Many people have psychological problems for which they need psychotherapeutic help. Gestalt therapy can be considered for clients who want to focus primarily on the present and are willing to take personal responsibility.
What is Gestalt therapy?
Gestalt therapy sees itself as a form of therapy that goes beyond the soul, body, and mind to include the sociocultural and ecological contexts of life. Gestalt therapy is one of the holistically integrative and experiential methods of humanistic psychotherapy. It was founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman and has developed largely from psychoanalysis. Perls held that each person is responsible for his or her actions and is also capable of realizing his or her potential. Gestalt therapy deals primarily with emotions and experiences in the present, even though they may have a connection to the past. The central concern for Gestalt therapy work is “I and you in the here and now”. Therapeutic work is intended to promote psychosocial skills that serve to live a self-determined life with personal values and to be related to one’s environment.
Function, effect and goals
Gestalt therapy has multiple applications and is appropriate at any age. It can be done as individual, group, couple or family therapy and helps with various problems:
- Personality disorders
- Neuroses
- Pyschosomatic problems
- Eating disorders
- Drug addiction
It sees itself as a form of therapy that goes beyond the soul, body and mind to include the socio-cultural and ecological contexts of life in the therapy. She wants to achieve a more human interaction between people and encourage more environmental awareness. Therefore, it is not only a psychotherapy method, but also a philosophy of life and a world view. Fritz Perls saw mental disorders as the result of contact disorders between people. All people need social contact and closeness to other people, but some people develop defense mechanisms out of fear of rejection and cannot give themselves to their feelings. In Gestalt therapy, the goal in such a case would be to be able to allow living feelings again and to bring them to life in therapy in the here and now. The past is also important and formative, but Gestalt therapy, unlike psychoanalysis, does not see its task as digging around in the past, because coming to terms with the past does not necessarily help with problems in the present. It works with 3 principles:
- Experience
- Perceive
- Self-support
In order to experience, fellow human beings and the environment must be consciously perceived. People with neurotic problems have fears of getting into arguments and contacts because they fear rejection. Their defense mechanisms prevent them from feeling, experiencing and perceiving. In order to become inwardly freer, it is necessary that they detach themselves from their symptoms and problems, with which they force others to act, and instead take personal responsibility. In the classic sequence of a Gestalt therapy group session, group members move through the room where there is an empty chair (“hot chair”). Those who want to work on a topic sit down on this “hot chair.” The therapist gives subtle suggestions, the group gives support and feedback, while the person in the “hot chair” allows all emotions and does not suppress anything. In this group experience, the whole range of feelings can be experienced, from appreciation and security to being exposed and criticized. Dreams and fantasies also play a role in Gestalt therapy. Creative methods are used to work with them. Individual therapy can range from 20 to 200 hours; group therapy is offered in open or closed form.
Risks, side effects and dangers
Gestalt therapy can be an effective form of therapy for various problems, but so far there is no scientific research that can prove that Gestalt therapy measures have a positive effect and that they guarantee lasting success.Because dramatic techniques are used, it is less suitable for people who tend to have a hysterical personality structure, because working with the “hot chair” can encourage people to just act out feelings. This can lead to mental overload reactions. Experienced therapists are needed to handle the group experiences responsibly and to help the clients to classify these experiences appropriately in their soul life afterwards. In part, there are inadequately trained therapists who engage in a very confrontational style, further frustrating clients. The alternative scene also makes use of techniques that provoke feelings and give voice to the different parts of soul conflicts in a “voice dialogue”. These are then meant to come into conversation with each other. For people with social anxiety, the group experience in the hot seat can be counterproductive, because in the group, where they are under constant observation, they are even more reluctant to give free rein to their feelings. In this way, they can close themselves off even more. Responsible therapy must always keep in mind the individual boundaries of shame of the group members and should not want to override personal boundaries. Every person has psychological protective mechanisms that have their justification. It is therefore very important that Gestalt therapists have undergone serious training and proceed with appropriate caution and care, so that they do not further solidify defense mechanisms in clients.
