All info for this post can be found at changingminds.org. Gestalt therapy is a process-based technique whose goal is to facilitate the client's understanding of what they are doing, how they are doing it, and how they can create their own changes. In other words, instead of focusing on the content of what is being said, attention is paid to the manner by which the client responds (i.e. the moment-to-moment process). The purpose of this type of therapy is to increase the client's self-awareness and personal responsibility, and in turn, can lead to positive changes and self-acceptance.
One of the most popular applications of Gestalt therapy is the 'empty chair' technique. With this technique, the therapist will have an extra chair in the room and may ask the client to envision something or someone with whom they have conflicts, and speak directly to them (the empty chair) about their feelings. For example, the therapist may ask you to imagine your father in the chair and to talk to him about how his infidelity to your mother made you feel. In some cases, the conflict may be with something less concrete (one's own personality traits or biases, etc), but the idea remains the same--imagine the aspect of your personality with which you have a conflict in the chair and have a 'conversation' with it regarding your feelings. The idea behind this is to highlight the client's emotions and attitudes, and allow them to understand their own reactions, and in turn, create changes to their problem behaviors and (eventually) cognitions.
Admittedly, this is not a technique with which I have any practical experience. I'm curious about how you guys have used it in the past and how effective/ineffective you found it to be. Also, with what kinds of clients or issues do you feel this would be most appropriate?
Thanks Dana. I have not had any experience using Gestalt therapy with clients/patients. I have, however, asked children I was working with, "What would you say to XX if they were here now?". Depending on the child, I had some success with that question.
In the book Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy (Ivey, D'Andrea, Ivey & Simek-Morgan) Fritz Perls (devised Gestalt Theory) is described as the "guru" of existentialism in the 60's. Interestingly enough, there was a "Gestalt Prayer" in the same book that goes like this:
"You do your thing, and I'll do my thing, and If by chance we meet, it's beautiful"
It is not a therapeutic intervention that would be utilized with people who have a severe mental illness or personality disorder. The reason that Gestalt therapy would not be used with someone with a SMI or PD would be that the client needs to have a somewhat good sense of self-awareness.
I like the holistic focus of this technique and it is a part of an integrative "package" that I use when working with clients. I see it as a tool that we clinicians can utilize when appropriate when working with clients.
One of the techniques I don't like about pure Gestalt therapy is that the therapists utilizes "directives" to tell the client what to do in the session (Ivey et al, Page 278)
Great thoughts Arika. I agree, I don't know how effective this technique can be with clients whose insight or judgment is severely impaired. This theory lends itself to clients that have a base-line of sufficient coping strategies. I think this is the criticism of many westernized or eurocentric modalities.
I like the fact that you use it in your integrative approach. For the test, team I want you to thing about a couple of things with this approach. The first would be to understand the "Empty Chair Technique" The second would be to think of Gestalt epitomizing the "Here and Now" and Self-Awareness. There is likely to be a couple of recall questions on Gestalt but mostly I would like you to bring Gestalt to your bag of tricks as looking at every question from a "Here and Now" perspective.
All info for this post can be found at changingminds.org. Gestalt therapy is a process-based technique whose goal is to facilitate the client's understanding of what they are doing, how they are doing it, and how they can create their own changes. In other words, instead of focusing on the content of what is being said, attention is paid to the manner by which the client responds (i.e. the moment-to-moment process). The purpose of this type of therapy is to increase the client's self-awareness and personal responsibility, and in turn, can lead to positive changes and self-acceptance.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most popular applications of Gestalt therapy is the 'empty chair' technique. With this technique, the therapist will have an extra chair in the room and may ask the client to envision something or someone with whom they have conflicts, and speak directly to them (the empty chair) about their feelings. For example, the therapist may ask you to imagine your father in the chair and to talk to him about how his infidelity to your mother made you feel. In some cases, the conflict may be with something less concrete (one's own personality traits or biases, etc), but the idea remains the same--imagine the aspect of your personality with which you have a conflict in the chair and have a 'conversation' with it regarding your feelings. The idea behind this is to highlight the client's emotions and attitudes, and allow them to understand their own reactions, and in turn, create changes to their problem behaviors and (eventually) cognitions.
Admittedly, this is not a technique with which I have any practical experience. I'm curious about how you guys have used it in the past and how effective/ineffective you found it to be. Also, with what kinds of clients or issues do you feel this would be most appropriate?
Fantastic Post Dana
ReplyDeleteThanks Dana. I have not had any experience using Gestalt therapy with clients/patients. I have, however, asked children I was working with, "What would you say to XX if they were here now?". Depending on the child, I had some success with that question.
ReplyDeleteIn the book Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy (Ivey, D'Andrea, Ivey & Simek-Morgan) Fritz Perls (devised Gestalt Theory) is described as the "guru" of existentialism in the 60's. Interestingly enough, there was a "Gestalt Prayer" in the same book that goes like this:
ReplyDelete"You do your thing, and
I'll do my thing, and
If by chance we meet, it's beautiful"
It is not a therapeutic intervention that would be utilized with people who have a severe mental illness or personality disorder. The reason that Gestalt therapy would not be used with someone with a SMI or PD would be that the client needs to have a somewhat good sense of self-awareness.
I like the holistic focus of this technique and it is a part of an integrative "package" that I use when working with clients. I see it as a tool that we clinicians can utilize when appropriate when working with clients.
One of the techniques I don't like about pure Gestalt therapy is that the therapists utilizes "directives" to tell the client what to do in the session (Ivey et al, Page 278)
Great thoughts Arika. I agree, I don't know how effective this technique can be with clients whose insight or judgment is severely impaired. This theory lends itself to clients that have a base-line of sufficient coping strategies. I think this is the criticism of many westernized or eurocentric modalities.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you use it in your integrative approach. For the test, team I want you to thing about a couple of things with this approach. The first would be to understand the "Empty Chair Technique" The second would be to think of Gestalt epitomizing the "Here and Now" and Self-Awareness. There is likely to be a couple of recall questions on Gestalt but mostly I would like you to bring Gestalt to your bag of tricks as looking at every question from a "Here and Now" perspective.
I also want to do some role playing tomorrow night with the empty chair technique
ReplyDelete