Gestalt psychotherapy: concepts, principles and techniques

The Gestalt Approach (EG) it is a holistic approach; that is, it perceives objects, and especially living beings, as wholes. In Gestalt we say that "the whole is more than the sum of the parts". Everything exists and acquires meaning within a specific context; nothing exists by itself, isolated.

Along with systemic therapy, EG is essentially a way of living life with your feet firmly on the ground. It is not intended to lead the individual down the path of the esoteric or enlightenment. It is a way of becoming fully, free and open in this world; accepting and taking responsibility for who we are, without using more resources than appreciating the obvious, what IS. EG is in itself a way of life; hence it is more appropriate to call it "approach", which is a broader term, rather than "therapy", which restricts its possibilities of application to the clinical. Next, in Psychology-Online, we will tell you all about the Gestalt psychotherapy: concepts, principles and techniques.

Index

1. What is Gestalt psychotherapy: definition
2. Goals of Gestalt Therapy
3. Bases of Gestalt psychotherapy
4. The fact of awareness or Awareness
5. The here and now: mindfulness and gestalt
6. Systemic Psychology and Gestalt Therapy
7. Gestalt therapy: principles and objectives
8. The cycle of Gestalt experience
9. The strata of the self
10. Family constellations and systemic therapy
11. The Gestalt Psychotherapy Process

Gestalt psychotherapy is one of the models framed in the movement of humanistic psychology. Fritz and Laura Perls, two of the pioneers of this therapy, define it as the philosophy of the obvious, insofar as its objective is to capture what is evident at a given moment.

To do the right one Gestalt definitionIt is important to know that expressions such as “awareness therapy”, “contact therapy"Or"here and now therapy”. Thus, the primary objective is to help the person become aware (both cognitively and emotionally) of how they avoid a part of a reality, which may seem traumatic. The role of the therapist will be to prepare the person to face unpleasant things, that is, to help him to acquire a good contact with her reality.

Bases of therapy and the Gestalt institute

Gestalt is a German term, with no direct translation into Spanish, but which roughly means "shape", "whole", "setting". The shape or configuration of anything is composed of a "figure" and a "background". For example, at this time for you, the letters make up the figure and the blanks make up the background; although this situation can be reversed and what is a figure can become a fund.

The phenomenon described, which is located on the level of perception, also involves all aspects of experience. This is how some situations that concern us and are located at the present time in the status of figure, can become others moments, when the problem or need that made it arise disappears, in insignificant situations, then moving on to background. This occurs especially when it is possible to "close" or conclude a Gestalt; then it is withdrawn from our attention towards the bottom, and from that bottom a new Gestalt arises motivated by some new need. This cycle of opening and closing Gestalts (or Gestalten, as they say in German) is a permanent process, which occurs throughout our entire existence.

In order to Gestalt therapy the therapist is his own instrument and, in turn, prioritizes improvisation over a corpus of experimentally-corroborated and patterned intervention techniques. The insistence that therapy is both an art and a science presupposes that improvisation and creativity serve the ends therapeutic treatments, and not only the intuition of the therapist is needed, but also the assimilation of a deep theoretical knowledge that allows that intuition to emerge from appropriate form. When we talk about Gestalt psychotherapy, its concepts, principles and techniques, it is essential to focus on the objectives, these are the following:

1. The purpose of the model is to mature

The goal of therapy is to grow and mature. We could understand that maturing is following Pindar's advice, "to become what you are." Perls describes the maturing process by saying that it is "about turning cardboard people into real people." Rank understands the mature person as the “creative artist” or Erich Fromm as a person who lives from “being” and not from “having”, in short A mature person is a “leader without being rebellious” (Fritz Perls) and since he is able to live in relation to his own center, he does not need to live relying on things.

2. Dare to grow

The price of getting through the maturing process is accepting unpleasant situations honestly. We do not grow because fears grip us in a state of infantilism and prevent us from looking for alternatives to provide answers to the difficulties that arise.

We could state that it is about “take the bull by the horns”, With the awareness that each bullfighter has his peculiar way of fighting the garments of his own experiences. The therapist does not have an interpretive function, as in psychoanalysis, but a questioning task. Like maieutics, which Socrates bequeathed to us, it is about bringing to light everything that belongs to us, both joys and sorrows, through questions. With the questions it is a question of "looking from a certain point of observation" to discover new perspectives of one's own and other people's reality. Once we have been able to see new perspectives, it is about making decisions, about being the protagonists of our own life script.

3. The growth process

We have all experienced simultaneous needs and we have paid preferential attention to the one that is most essential for us to survive. Certainly, we can find people who in the name of the freedom of their people or the fight against the infidels are capable of sacrifice their own biological existence, but it usually seems that there are two basic tendencies in every living creature: to survive and grow. Thus, at any given time, several needs may concur at the same time and there are several elements in the environment to satisfy some of them and not give elements to satisfy others.

Heraclitus understood the vital flow when he sentenced “that you cannot bathe twice in the same river”. We cannot bathe in the same waters, although we can realize –awareness- of the waters that we sail and, to a large extent, we are responsible for our journey. While we swim we are satisfying our needs, at the same time that we feed our hump of troubles. Our hump of troubles thrives on unmet needs or interruptions in the Gestalt cycle of satisfaction of needs.

4. The Gestalt Cycle of Needs Satisfaction

The Gestalt cycle has seven phases:

1. The phase of sensations it is a bodily and passive phase, which is defined by the stimuli that affect our senses.
2. The second phase is that of conscience, where sensations are interpreted and cognitive and emotional factors intervene.
3. The third phase is that of energization in which a series of volitional and affective elements arise that energize the subject, through the internal emotional movement, pressing him towards the achievement of the goal.
4. The fourth phase is that of action in which the subject seeks a change in relation to the environment.
5. The fifth phase is that of Contact, in it the intense encounter with the element of the environment that had been selected takes place.
6. The sixth phase is that of satisfactionOnce the need has been satisfied, a feeling of homeostasis appears, calm and consummation of the process with the resolution of the problem.
7. Finally, the phase of withdrawal where an energetic mutation occurs that leads to the abandonment of the contact object, that is, a kind of "digestion of experience".

The Gestalt Approach has received the influence of the following currents:

• Freud's psychoanalysis, taking up and reformulating his theory of the defense mechanisms of Anna Freud and dream work.
• The existential philosophy, from which he rescues trust in the potentialities inherent to the individual, respect for the person and responsibility.
• Phenomenology, from which it takes its attachment for the obvious, for immediate experience and for awareness (insight).
• Gestalt psychology, with its theory of perception (figure-ground, Law of good form, etc.).
• Eastern religions, and especially Zen Buddhism.
• The psychodrama, by J.L. Moreno, from whom he adopts the idea of ​​dramatizing experiences and dreams.
• The muscular armor theory of W. Reich.
• Sigmund Friedlander's Theory of Creative Indifference, from which he draws his theory of polarities.
• Systemic therapy and family constellations

EG is not just the sum or juxtaposition of the aforementioned doctrines and approaches, but their creative integration, its elevation to a new plane, carried out by Fritz Perls, creator of the Gestalt Approach.

This is the key concept on which the EG is built. In a few words, awareness is to come into contact, natural, spontaneous, in the here and now, with what one is, feels and perceives. It is a concept somewhat similar to that of insight, although it is broader; a kind of organized chain of insights. There are three Zones of Awareness or Awareness:

• Realizing the outside world: That is, sensory contact with objects and events that are outside of oneself in the present; what at this moment I see, touch, feel, taste or smell. It is the obvious, what presents itself to us. At this moment I see my pencil sliding on the paper forming a word, I hear the noise of the cars passing by the avenue, I smell the perfume of a young woman who passes by my side, I feel the taste of a fruit in my mouth.
• Realizing the inner world: It is the actual sensory contact with internal events, with what happens on and under our skin. Muscle tensions, movements, annoying sensations, itching, tremors, sweating, breathing, etc. At this moment I feel the pressure of my index finger, thumb and forefinger on my pen when writing; I feel that I put the weight of my body on my left elbow; I feel my heart beating, my breathing shakes, etc.
• The realization of fantasy, the Middle Zone (ZIM): This includes all mental activity that takes place beyond the present: all explaining, imagining, guessing, thinking, planning, remembering the past, anticipating the future, etc. Right now I wonder what I will do tomorrow morning, will it be something useful, well? In Gestalt all this is unreality, fantasy. It's not tomorrow yet, and I can't know and say ANYTHING about it. Everything is in my imagination; it is pure and simple speculation, and the healthiest thing is to assume it as such.

It is really difficult to accept that everything exists in the momentary present. The past exists and matters onlyit as part of the present reality; things and memories about which I now think of as belonging to the past. The idea of ​​the past is useful sometimes, but at the same time I must not lose sight of that, which is an idea, a fantasy that I have now. Our idea of ​​the future is also an unreal fiction, although sometimes useful, when we take it as an essay and only as that. Both our idea of ​​the future and our conception of the past are based on our understanding of the present. The past and the future are our conceptions about what preceded the present moment and what we predict will follow the present. And all this guessing happens NOW.

Now is the present

Whether we are remembering or anticipating, we are doing it now. The past has already passed, the future has not yet arrived. It is impossible that nothing exists except the present. He mentioned the example that someone once mediated: if I put a record on the phonograph, the sound appears when the record and the stylus make contact. Not before... not after. If we could erase the immediate past or the anticipation of what is to come immediately, it would be difficult for us to understand the music on the record we are listening to. But if we erase the now, then there is nothing. So it doesn't matter if we are remembering or anticipating, we are still doing it in the here and now. These types of principles are closely related to mindfulness therapy.

To the ask why all you get is some rationalization or "explanation." Why entails an ingenious explanation, never a thorough understanding. Furthermore, he takes us away from the here and now and introduces us into the world of fantasy; he takes us out of the obvious to theorize. Perls considered that words, when used to "explain" and move away from the obvious or reality, are more of a burden than a useful thing. He he compared them to excrement.

The why only leads us to endless and sterile investigations of the cause. If they are done the question for the howWe are looking at the structure, we are seeing what happens, the obvious; worrying about a deeper understanding of the process. The how gives us perspective, orientation. The how shows us that one of the basic laws, that of the identity of structure and function, is valid. If we change the structure, the function changes. If we change the function, the structure changes. The pillars on which the EG rests are: the here and now and the how. Its essence is in the understanding of these two words. Living in the now trying to figure out how we do it.

The main objective of Gestalt Therapy it is getting people to unmask themselves in front of others, and to achieve this they have to risk sharing about themselves; that they experience the present, both in fantasy and in reality, based on experiential activities and experiments. The work specializes in exploring the affective territory rather than that of intellectualizations (ZIM). It is intended that the participants become aware of their body and each of their senses. The philosophy behind the rules is to provide us with effective means of unifying thought and feeling. They are designed to help us bring resistance to light, promote greater awareness, and facilitate the maturation process. It also seeks to exercise individual responsibility, the "semantics of responsibility".

Gestalt rules

Throughout this article, we have looked at the Gestalt psychotherapy, its concepts, principles and techniques. However, we still have to analyze all its rules. Some of these rules can be applied as guidelines for individual therapy; however, its main use is in group therapy, in meeting groups. The main rules are as follows:

• The I-You relationship: With this principle we try to express the idea that true communication includes both the receiver and the sender. By asking Who are you saying that to? the subject is forced to face his reluctance to send the message directly to the receiver, to the other. In this way, the patient is often asked to mention the name of the other person; to ask you direct questions in the event of any doubt or curiosity; to express your mood or disagreement, etc. It is intended that he becomes aware of the difference between "speaking to" his interlocutor and "speaking" in front of him. To what extent are you avoiding touching it with your words? How is this phobic avoidance of contact expressed in your gestures, in the tone of your voice, in avoiding his gaze?
• Take ownership of language and behavior, that is, take responsibility for what is said and / or done. This is directly linked to personal and impersonal language. It is common that to refer to our body, our actions or emotions, we use the 2nd or 3rd person. "You cause me pain" instead of "I feel pain"; "My body is tense" instead of "I am tense", etc. Through the simple device of making impersonal language personal, we learn to better identify behavior and take responsibility for it. As a consequence, the individual is more likely to see himself more as an active being, who "does things", instead of believing himself a passive subject, to whom "things happen". The implications for mental health and for letting go of our "neuroses" are obvious.
• In Gestalt it is forbidden to say "I can't"; instead you should say "I don't want to", that is, be assertive. This is due to the fact that many times the subject refuses to act, to experiment, to come into contact, disqualifying himself before even trying. You cannot force the person to do something that he does not want, but he can be held accountable, to assume the consequences of his evasive decision, for which an honest "I don't want to" is the most suitable. In the same way, they should also be avoided or made the patient realize their "buts", "why", "I don't know", etc. It must be remembered that in the human being, language is one of the means of avoidance par excellence: can talk about everything and not come into contact with anything, put between us and reality a wall of words.
• The continuum of awareness: Allowing free passage to present experiences, without judging or criticizing them, is essential to integrate the various parts of the personality. Not looking for great discoveries in oneself, not "pushing the river", but letting it flow alone, freely.
• Do not murmur: All communication, even those that are supposed to be "private" or "not of interest to the group", should be openly aired in it or, failing that, avoided. Backbiting, whispering about others, knowing giggles, are avoidance, ways of avoiding the contact, in addition to disrespecting the group and going against their cohesion by establishing issues "that do not concern them" in their presence. This rule is intended to promote feelings and prevent the avoidance of feelings.
• Translate the questions into statements; except when it comes to very specific data. Questions like "Can I go to the bathroom? Can I change places? Can I go? ", Etc., should be translated as" I want to go to the bathroom; I want to change places; I want to go". Thus, the questioner assumes his responsibility and the consequences of what he affirms, instead of adopting a passive posture and projecting your responsibility onto the other, so that he gives you the authorization.
• Pay attention to the way others are cared for. Who do we pay attention to? Who are we ignoring?, etc.
• Do not interpret or look for "the real cause" of what the other says. Simply listen and realize what one feels based on that contact.
• Pay attention to your own physical experience, as well as changes in posture and gestures of others. Share with the other what is observed, the obvious, through the formula of "now I realize ...".
• Accept the experiment in turn; take risks by participating in the discussion.
• Consider, even if it is not made explicit, that everything said and experienced in the group is strictly confidential.

According to Gestalt techniquesThe so-called cycle of experience is the basic nucleus of human life, since it is nothing more than the endless succession of cycles. It is also known as the "Organismic self-regulation cycle"because it is considered that the body knows what is good for it and tends to regulate itself. The conceptualization of this cycle aims to reproduce how subjects establish contact with their environment and with themselves. It also explains the process of formation figure / background: how the figures emerge from the diffuse background, and how once the need is satisfied said figure disappears again.

The cycle of experience begins when the organism, being at rest, feels some need emerging within itself; the subject becomes aware of it and identifies in its space some element or object that satisfies, that is, that said element becomes a figure, standing out above the others that are the bottom. The body then mobilizes its energies to reach the desired object until it comes into contact with it, satisfies the need, and returns to rest again.

Stages of the Gestalt cycle

In the classical scheme of the cycle, six successive stages: 1) Rest; 2) Sensation; 3) Realize or figure formation; 4) Energization; 5) Action; and 6) Contact.

• In rest or withdrawal the subject has already resolved a Gestalt or previous need, and is in a state of balance, without any pressing need. Its pathological extreme may be autism.
• In sensation the subject is brought out of his rest because he feels diffuse "something", which he still cannot define. For example, he may feel peristaltic movements or sounds in his stomach, or else some uneasiness.
• In awareness, the sensation is identified as a specific need (in the above examples, as hunger or as worry, respectively) and It also identifies what satisfies it: it delimits a certain portion of reality that acquires a very important vital meaning for the subject, that is, it forms a figure. In the energizing phase, the subject gathers the strength or concentration necessary to carry out what the need demands of him.
• In action, the most important phase of the entire cycle, the individual mobilizes his body to satisfy his need, concentrates his energy in his muscles and bones and actively pursues the achievement of want. In the final stage, contact, the conjunction of the subject with the object of need occurs; and, consequently, it is satisfied.
• The stage ends when the subject feels satisfied, can say goodbye to this cycle and start another. So ad infinitum.

Between the various links that make up the cycle can be formed self-interruptions, giving rise to various types of pathologies. Defense mechanisms also act there. In general terms, it can be said that the cycle of experience, given in a specific and significant context, constitutes in itself a Gestalt.

An interrupted cycle is an unfinished Gestalt; an entity that will parasitize the organism, consuming its energy until it is satisfied.

According to Fritz Perls, in the ego of every human being there are six layers that cover, like an onion, the authentic Being of people. These layers or strata of the Self, as they are also known, are the following: 1) E. Fake; 2) E. of as yes; 3) E. Phobic; 4) E. Implosive or of the quagmire; 5) E. Explosive; and 6) The true Self:

• In the false stratum is our "facade", what we put in our showcase of ourselves and let others see.
• Then comes the "as if" stratum; there are the roles, the games we use to manipulate others, acting "as if" we were this or that. It is our character or habitual and rigid way of acting.
• If in the therapeutic process we go through the False layer and the “as if” layer, we will reach the Phobic stratum. There are all our fears and all our insecurities in front of ourselves; our best kept secrets and our narcissistic wounds; grief, pain, sadness or despair; what we do not want to see or touch about our personality and even less to discover in front of others.
• If we manage to pass the phobic we will feel a feeling of emptiness, immobility, lack of energy, death. We have reached the stratum of the Atolladero, where we feel "stuck", with no way out.
• However, behind is the Implosive stratum, where all our energies are not used, our vitality "frozen" or directed towards ourselves to maintain our defenses.
• Finally, behind the implosive is the Explosive stratum, where stagnant forces shoot outward in a burst of authenticity, giving way to the true Self that remains hidden. There are basically four types of explosion: joy, grief, orgasm, and courage.

Based on the above, we can imagine a person X, who at the beginning of therapy will be superficial, formal or conventional (good morning, how hot it is, what a pleasure to see you, blah, blah, blah: the Poops I was talking about Perls). Behind it we will find their fears, their "traumas", their avoidance, which must be confronted. We will thus put him in a temporary quagmire, where he will experience himself without strength, almost dead. However, if you trust your organism and give it freedom, it will show you its unused forces, which will emerge freely as figures as the field of avoidance clears, your true potential, and you will experience a true explosion of joy, pleasure, anger or grief (all of them positive, therapeutic and necessary) that will give way to the true human being behind the subject X.

This should be done repeatedly, at each point in therapy, until the subject knows himself well enough and can carry out the process himself.

A mature person is capable of experiencing and sustaining all kinds of emotional experiences in the "here and now"; Furthermore, he uses his own resources (self-support) instead of manipulating others and the environment for support.

Therapies and the Gestalt institute usually work hand in hand with other types of complementary tools from an approach away from the more traditional therapies.

• First, the family constellations are defined as a dynamic of emotional therapy based on group sessions where each individual plays a role as a family member involved in the life of the person to whom the constellation is being performed family.
• On the other hand, the focus of systemic therapy it is based on working on the dynamics of relationships (family, couple, friendship, work ...) in each session so that therapy is not limited to solving a single problem.

Both approaches are very compatible with the Gestalt approach that we have been studying throughout this article on Gestalt psychotherapy: concepts, principles and techniques.

In summary, Gestalt Psychotherapy pursues:

• Live in the now.
• Live in the here.
• Stop imagining and fantasizing excessively, replacing real contact.
• Stop thinking unnecessarily by substituting for action.
• Stop pretending or playing "as if".
• Express yourself or communicate.
• Feeling unpleasant things and pain.
• Do not accept any "should", other than our own, imposed by oneself based on our needs and experiences.
• Take full responsibility for your own actions, feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
• Be what you are... no matter what you are.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Gestalt psychotherapy: concepts, principles and techniques, we recommend that you enter our category of Cognitive psychology.

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