Gestalt: Experience to awareness

By Chris O'Brien

      Say the word "Gestalt," and most people imagine a group of manic patients beating effigies of their mothers with large foam bats. Colorful, but inaccurate. It's true that a free-for-all period during the late 1960s saw some of this practice, but this is by no means central to the discipline. Gestalt is, rather, about dealing with the here and now of an issue, not the context or the "story" around it.

      Gestalt was developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Fritz Perls, a psychoanalyst who worked with brain-damaged soldiers and was influenced by the likes of Wilhelm Reich, a pioneer in psychosomatic medicine, the philosopher Sigmund Friedlander and his concept of differential thinking, and Jan Smuts, the prime minister of South Africa who published a book on holism and evolution. This was a time of rejecting strict Freudian dogmatism, and one of exploring new and more holistic therapeutic techniques. Gestalt's official arrival is dated with the publication of Perls first book, Ego, Hunger and Aggression in 1947.

      The essence of Gestalt is its focus on cultivating awareness of feelings, thoughts and experiences. This awareness can then give the participant a clearer picture of his or her underlying truth, motives and beliefs. The goal is to become aware of what you're doing, why you're doing it and how you can change, while learning to accept and value yourself.

      Unlike some therapies that focus on past experiences and thoughts or ideas about them, Gestalt deals with what's happening in the present-your current feelings, attitudes and thoughts. "This is a process in which perceiving, feeling and acting in the present are distinguished from interpreting and reshuffling pre-existing attitudes," says Gary Yontef, Ph.D., author of Awareness, Dialogue, and Process (The Gestalt Journal Press, 1993), co-director of the Pacific Gestalt Institute in Los Angeles , and editorial board member for the International Gestalt Journal. "In Gestalt, explanations and interpretations of events are considered less reliable than what is being directly perceived and felt in the present."

      According to Yontef, patients and therapists in Gestalt therapy "dialogue"-that is, communicate their perspectives about what is happening in the present. For example, you might tell your Gestalt therapist that you're angry at your ex-wife, who cheated on you four years ago. Instead of going back into that trauma, the therapist would encourage you to describe how you are at that very moment-what you're feeling in your body, what you're thinking in your mind. Is your stomach churning? Are you grinding your teeth? Are you thinking, "She cheated on me because I'm not successful"? The therapist's role is to help you become aware of what's going on in the present, not to dwell on the past. According to Gestalt, change begins with awareness. When we become aware of our thoughts and behaviors, we begin to create changes. In essence, seeing the truth will lay the groundwork for recovery from the problem.

      Yontef says Gestalt is akin to the Zen concept of mindfulness. Gestalt operates under the assumption that people experience themselves as a mish-mash of thoughts, emotions and other perceptions. The word "gestalt" means form or shape, and refers to our perception of the whole. To gauge both the validity of a patient's awareness and possible changes in his or her behavior and thought, Gestalt often employs what are called experiments.

      "We use experiments to obtain awareness," says Yontef. "This means trying something new-a thought, perception or behavior-and seeing what happens. This can be a vehicle to focus awareness on a new insight or an issue the patient is avoiding."

      Experiments may take the form of a guided dialogue between patient and therapist. For example, the therapist may say, "You seem angry," to which the patient responds, "I'm angry at you." The therapist then says something like, "Tell me-express your anger toward me," all the time keeping a sharp eye out for any new awareness-that is, any changes in perception, thought or feeling-that might bring clarity to the issue. Other experiments could be take-home assignments, such as a five-minute meditation at work to focus and cultivate awareness, or an acting scenario in which you "confront" someone with your feelings and thoughts-only they're not really there. You're talking to an empty chair. (This is where the beaten-pinata stories come from; although strong feelings are often expressed, violent role playing is very rare.)

      Gestalt has helped people with all forms of neurosis, personality disorders and psychosis. However, the therapist should be specialized in the treatment of such disorders. In the non-diagnosed or "walking wounded" crowd, Gestalt has helped many deal with life's struggles. Work and relationship issues, self-esteem crises and past traumas have all been successfully ameliorated through the Gestalt process.

      Today, more than 60 Gestalt therapy institutes exist in the world, but no national organization or national certification process has yet evolved. "It is incumbent on Gestalt therapy consumers [patients and trainees] to carefully evaluate the educational, clinical and training background of people who call themselves Gestalt therapists or give training in Gestalt therapy," says Yontef. The bottom line: a good therapist is one who yields results for you.

Resources, local and beyond

      If you're ready for awareness, many resources are available. Recommended reading includes Yontef's book; if you're a purist or history buff, dig up a copy of Perls' manuscript. For the internet-savvy, information you need to increase your awareness of Gestalt is available online. Some to try:

www.gestalt.org includes a comprehensive introductory page, as well as volumes of book references, articles and other resources, and lists of some practitioners and training available in Colorado.

www.GestaltOfTheRockies.com includes information on becoming a Gestalt practitioner, as well as background information on Gestalt and current articles.

www.enabling.org/ia/gestalt is an international online Gestalt forum with links to journals, Q & A, Gestalt quote of the month and much more for both the curious and intellectual.