- HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The origins of gestalt therapy are found in three Germans whom Perls studied. Perls saw an individual perceptions in terms of the Gestalt dichotomy of figure-ground and established his theory on that premise. Another important historical influence on Gestalt therapy is the existential movement in philosophy and psychology.
Gestalt Therapy was first used in a psychological context. It also emphasizes the expansion of awareness, freedom and Here and Now. The three founder of this therapy percepts the three principle of similarity, proximity and closure. The principle of similarity pertains to the perceptual field, while in proximity, determines how they are seen and in principle of closure, it describes the need to complete unfinished figures.
- VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
Perls believed that people developed in relation to their environment, and he divided this development into the social, psychophysical and spiritual stages. Gestaltists believe that a healthy personality is the result or a person's experiences forming a meaningful whole. This occurs when there is a smooth transition between those sets of experiences that are immediately in the focus of awareness and those that lie in the background.
- MAJOR METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
Gestalt techniques include increasing the awareness of "body language" and of negative internal "messages"; emphasizing the client's self-awareness by making him or her speak continually in the present tense and in the first person; concentrating on a part of a client's personality, perhaps even on just one emotion, and addressing it (or asking the client to address it) as if it were sitting by itself in the client's chair; the creation by the therapist of episodes and diversions that vividly demonstrate a point rather than explaining in words. A therapist may choose from the following list of methods that Gestalt Therapist usually use:
- Dream Work
- Converting Questions to Statements
- Using Personal Pronouns
- Assuming Responsibility
- Playing the Projection
- The Empty Chair
- Making The Rounds
- Exaggeration
- Confrontation
- FUNCTION OF THE THERAPIST
The function of the therapist is to serve as a catalyst for change without assuming the responsibility for change within the clients. The Gestalt Therapist here plays an active role that often frustrates the clients demands for support and help, forcing them to rely on their own resources. The therapist also provides a "safe emergency" which allows their clients to feel safe enough to work toward self-support while playing the empty chair.
The therapist must not try to be a better therapist but to be who they are and helping their clients to do the same.
- MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR
In this therapy, people characterized by a lack of awareness, self-responsibility, contact with environment, denial of needs, and so on. When they fail to utilize their own capacity for self-regulation spend their energy on acting helpless, depending upon others, or manipulating the environment in countless ways. The result is an anxious state of temporal insecurity originating when the self is unable to determine the boundaries between the individual and the environment.
- CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Gestalt therapy features a holistic emphasis on the integration of fragmented parts of the personality. Other than any theory, it stresses more on the unity of mind, body, and feelings. This therapy is useful in treating clients with physical disabilities and also for the clients containing internalized anger that can help them gain awareness of inner conflicts and of unfinished business.
RIZA GEGA
RESHIELLE JANE MOLINA
NIRE ANN PIZARRAS
AILENE RUBIA
ARLYN TORRES
BEED III-A
CAMARIN CAMPUS
