Positivity

Gestalt Therapy: An Overview

“Positivity” from the album Lovesexy (1988)

Gestalt therapy (German for “the whole”) is defined as an existential form of psychotherapy. Existentialism is primarily concerned with affirming or implying the human experience. What this means is that we find truth through experience. It is noted as being highly experiential because counseling sessions include active exercises such as role plays and the “empty chair” technique (where a client would talk to an empty chair as if it was another person or another part of them). This form of therapy stresses personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the here-and-now. Counselors who operate from this theoretical background believe that a person's socioeconomic situation, physical environment, the therapeutic relationship and the internal constructs they have created results in their current life situation. This is why it is called gestalt/whole therapy because the whole of the person is examined not just the cognitive part like so many other theories.

Fritz Perls circa 1922, the father
of Gestalt Therapy

Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman first created Gestalt Therapy (GT) in the 1930's. It is focused on the process of counseling (what is literally happening) instead of the content (what is being talked about). For example a client might say, “I think about killing my wife sometimes” and instead of addressing the statement the counselor might address the fact that the person's hands were trembling when they made that statement. Prominence is given to what is physically happening, the thoughts, and feeling at the present moment for both the client and counselor instead of what should have been, what was, could be, or might be. This form of therapy these days is called “mindfulness” therapy. The purpose of GT is to empower the client to become free from barriers caused by unfinished business that usually hampers fulfillment, satisfaction, growth, and the discovery of new ways of being. Unfinished business is any unresolved feeling(s) or thought(s) and this is what causes mental dysfunction. GT therapists do not believe that people are bad or good; therefore people should be viewed in light of their environment. The song Positivity shares this worldview. In the opening chorus we are introduced to a man that has presumably committed a criminal act:

Is that a good man, Walking down that street with that money in his hand, Is that a good man? Why do you dog him, If that was your father, tell me, Would you dog him then? Here the narrator is asking us to view this man in the context of his environment. Sure he committed a criminal act, does that mean he is a bad man? Or is he a product of his environment? Would teaching him new ways of living (being) change our view of him? In the third verse we meet a young boy who is in a less than desirable socioeconomic situation. Can a boy who drops out of school, At thirteen years of age, Answer the truth about life and death, When it slaps him in the face? Who's to blame when he's got no place to go? And all he's got is the sense to know, That a life of crime'll help him beat you in the race. More cognitive minded people might label this child with Oppositional defiant disorder, Fritz Perls and those of his ilk would say he just needs to resolve the unfinished business in his life and change his environment.

During counseling sessions the GT therapist is attempting to find out what mechanism the client is using to deal with the unfinished business. Are they in denial, suffering from cognitive dissonance, abusing drugs, etc.? A Gestalt based session might have an exchange like this:

Client: I feel so stressed.

Counselor: What has caused this stress?

Client: My kids made a mess of the house before I left to come over here now I have a huge mess waiting for me at home!

Counselor: Why is having to clean up a mess in the future causing you stress now?

Client: Cleaning up has always caused stress in me. My mother use to always tell us how much of a pain it is to clean up after us.

The counselor would then get the client to focus on the stress she is feeling right now and describe the thoughts that are going through her mind. By doing this he is “anchoring” her to the stressful feeling so that she can process through them and see that the cause is due to unresolved feelings towards her mother. By focusing on the here-and-now the client can make those connections so that they can resolve them in the present. GT therapists do not like to talk about the past much so you will not hear them ask questions like, “Tell me about your childhood...” or “How did your mom and dad get along growing up?” This theory is about finding your true self - mind, body and soul and making it one complete whole, not fragmented. Mankind is inclined to seek out Love and honesty, peace and harmony and during that search you must hold on to your soul so that the whole you can experience life to the fullest.

References

Sommers-Flanagan, J. & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2012). Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice: Skills, Strategies, and Techniques, 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons: New York.

Woldt, A. & Toman, S. (2005). Gestalt Therapy: History, Theory and Practice. Sage Publications: New York.