Gestalt therapy is an empowering and germane framework for psychotherapy. It is uplifting for both practitioners and patients. Its objective is to bring about new awareness so that transition and problem-solving is possible. Clients are immediately equipped and responsible for doing real work, inspired and motivated to reach their own solutions. This approach entails moving in creativity from talk to action and experience (Corey, 2009). The theory looks to growth and enhancement as therapy, and reflects an early Gestalt motto: “You don’t have to be sick to get better” (Corey, 2009, p. 225). Because of its many demonstrated benefits, Gestalt therapy should be utilized by more practicing psychologists. It is a science that continues to advance the field of psychology.
Gestalt therapy is “not so much to change [a] sense of being [one]self as to exercise it” (p. 21). A key tenet of Gestalt theory is “increased and enriched awareness,” which “by itself is seen as curative” (Corey, 2009, p. 206). The central idea is that individuals are already striving to improve and “self-actualize,” and that if they are more aware of themselves, they can continue to grow and change.
Gestaltists approach patients as whole products that are the result of various interacting systems, some evident and some not. For example, practitioners could consider aspects like temperament, personality, family history, beliefs, education, and cognitive processes of a particular patient and how those systems influence the whole that is seen.
What is Gestalt Psychology?
The concept of gestalt should be described since it is the basis of this framework. First, the word is pronounced “GESH- tawlt.” It is a German word meaning “form” or “shape” (keithyates.com, 2001). Simply put, gestalt is the idea that a whole is comprised of parts, and all those parts are necessary to achieve the whole. In addition, the effect of the whole form cannot be achieved by simply describing the individual parts it holds (keithyates.com, 2001).
The client’s life is regarded as an entire field, and events and relationships are parts of the field that are related to and responsive to each other. The field consists of a foreground and background, and the elements in those parts indicate their importance or noteworthiness in the client’s life.
Gestalt therapy aims to help patients gain awareness of certain behaviors in order to change them and their outlook on life, whereas behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and changing that alone (Corey, 2009).
The Now
The Gestalt approach holds that dwelling on the past and fantasizing about the future can be ways to avoid the present, and that there is power in facing the present (Corey, 2009). In order to help the patient become more aware of the present moment, Gestalt therapists ask “what” and “how” questions (Corey, 2009). For example, these questions are typical of a Gestalt therapy session: “What are you doing with your feet now?” or “Are you aware of your smile?” (Dolliver, 1991).
Existentialism
Existential therapy is applied to help people resolve dilemmas of contemporary life, to confront common feelings such as isolation, meaninglessness, confusion, uncertainty, or embarrassment (Corey, 2009).
Existential practice attempts to reconcile the limits and tragic elements of human existence with the possibilities and opportunities of human life (Corey, 2009). Gestalt therapy, because it is existential in nature, is based on an understanding of what it means to be human (Corey, 2009).
Humans, are seen as self-aware beings, able to make choices. Patients have freedom, but they are also assigned responsibility for actions and thoughts. They are challenged to take responsibility for how they choose to be now in the current moment (Corey, 2009). Exploration of the subject’s specific reality is valued, while diagnosis and prognosis are mostly ignored (Corey, 2009).
Phenomenological Inquiry
In psychology, a “phenomenological” or “experiential” approach refers to the patient’s experience—how he or she experiences things. Phenomenology is a discipline that helps patients stand aside from their usual way of thinking so that they can distinguish the difference between what is actually perceived and felt in the current situation and what is due to past events (Yontef, 1993). Therapy that is both existential and phenomenological focuses on people's existence—relations with others, joys and suffering, and so on—as they are directly experienced.
In fact, Gestalt therapy treats feelings in the present and what is observed as palpable and pertinent data (Yontef, 1993). Therapists may ask questions like, “Is my experience the same as yours?” in order to get patients to question their perceptions. Description is valued.
Phenomenological inquiry is a method that focuses on what occurs in “the now” or the present moment (Corey, 2009). To help the client gain self-awareness, Gestalt therapists ask questions like “What is happening now?” or “What are you experiencing as you sit there and talk to me?” or “How are you experiencing your anxiety?” (Corey, 2009, p. 202). If the discussion is about a dream the patient had, the therapist might suggest, “Tell me the dream as though you were having it now” (Corey, 2009, p. 203).
Practitioner-Client Relationship
Therapists have unique responsibilities when it comes to application of Gestalt psychology. Because of its existential nature, the relationship is equal and person-to-person (Corey, 2009). The therapist’s presence is very important for this therapy, as opposed to having a set of technical skills to be used in sessions. Laura Perls noted that the ideas of person and presence are more important than using techniques, and argued the client and therapist invent and create their relationship (Corey, 2009). The therapist is responsible for facilitating the client’s personal process of self-discovery (Corey, 2009).
The client-therapist relationship, according to Corey (2009), must be established before therapy commences, so that the client trusts the therapist. Trust is of paramount importance. Then, Corey (2009) notes, the client is likely to be able to achieve higher levels of awareness.
Corey (2009) suggests that therapists are charged with maintaining a therapeutic atmosphere, one that encourages mental work on the client’s part (210). Therapists also need to be willing to express their reactions and observations as they occur, much like the patient is expected to do. They provide helpful feedback. They are willing to explore existential episodes like fears and expectations with their clients (Corey, 2009). Therapists are also viewed as artistic participants in the creative process (Corey, 2009).
Confrontation is a part of the client-therapist relationship in the Gestalt framework. Yontef advocates for an “empathic inquiry” focused on awareness when this method is used (Corey, 2009, p. 215). Though the term sounds intimidating, confrontation is not an attack. It can be an invitation for clients to examine their behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts, and to notice incongruities between their verbal and nonverbal expressions (Corey, 2009). Using this technique can be a chance for patients to learn more about themselves. Using it during therapy might be as simple as making an observation, or saying something like, “You say [this], but your face is telling me that you really feel [this].”
Creativity
Joseph Zinker (1977), a noted Gestalt therapist and author of Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy, emphasized creative undertakings like writing, drawing, painting, etc. as therapy. He urged therapists to “treat the whole” of life, to foster the creative process, noting that “each creation is the expressed, behavioral outcome of a multitude of images, fantasies, musings, and thoughts” (Zinker, 1977, p. 4). Themes that come up during these expressions are to be experienced in the here and now. The creative process, according to Zinker (1977), is a chance for growth. It is a problem-solving process. Art and creativity are opportunities to develop novel concepts out of one’s own sense of daring (Zinker, 1977).
Unfinished Business
When figures emerge from the background but are not completed or resolved, Gestalt therapists suspect that a person is left with unfinished business. This is essentially unacknowledged or unvoiced feelings. They can manifest as grief, anxiety, guilt, anger, abandonment, and a host of other emotions. Because the client is not fully acknowledging what he or she experienced, the unfinished business lingers in the background and prevents the client from being fully self-aware. Gestaltists maintain that many times, when a person has unfinished business, unexpressed feelings result in some physical manifestation— nervous ticks or fidgeting, for instance (Corey, 2009).
It is the therapist’s task to guide the client through this unfinished business in the here and now. Without frustrating or rescuing the patient, the therapist can present situations that evoke similar emotions, and then guide the person through them.
Dialogue
The Gestalt therapist works by engaging in dialogue; contact with the client is straightforward but caring, warm, and accepting (Yontef, 1993). Authenticity and candor between both parties is crucial. Dialogue is lived: it is something “done rather than talked about” (Yontef, 1993, p. 4).
Awareness, New Patterns, and Making Changes
In Gestalt therapy, the patient learns the difference between “well-worn obsessional pathways and new thoughts, between a statement of experience and a statement of a statement” (Yontef, 1993, p.6). Gestalt therapy, Yontef (1993) says, uses active techniques that clarify experience, and responsibility for the present is assigned to the patient. When new patterns of thinking are introduced and practiced, healthy changes are possible.
The Empty Chair
One exercise used in Gestalt therapy involves the client’s use of two chairs in role playing. The therapist asks the client to sit in one chair and play one “part” of his or her problem, and then switch to the other chair to play the role of the “other” in order to further understand the struggle. With the empty chair method, clients may locate a feeling or a side of themselves they had previously been denying; Corey (2009) notes that, rather than just talking about a conflicted feeling, clients are able to intensify the feeling and experience it wholly. The goal of this technique is acceptance of polarities and acknowledgment of conflicts that exist in everyone (Corey, 2009).
Attention to Body Language
Body language is thought to be a subtle indicator of intense emotions. Corey (2009) says, “movements, postures, and gestures may communicate significant meanings” (p. 218). When body language is noticed in sessions, many times the therapist asks the client to exaggerate a movement or tick. This is believed to intensify the feeling attached to the behavior, bring elucidation as to the inner meaning (Corey, 2009). For instance, clenched fists, tight frowning, grimacing, crossed arms, or shaking hands may be highlighted in therapy. A therapist might ask, “What is this gesture saying? What are you saying with this movement? What is your expression saying right now?”
Dream Work
The purpose of addressing dreams in Gestalt therapy is to bring dreams back to life and live them in the here and now. Each part is presumed to be a projection of the self; the patient invents scripts for encounters between characters or parts (Corey, 2009). Since clients can act out a conflict between opposing sides, eventually they can accept their inner differences (Corey, 2009). Gestaltists believe that dreams are spontaneous expressions of the self, that they represent unfinished situations and contain existential messages about personal struggles (Corey, 2009).
Goals for Gestalt Therapists
Although it is not focused on predetermined goals for patients, Gestalt therapists definitely attend to a basic goal—that of assisting clients in achieving greater awareness. As noted previously, increased awareness in itself is highly beneficial.
Patients have the ability to monitor and regulate behavior when they have full awareness of what is happening in and around them. With higher awareness comes the presentation of new and varied choices, as well as responsibility for actions and possible consequences (Corey, 2009). Over the course of therapy, patients gradually assume ownership of their own experiences. They are to develop skills that will help them change within their fields, and try new patterns of being and behaving (Corey, 2009).
Studies Utilizing Gestalt Therapy
Recent studies have advanced the theory and practice of Gestalt therapy: it has a beneficial impact with those who exhibit personality disorders, psychosomatic problems, and substance addictions (Corey, 2009). Outcome studies have proven that Gestalt therapy is equal to or better than other therapies in treating various psychological disorders (Corey, 2009).
Greenberg & Clarke (1986) found empty-chair dialogues to be helpful in reducing intrapersonal conflicts and in making decisions (Greenberg & Webster, 1982). Subjects within the high-affect Gestalt dialogues were very likely to confirm that Gestalt treatment was helpful for them when also participating in comparative procedures (Tyson & Range, 1987).
Gestalt therapy is “not so much to change [a] sense of being [one]self as to exercise it” (p. 21). A key tenet of Gestalt theory is “increased and enriched awareness,” which “by itself is seen as curative” (Corey, 2009, p. 206). The central idea is that individuals are already striving to improve and “self-actualize,” and that if they are more aware of themselves, they can continue to grow and change.
Gestaltists approach patients as whole products that are the result of various interacting systems, some evident and some not. For example, practitioners could consider aspects like temperament, personality, family history, beliefs, education, and cognitive processes of a particular patient and how those systems influence the whole that is seen.
What is Gestalt Psychology?
The concept of gestalt should be described since it is the basis of this framework. First, the word is pronounced “GESH- tawlt.” It is a German word meaning “form” or “shape” (keithyates.com, 2001). Simply put, gestalt is the idea that a whole is comprised of parts, and all those parts are necessary to achieve the whole. In addition, the effect of the whole form cannot be achieved by simply describing the individual parts it holds (keithyates.com, 2001).
The client’s life is regarded as an entire field, and events and relationships are parts of the field that are related to and responsive to each other. The field consists of a foreground and background, and the elements in those parts indicate their importance or noteworthiness in the client’s life.
Gestalt therapy aims to help patients gain awareness of certain behaviors in order to change them and their outlook on life, whereas behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and changing that alone (Corey, 2009).
The Now
The Gestalt approach holds that dwelling on the past and fantasizing about the future can be ways to avoid the present, and that there is power in facing the present (Corey, 2009). In order to help the patient become more aware of the present moment, Gestalt therapists ask “what” and “how” questions (Corey, 2009). For example, these questions are typical of a Gestalt therapy session: “What are you doing with your feet now?” or “Are you aware of your smile?” (Dolliver, 1991).
Existentialism
Existential therapy is applied to help people resolve dilemmas of contemporary life, to confront common feelings such as isolation, meaninglessness, confusion, uncertainty, or embarrassment (Corey, 2009).
Existential practice attempts to reconcile the limits and tragic elements of human existence with the possibilities and opportunities of human life (Corey, 2009). Gestalt therapy, because it is existential in nature, is based on an understanding of what it means to be human (Corey, 2009).
Humans, are seen as self-aware beings, able to make choices. Patients have freedom, but they are also assigned responsibility for actions and thoughts. They are challenged to take responsibility for how they choose to be now in the current moment (Corey, 2009). Exploration of the subject’s specific reality is valued, while diagnosis and prognosis are mostly ignored (Corey, 2009).
Phenomenological Inquiry
In psychology, a “phenomenological” or “experiential” approach refers to the patient’s experience—how he or she experiences things. Phenomenology is a discipline that helps patients stand aside from their usual way of thinking so that they can distinguish the difference between what is actually perceived and felt in the current situation and what is due to past events (Yontef, 1993). Therapy that is both existential and phenomenological focuses on people's existence—relations with others, joys and suffering, and so on—as they are directly experienced.
In fact, Gestalt therapy treats feelings in the present and what is observed as palpable and pertinent data (Yontef, 1993). Therapists may ask questions like, “Is my experience the same as yours?” in order to get patients to question their perceptions. Description is valued.
Phenomenological inquiry is a method that focuses on what occurs in “the now” or the present moment (Corey, 2009). To help the client gain self-awareness, Gestalt therapists ask questions like “What is happening now?” or “What are you experiencing as you sit there and talk to me?” or “How are you experiencing your anxiety?” (Corey, 2009, p. 202). If the discussion is about a dream the patient had, the therapist might suggest, “Tell me the dream as though you were having it now” (Corey, 2009, p. 203).
Practitioner-Client Relationship
Therapists have unique responsibilities when it comes to application of Gestalt psychology. Because of its existential nature, the relationship is equal and person-to-person (Corey, 2009). The therapist’s presence is very important for this therapy, as opposed to having a set of technical skills to be used in sessions. Laura Perls noted that the ideas of person and presence are more important than using techniques, and argued the client and therapist invent and create their relationship (Corey, 2009). The therapist is responsible for facilitating the client’s personal process of self-discovery (Corey, 2009).
The client-therapist relationship, according to Corey (2009), must be established before therapy commences, so that the client trusts the therapist. Trust is of paramount importance. Then, Corey (2009) notes, the client is likely to be able to achieve higher levels of awareness.
Corey (2009) suggests that therapists are charged with maintaining a therapeutic atmosphere, one that encourages mental work on the client’s part (210). Therapists also need to be willing to express their reactions and observations as they occur, much like the patient is expected to do. They provide helpful feedback. They are willing to explore existential episodes like fears and expectations with their clients (Corey, 2009). Therapists are also viewed as artistic participants in the creative process (Corey, 2009).
Confrontation is a part of the client-therapist relationship in the Gestalt framework. Yontef advocates for an “empathic inquiry” focused on awareness when this method is used (Corey, 2009, p. 215). Though the term sounds intimidating, confrontation is not an attack. It can be an invitation for clients to examine their behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts, and to notice incongruities between their verbal and nonverbal expressions (Corey, 2009). Using this technique can be a chance for patients to learn more about themselves. Using it during therapy might be as simple as making an observation, or saying something like, “You say [this], but your face is telling me that you really feel [this].”
Creativity
Joseph Zinker (1977), a noted Gestalt therapist and author of Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy, emphasized creative undertakings like writing, drawing, painting, etc. as therapy. He urged therapists to “treat the whole” of life, to foster the creative process, noting that “each creation is the expressed, behavioral outcome of a multitude of images, fantasies, musings, and thoughts” (Zinker, 1977, p. 4). Themes that come up during these expressions are to be experienced in the here and now. The creative process, according to Zinker (1977), is a chance for growth. It is a problem-solving process. Art and creativity are opportunities to develop novel concepts out of one’s own sense of daring (Zinker, 1977).
Unfinished Business
When figures emerge from the background but are not completed or resolved, Gestalt therapists suspect that a person is left with unfinished business. This is essentially unacknowledged or unvoiced feelings. They can manifest as grief, anxiety, guilt, anger, abandonment, and a host of other emotions. Because the client is not fully acknowledging what he or she experienced, the unfinished business lingers in the background and prevents the client from being fully self-aware. Gestaltists maintain that many times, when a person has unfinished business, unexpressed feelings result in some physical manifestation— nervous ticks or fidgeting, for instance (Corey, 2009).
It is the therapist’s task to guide the client through this unfinished business in the here and now. Without frustrating or rescuing the patient, the therapist can present situations that evoke similar emotions, and then guide the person through them.
Dialogue
The Gestalt therapist works by engaging in dialogue; contact with the client is straightforward but caring, warm, and accepting (Yontef, 1993). Authenticity and candor between both parties is crucial. Dialogue is lived: it is something “done rather than talked about” (Yontef, 1993, p. 4).
Awareness, New Patterns, and Making Changes
In Gestalt therapy, the patient learns the difference between “well-worn obsessional pathways and new thoughts, between a statement of experience and a statement of a statement” (Yontef, 1993, p.6). Gestalt therapy, Yontef (1993) says, uses active techniques that clarify experience, and responsibility for the present is assigned to the patient. When new patterns of thinking are introduced and practiced, healthy changes are possible.
The Empty Chair
One exercise used in Gestalt therapy involves the client’s use of two chairs in role playing. The therapist asks the client to sit in one chair and play one “part” of his or her problem, and then switch to the other chair to play the role of the “other” in order to further understand the struggle. With the empty chair method, clients may locate a feeling or a side of themselves they had previously been denying; Corey (2009) notes that, rather than just talking about a conflicted feeling, clients are able to intensify the feeling and experience it wholly. The goal of this technique is acceptance of polarities and acknowledgment of conflicts that exist in everyone (Corey, 2009).
Attention to Body Language
Body language is thought to be a subtle indicator of intense emotions. Corey (2009) says, “movements, postures, and gestures may communicate significant meanings” (p. 218). When body language is noticed in sessions, many times the therapist asks the client to exaggerate a movement or tick. This is believed to intensify the feeling attached to the behavior, bring elucidation as to the inner meaning (Corey, 2009). For instance, clenched fists, tight frowning, grimacing, crossed arms, or shaking hands may be highlighted in therapy. A therapist might ask, “What is this gesture saying? What are you saying with this movement? What is your expression saying right now?”
Dream Work
The purpose of addressing dreams in Gestalt therapy is to bring dreams back to life and live them in the here and now. Each part is presumed to be a projection of the self; the patient invents scripts for encounters between characters or parts (Corey, 2009). Since clients can act out a conflict between opposing sides, eventually they can accept their inner differences (Corey, 2009). Gestaltists believe that dreams are spontaneous expressions of the self, that they represent unfinished situations and contain existential messages about personal struggles (Corey, 2009).
Goals for Gestalt Therapists
Although it is not focused on predetermined goals for patients, Gestalt therapists definitely attend to a basic goal—that of assisting clients in achieving greater awareness. As noted previously, increased awareness in itself is highly beneficial.
Patients have the ability to monitor and regulate behavior when they have full awareness of what is happening in and around them. With higher awareness comes the presentation of new and varied choices, as well as responsibility for actions and possible consequences (Corey, 2009). Over the course of therapy, patients gradually assume ownership of their own experiences. They are to develop skills that will help them change within their fields, and try new patterns of being and behaving (Corey, 2009).
Studies Utilizing Gestalt Therapy
Recent studies have advanced the theory and practice of Gestalt therapy: it has a beneficial impact with those who exhibit personality disorders, psychosomatic problems, and substance addictions (Corey, 2009). Outcome studies have proven that Gestalt therapy is equal to or better than other therapies in treating various psychological disorders (Corey, 2009).
Greenberg & Clarke (1986) found empty-chair dialogues to be helpful in reducing intrapersonal conflicts and in making decisions (Greenberg & Webster, 1982). Subjects within the high-affect Gestalt dialogues were very likely to confirm that Gestalt treatment was helpful for them when also participating in comparative procedures (Tyson & Range, 1987).
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