Gestalt Therapy was developed in the 1940′s by Fritz and Laura Perls
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation
Concepts:
Wholeness and Integration: Wholeness refers to the whole person or the individual’s mind and body as a unit rather than as separate parts Integration refers to how these parts fit together and how the individual integrates into the environment. Often people who come to therapy do not have these parts fitting together in their environment, Gestalt Therapy is about facilitating clients to integrate themselves as whole persons and help restore balance in their environment
Awareness: Awareness is one of the most important elements in Gestalt Therapy When individuals are aware, they are able to self-regulate in their environment.
There are two main causes lacking awareness:
Growth Disorders: Growth disorders refer to emotional problems that are caused by people who lack awareness and do not interact with their environment completely. In doing so, people are unable to cope with the changes in their lives successfully and, instead deal with the problems in a defensive manner.
Unfinished business: Unfinished business refers to people who do not finish things in their lives and is often related to people with a growth disorder. People with unfinished business often resent the past and because of this are unable to focus on the here and now. One of the major goals of Gestalt Therapy is to help people work through their unfinished business and bring them closure.
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation
Concepts:
Wholeness and Integration: Wholeness refers to the whole person or the individual’s mind and body as a unit rather than as separate parts Integration refers to how these parts fit together and how the individual integrates into the environment. Often people who come to therapy do not have these parts fitting together in their environment, Gestalt Therapy is about facilitating clients to integrate themselves as whole persons and help restore balance in their environment
Awareness: Awareness is one of the most important elements in Gestalt Therapy When individuals are aware, they are able to self-regulate in their environment.
There are two main causes lacking awareness:
- Preoccupation with one’s past, fantasies, flaws and strengths that the individual becomes unaware of the whole picture.
- Low self-esteem.
- Contact with the environment: This is through looking, listening, touching, talking, moving, smelling, and tasting. This enables the individual to grow in his or her environment through reacting to the environment and changing.
- Here and now: This is the individual living in and being conscious at the present moment rather than worrying about the past or the future.
- Responsibility: This refers to the individual taking responsibility for his or her own life rather than blaming others.
Growth Disorders: Growth disorders refer to emotional problems that are caused by people who lack awareness and do not interact with their environment completely. In doing so, people are unable to cope with the changes in their lives successfully and, instead deal with the problems in a defensive manner.
Unfinished business: Unfinished business refers to people who do not finish things in their lives and is often related to people with a growth disorder. People with unfinished business often resent the past and because of this are unable to focus on the here and now. One of the major goals of Gestalt Therapy is to help people work through their unfinished business and bring them closure.