and happens only at a specific moment in time, which will never be repeated. This experience is unique because the therapist is not a person in the client's life and does not need anything from him, while allowing the patient to be himself and without influencing his emotions and feelings.

If we talk about what Gestalt therapy is, it is a method of psychology, the main task of which is to discover the inner world of a person for himself. It does not carry educational goals and is designed to ensure that the individual minds his own business.

Basic Concepts

A person attending a Gestalt therapy session for the first time and having never encountered it before may be in a state of shock from the methods used and the role of the specialist himself in this whole action. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare in advance for such a meeting and at least schematically understand how this area works and its basics.

Gestalt therapy is a champion of terms and key concepts compared to other areas. This scares many people away. In fact, all these abstruse definitions can be easily explained in simple language, delving into their essence, which will help to understand the meaning of the method itself.

Contact cycle

The Contact Cycle is a fundamental concept in Gestalt therapy developed by Paul Goodman. According to him, every human action can be divided into 4 main phases:

1. Forecontact (pre-contact).
2. Contacting.
3. Full contact.
4. Post-contact (retreat).

Together they constitute the contact cycle.

Phase 1. Pre-contact (id)

At this stage, a person perceives his own body as a kind of background. A figure (given, id of experience) appears on it, which represents a physical attraction (hunger, thirst, sleep) or an environmental stimulus (the desire for communication, love, moral satisfaction). The emerging need is realized through feelings and sensations. There is a meeting with my desire (“what I want”).

There is contact between the background and the figure.

Phase 2. Contacting (ego)

Having realized his need, a person begins to look for ways to satisfy it in the external environment. The first question is whether it is possible at all or not. The second is how complete it will be. If this is not possible, a return to the starting point (pre-contact) occurs. Everything is wasted here: figure, abilities and energy of your own body. The personality itself in this phase is called the self. It is as close as possible to both the background and the given. She evaluates them, examines them, analyzes them, and then correlates them with the environment and tries to extract maximum benefit from it for herself. The ego function is implemented arbitrarily and meaningfully.

According to Gestalt psychology, a healthy (mentally and physically) person will look for a way to satisfy his desire until he finds it. If he waves his hand without picking up anything, contact is interrupted (the concept is explained below), and then there is nothing left to do but go to an appointment with a psychotherapist to restore the cycle.

There is contact between the background, the figure and the external environment.

Phase 3. Full contact

The need is being satisfied.

Phase 4. Post-contact

A satisfied self no longer sees the point in active actions. It is saturated and gradually fades away. There is an exit from contact and the completion of not only the phase, but also the entire cycle.

Example:

1. Pre-contact: a young girl wants a relationship.
2. Contacting: searching for an object that meets her needs. She registers on dating sites, regularly visits clubs and restaurants, or gets to know someone specifically.
3. Full contact: a young man is found, a relationship begins.
4. Post-contact: when the “chemistry” of love ends, the relationship is either broken off, or the young people get married.

According to Gestalt therapy, a person’s entire life is a continuous flow of such cycles of contact. If they are complete, the psyche and body are healthy and do not require the intervention of doctors and psychologists.

You can clearly see the entire contact cycle using the diagram:

Breaking contact

Problems begin when phases are not completed to the end for some reason. Moreover, this can happen at any stage.

Examples of problematic situations at different phases of the contact cycle:

1. Pre-contact: a young girl wants a relationship, but not with a young man, but with a girl or a married man.
2. Contacting: the search for a relationship is not crowned with success.
3. Full contact: just after starting a relationship, it fails due to incompatibility of characters or way of life.
4. Post-contact: one in a couple becomes completely fed up with the relationship and leaves it, while the other self remains unsatisfied.

In this regard, another basic concept is introduced - contact interruption, when the cycle is not completed and is blocked at one of the phases. This is due to several processes, each of which has its own terms.

Confluence (merger)

The personality does not set boundaries between itself and the external environment. This leads to the fact that she cannot realize her own feelings, sensations, desires, and needs. This often occurs among teenagers when they strive to be like everyone else and not stand out from the crowd. This happens in a couple when one completely dissolves in the other to the detriment of their interests.

Confluence is the scourge of modern society, when there is a demonstration on social networks that “I am no worse than others.” Due to the lack of self-satisfaction, there is no exit from contact - the cycle is interrupted.

Introjection

A condition similar to confluence, but more specific. The personality not only erases boundaries, but begins to perceive something external, alien to him, as something native, his own. There is a substitution of needs, desires, feelings. Moreover, this does not apply to generalizations, as in the mechanism described above (I eat what everyone eats; I wear the clothes that everyone wears; I go on vacation where everyone goes), but to a specific moment. For example, during an act of occupation from the outside, a person may himself take the place of the aggressor. In fact, such a social role is alien to man, the self remains unsatisfied and the cycle is interrupted again.

Introjection is a concept borrowed by Gestalt therapy from psychoanalysis. Its author is Freud. Many psychologists believe that it underlies Stockholm syndrome.

Projection

A concept that is essentially completely opposite to the previous two. There is no contact between the self and the external environment (interruption in phases 2-3). At the same time, a person mistakenly thinks that everything is fine, that he is establishing interpersonal connections and absorbing something new, necessary and useful from the outside. In fact, the origins of all ideas, thoughts, views are solely himself. This is fraught with the fact that at the climax he avoids responsibility, blaming others for what he did (“he forced me to do it,” “I did like everyone else”).

Proflexion (retroflexion)

Looks like a projection. But here a person does not engage in self-deception that he is supposedly in contact with the external environment and everything is fine in his interpersonal and other relationships. Trying to satisfy his own desires and needs, he seeks a solution to all problems within himself. At the same time, it seems to him that he is constantly improving himself, developing, trying to change something in himself. However, from the outside it looks like autism, reclusiveness, closedness and even self-torture.

Egotism

A condition very similar to proflexion, but in a more painful form. In the process of changing himself, a person begins to overestimate his abilities and capabilities. Since he manages most situations without outside help, he sincerely thinks that he is head and shoulders above everyone else. Pure narcissism is born. The self believes that it itself can satisfy all its needs.

Deflexion

This condition is also called loss of ego function. A person transfers his experiences to the intermediate zone, which does not concern either his inner world or the environment. This is the sphere of mental processes where the self escapes and begins to fall into abstract reasoning and live in unrealizable dreams and fantasies.

The delineation of these processes is schematically given in the table:

The goal of Gestalt therapy is to help a person become aware of the process that prevents him from completing the cycle of contact and get rid of it. Various methods and techniques are used for this. However, it should immediately be noted that in 90% of cases the matter is not limited to 1 or even 2 sessions. The course of treatment can last from several months to several years, until a person is freed from all these pathological reactions and learns to complete all cycles.

Transference and countertransference

In Gestalt therapy, much attention is paid to the relationship between the specialist and the patient. They are obliged to have close contact with each other, trust each other, and at certain moments (according to the classical model) even enter into conflict.

Transference is the feelings that the patient experiences towards the Gestalt therapist. But this is not sympathy or antipathy, as when working with ordinary psychologists or psychotherapists. During the session, the specialist leads the person to transfer onto him his experiences that worry him and are a problem for him at the moment. This allows him to get closer to his inner world.

Countertransference is the psychotherapist’s opposite reaction to the patient. If during the session those problems that are relevant to the specialist himself (he is also a person) were inadvertently touched upon, this allows him to better understand the mechanisms that drive his client.

In rare cases, they may change places.

There are 6 types of interaction between the psychotherapist and the patient:

1. Transfer of the patient to the Gestalt therapist.
2. The Gestalt therapist's countertransference in response to transference.
3. Transferring the therapist to only a certain group of patients.
4. The patient's countertransference in response to the transference.
5. Client's actualizations affecting the personality of the therapist himself.
6. Updating the therapist to the patient.

Transference and countertransference acquire particular importance in “working in pairs” (in pairs, when individual sessions are conducted without the involvement of third parties). All these relationships can be clearly seen using the following diagram:

Gestalt therapy uses a huge number of other terms and concepts, but those discussed above are considered the basis that reflects the essence of this direction.

Goals of therapy

The main goal of Gestalt therapy is a person’s fuller awareness of himself. As a result of the sessions, the patient learns:

• Thoughts.
• Emotions.
• Body processes.
• Desires.
• Needs.
• Connections with the outside world.
• Relationship between people.

The result of gelstatt therapy is the patient’s ability to control his own behavior using certain aspects of his personality. People get rid of psychological and neurotic complexes, making their lives better.

Fritz Perls

Fritz Salomon Perls (1893-1970) is considered the founder of the Gestalt therapy method His basic education was psychoanalysis and Perls practiced it for a long time. The beginning of the history of Gestalt therapy can be considered the appearance of the book “Ego, Hunger and Aggression” (1942), which presents a rather radical rethinking of the theory of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.

Application of therapy in practice

Gestalt therapy - what is it? This area of ​​psychology refers to a certain psychotherapeutic methodology. Initially, specialists used techniques borrowed from various therapeutic practices. For example, the founder of therapy, Perls, resorted to the techniques of psychodrama - a method of group work that uses dramatic improvisation to understand the inner world and change it.

Today the list of techniques is huge and includes body and dance therapy, various subtypes of art therapy. Thanks to them, a holistic image is formed in the following areas of human life:

1. Emotional. The area of ​​experiences, feelings, the ability to express and understand them.
2. Social. Relationships with other people, cultural environment and social relationships.
3. Physical. Material well-being, physical and mental health, sexual maturity, aspects of material and physical life.
4. Spiritual. Knowledge of spiritual values, oneself, life laws and the environment.
5. Rational. Abilities for planning, analysis, creativity, thinking and foresight.

Reviews

Patient Maria:

I attended group classes for about a month. There I met people who had similar problems to me. At first it was strange to give way to feelings, but gradually I realized that with emotions the negativity goes away. I began to allow myself much more in real life, learned to rejoice like a child and live in harmony with myself.

Patient Olga:

I didn’t quite believe that practical psychology could save me from tightness and constraint. But it was thanks to Gestalt therapy that I was able to love myself and do what I had long wanted. I understood the difference between my desires and the standards of behavior imposed on me. It’s such freedom to act according to your feelings and not hide them!

Patient Alena:

I became “comfortable” with myself, my anxiety and stiffness went away. I am calmer than ever, cheerful and value myself.

Patient Vladimir:

It was a very strange experience for me. I realized that the feelings that are inside me are much more “voluminous” and richer than their external manifestations. I stopped being embarrassed by them and started talking about them to my wife. We became much closer, it turns out she always really wanted me to tell her about love. My life has really changed - it has become brighter!

Patient Marina:

I'm glad I went through therapy. Only then did I realize that those around me, with their manipulations, almost turned me into a neurotic. The realization that I could live my life and emotions did not come immediately, but this path returned my health, both mental and physical.

Duration of courses

If we talk about what Gestalt therapy is in simple words, it is a medium-term method of psychotherapy. The course of treatment includes 10 meetings, one every week. Depending on the complexity of the patient’s problems, he may be prescribed a course of 30 meetings. The duration of therapy depends on the tasks assigned to the specialist, the existing problem and some other factors.

Exercises

Gestalt therapy is characterized by special exercises aimed at focusing attention on feelings, self-awareness, and releasing pent-up emotions. Therapy exercises are divided into several groups depending on their focus and method of implementation.

Awareness of your own feelings

List:

1. Exercise 1 . The patient needs to focus on external factors (what is within sight, audibility), and then concentrate on his internal sensations (images, thoughts, emotions, muscle tension). Gradually, it is necessary to focus on each internal process, try to penetrate to its origins and track the emotions, desires and actions that arise.
2. Exercise 2 . The client needs to focus on bodily sensations, pronounce to what extent and clarity he sees his body. The patient should note pains and tensions that he had not previously paid attention to, and feel them. It is also important to ask the client whether he feels his body as a whole, whether he sees connections between body parts, feelings and physical sensations.

Integration of Polarities

List:

1. Exercise 1 . In group therapy, this exercise looks like patients playing roles in the presence of other therapy participants. For example, an overly shy person is asked to play the role of a person with the same character traits, but exaggerate them a little. Or, if the client is aware of his communication problems, he is asked to portray a personality with completely opposite character traits. After a five-minute role-play process, therapy participants are invited to discuss their impressions.
2. Exercise 2 . This exercise is suitable for those patients who feel their internal conflicts and cannot resolve them. The client is asked to imagine two chairs on which his conflicting parties are sitting. Next, the person is asked to imagine a dispute between these parties, talk through their dialogue, and try to find a compromise for them with the help of a therapist.

Working with dreams

List:

1. Exercise 1 . The client needs to tell his dream in the first person in the present tense, select its most emotional moments and reproduce them. Next, you need to try to speak a dialogue between the characters or elements of the dream, and compare the identified experiences with your own life problems.
2. Exercise 2 . This exercise is suitable for group therapy. One group member tells the dream, and the other patients choose one object and sketch it. Next, the chosen roles are played between the therapy participants, as a result of which it is necessary to note one’s own feelings that are reflected in this dream.

Overcoming Resistance

List:

1. Exercise 1 . The patient needs to note his habits. If they seem ineffective or interfere with his life, he is asked to imagine changing his usual actions to something new. It is important to tell the client how he will feel when changing habits, whether he will enjoy doing something different, whether he will feel strong resistance and how he can overcome it.
2. Exercise 2 . The client is asked to think each morning about feeling and acting differently for the coming day. The person is not required to make binding decisions. The patient needs to visualize their day with small changes in simple things that are easy to change.

Techniques

Gestalt therapy training today is carried out with an emphasis on groups. The specialist conducts classes as follows:

• "Hot chair" Chairs arranged in a circle are occupied by group members. In the center of the created figure there is a “hot chair”, on which any of the participants sits at their own request. He talks about all the problems that concern him. He must give frank and truthful answers to questions asked by other group members. It is important that the group has a warm and friendly atmosphere - it gives confidence and helps to relax.
• "Here and now". During the conversation, the problems that concern people at the moment are discussed. The past is not mentioned, and if one of the group members starts talking about it, the rest bring him back to reality. All actions must be performed tactfully and unnoticed by the participants.
• "Two roles." An empty chair is placed opposite the person sitting in the “hot chair”. The patient imagines that this chair is occupied by the person with whom he is in conflict, and simultaneously plays two roles, changing its location. He speaks on his own behalf while sitting on his chair, and on behalf of his “enemy” while sitting on the second chair. The method allows you to understand a person with whom the patient does not have a good relationship. The psychotherapist, as a rule, does not participate in such a conversation, monitoring its progress and drawing conclusions for himself. He intervenes in a situation only when it has a painful impact on the patient.
• "Feedback". A method that involves a constant psychological connection between the therapist and the patient. The specialist in such a situation plays the role of a mirror, reflecting the true face of his client. As a result, the patient looks at the situation differently, which helps him cope with his problems;
• "Action". The Gestalt therapist makes efforts to get his patient to act.
• “Now I realize.” An exercise that trains the patient’s activity and efforts aimed at analyzing his condition at a specific point in time. A person should regularly repeat the phrase “now I am aware.”

They talk about what it is - Gestalt therapy - in simple words during the training of psychotherapists, providing complete techniques and methods for its implementation.

Kinds

Types of Gestalt therapy are divided into “projective” and “dialogue”. The “projective” type of therapy is based on an analysis of the patient’s feelings and emotions and involves working with dreams, images, imaginary dialogues and internal characters, and projections. The second technique represents direct contact between the therapist and the client, their relationship, and dialogue.

The patient’s trust factor and, in general, the role of each participant in Gestalt therapy are very important here. It is necessary that during the session the doctor and the patient feel like equal partners. The patient is responsible for making decisions independently, which is an important component of the work process.

It is worth noting that both techniques are rarely used separately; for the most complete analysis of the patient’s condition, it is necessary to first work with his feelings, emotions and dreams, and then discuss with him the important factors identified during the “projective” technique in the already “dialogue” type of therapy .