1. Gestalt Therapy
A whole new approach

2. Goal of therapy To make whole Mind and body
Emotional, behavioral, and cognitive
Past and present

3. Theoretical assumptions
Humans perceive things as wholes and the whole is more than the sum of its parts (i.e. holistic)
Life is best understood by knowing the subjective, internal rather than the objective, external (phenomenological)
Awareness is ever-changing and each moment is one of choice based on evolving awareness. We are the creators of our own destiny (existentialism)
The path to wholeness and health is to interact with nature and with other people without losing one’s individuality (contact)
People are manipulative, avoid self-reliance, and are not willing to accept their own perceptions as valid.
Change happens in the present If you want to go to Alaska, where do you start?

4. Theory of pathology
All forms of human psychological dysfunction are attempts at simplifying experience, alleviating uncomfortable feelings, or managing difficult adjustments. Therefore, they are considered “creative adaptations to inhospitable situations in a person’s life” (Crocker, 1999, p.134).
Unfinished business leads to psychological symptoms
Feelings about the past are unexpressed
These feelings are associated with distinct memories and fantasies.
Feelings not fully experienced linger in the background and interfere with effective contact, resulting in
Preoccupation
Compulsive behavior
Wariness
Oppressive energy
Self-defeating behavior

5. Layers of Neurosis
Perls likens the unfolding of adult personality to the peeling of an onion
Phony layer - stereotypical and inauthentic
Phobic layer - fears keep us from seeing ourselves
Impasse layer - we give up our power
Implosive layer - we fully experience our deadness
Explosive layer - we let go of phony roles

6. Pathway to pathology: Lack of awareness of some aspect of self
Polarity = false distinction about different aspects of self
Past-present
Good-bad
Lack of contact = superficial relation with the world (instead of aware and intimate)
Confluence: the condition of no-contact. Instead of an ‘I’ and a ‘You’ there is a ‘we’ or a vague, unclear experience of self.
Introjection: the individual experiences something as him/herself when in fact it belongs to the environment (false identification).
Projection: the individual experiences something in the environment when in fact it belongs to him/her (false alienation).
Retroflection: the individual holds back a response intended for the environment and substitutes it with a response for him/herself (e.g., self-harm, doing poorly in school).

7. Paradoxical theory of change
Only by being what and who one is can one become something or someone else. Effort, self-control, or avoidance focused exclusively on the future will not bring about change. We must become our truth (ourselves) first before we can move from it (change).

8. Gestalt Awareness Model

9. Goals of therapy
To become fully capable of organismic self-regulation (be “centered”)
To have direct, immediate awareness of the total perceptual field
To establish contact with the world
Eating and digesting are treated as metaphors for what we do with every dimension of experience. Do I bite into something, chew it up thoroughly, spit out what I don't like, and assimilate what I find nourishing and healthy, or do I
"swallow whole" what others have told me to whether I like it or not? (introjection.)

10. The mechanism of change and growth
Path to awareness has two components
Techniques to sharpen awareness
Becoming aware of our defenses
Focus on the present, rather than past or future
Unfinished situations from past are worked in terms of person’s present experience of them
Concerns about future regarded as manifestation of current anxiety
“What” and “how” are the focus (not “why”)
“Why did you do that?” is a statement concealed in a question
Interpretations are avoided (self discovery has greater value)

11. Therapeutic Techniques
The therapist’s attitude is more important than any technique
Techniques are intuitively adapted to particular client/situation
confrontation (to force client to attend to current functioning)
Between verbal and non-verbal behaviors
Often used in alcohol and drug treatment
acting-out exercises (to enable client to establish contact)
Falling into someone’s arms (trust)
Arguing with spouse (communication)
games of dialogue (to promote contact & suppress inauthenticity)
Role-play both sides of polarity
Play the projection (e.g., I can’t ask him out because...)
“I take responsibility”
May I feed you a sentence?
Paradoxical comments: (e.g. “You’re probably not ready to grow up…”)

12. Influenced by psychoanalysis, but…
Freud Perls
Past
Reductionistic
Deterministic
Unconscious
Energy system seeking homeostasis
Biological compulsion
Present
Holistic
Phenomenological
Disowned parts
Energy system seeking homeostasis
Closure

13. Comparisons with other therapies
Some similarities with humanistic and existential therapies
Focus is on the here and now
Emphasis on individual freedom and responsibility
Insight oriented
The “I-Thou” relationship
Holistic (integrated)
But also different
More confrontational and directive than humanistic
More micro-behaviorally focused than existential