Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy: the Case of Stan and Lecturettes
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chapter 8 Gestalt Therapy introduction t 5IF3PMFPG$POGSPOUBUJPO key concepts t (FTUBMU5IFSBQZ*OUFSWFOUJPOT t "QQMJDBUJPOUP(SPVQ$PVOTFMJOH t 7JFXPG)VNBO/BUVSF gestalt therapy from a t 4PNF1SJODJQMFTPG(FTUBMU5IFSBQZ5IFPSZ multicultural perspective t 5IF/PX t 6OmOJTIFE#VTJOFTT t 4USFOHUIT'SPNB%JWFSTJUZ1FSTQFDUJWF t $POUBDUBOE3FTJTUBODFTUP $POUBDU t 4IPSUDPNJOHT'SPNB%JWFSTJUZ1FSTQFDUJWF t &OFSHZ BOE#MPDLTUP&OFSHZ gestalt therapy applied the therapeutic process to the case of stan t 5IFSBQFVUJD(PBMT summary and evaluation t 5IFSBQJTUT'VODUJPOBOE3PMF t 4VNNBSZ t $MJFOUT&YQFSJFODFJO5IFSBQZ t $POUSJCVUJPOTPG(FTUBMU5IFSBQZ t 3FMBUJPOTIJQ#FUXFFO5IFSBQJTUBOE$MJFOU5IFS t -JNJUBUJPOTBOE$SJUJDJTNTPG(FTUBMU5IFSBQZ application: therapeutictherape where to go from here techniques and proceduresproc t 3FDPNNFOEFE4VQQMFNFOUBSZ3FBEJOHT tt 5IF&YQFSJNFOUJO(FTUBMU5IFSBQZ5 IF &YQFSJNFO t 3FGFSFODFTBOE4VHHFTUFE3FBEJOHT tt 1SFQBSJO1SFQBSJOH$MJFOUTGPS(FTUBMU&YQFSJNFOUT$MJFOUT GPS (FTUBMU &Y 210 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Fritz Perls / LAURA PERLS FREDERICK S. (“FRITZ”) PERLS, MD, PhD Perls and several of his colleagues established (1893–1970), was the main originator and devel- the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy in 1952. oper of Gestalt therapy. Born in Berlin, Germany, Eventually Fritz left New York and settled in Big into a lower-middle-class Jewish family, he later Sur, California, where he conducted workshops and identified himself as a source of much trouble for seminars at the Esalen Institute, carving out his his parents. Although he failed the seventh grade reputation as an innovator in psychotherapy. Here twice and was expelled from school because of he had a great impact on people, partly through his difficulties with the authorities, his brilliance was professional writings, but mainly through personal never quashed, and he returned—not only to contact in his workshops. complete high school but to earn his medical Personally, Perls was both vital and perplexing. degree (MD) with a specialization in psychiatry. People typically either responded to him in awe In 1916 he joined the German Army and served or found him harshly confrontational and saw him 211 as a medic in World War I. His experiences with as meeting his own needs through showmanship. THERAPY GESTALT soldiers who were gassed on the front lines led to Having a predilection for the theater since child- his interest in mental functioning, which led him to hood, he loved being on stage and putting on a Gestalt psychology. show. He was viewed variously as insightful, witty, After the war Perls worked with Kurt Goldstein bright, provocative, manipulative, hostile, demand- at the Goldstein Institute for Brain-Damaged ing, and inspirational. Unfortunately, some of the Soldiers in Frankfurt. It was through this associa- people who attended his workshops went on to tion that he came to see the importance of viewing mimic the less attractive side of Perls’s personality. humans as a whole rather than as a sum of dis- Even though Perls was not happy with this, he did cretely functioning parts. It was also through this little to discourage it. association that he met his wife, Laura, who was For a firsthand account of the life of Fritz Perls, earning her PhD with Goldstein. Later he moved to I recommend his autobiography, In and Out of the Vienna and began his psychoanalytic training. Garbage Pail (1969b). For a well-researched chap- Perls was in analysis with Wilhelm Reich, a ter on the history of Gestalt therapy, see Bowman psychoanalyst who pioneered methods of self- (2005). understanding and personality change by working with the body. LAURA POSNER PERLS, PhD (1905–1990), already had a rich background when she met was born in Pforzheim, Germany, the daughter Fritz in 1926 and they began their collaboration, of well-to-do parents. She began playing the which resulted in the theoretical foundations piano at the age of 5 and played with profes- of Gestalt therapy. Laura and Fritz were married sional skill by the time she was 18. From the in 1930 and had two children while living and age of 8 she was involved in modern dance, and practicing in South Africa. Laura continued to both music and modern dance remained vital be the mainstay for the New York Institute parts of her adult life and were incorporated for Gestalt Therapy after Fritz abandoned his into her therapy with some clients. By the time family to become internationally famous as the Laura began her practice as a psychoanalyst she traveling minstrel for Gestalt therapy. Laura had prepared for a career as a concert pianist, also made significant contributions to the had attended law school, achieved a doctoral development and maintenance of the Gestalt degree in Gestalt psychology, and made an therapy movement in the United States and intensive study of existential philosophy with throughout the world (although in very different Paul Tillich and Martin Buber. Clearly, Laura ways) from the late 1940s until her death Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. in 1990. Laura’s own words make it clear that of being responsive at a time when the popular Fritz was a generator, not a developer or organ- notion of Gestalt therapy was that it fostered izer. At the 25th anniversary of the New York responsibility only to oneself. She corrected Institute for Gestalt Therapy, Laura Perls (1990) some of the excesses committed in the name stated, “Without the constant support from of Gestalt therapy and adhered to the basic his friends, and from me, without the constant principles of Gestalt therapy theory as encouragement and collaboration, Fritz would written in Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and never have written a line, nor founded Growth in the Human Personality (Perls, Heffer- anything” (p. 18). line, & Goodman, 1951). She taught that every Laura paid a great deal of attention to Gestalt therapist needs to develop his or her contact and support, which differed from Fritz’s own therapeutic style. From her perspective, attention to intrapsychic phenomena and his whatever is integrated in our personality focus on awareness. Her emphasis on contact becomes support for what we use technically 212 underscored the role of the interpersonal and (Humphrey, 1986). introduction (FTUBMUUIFSBQZJTBOFYJTUFOUJBM QIFOPNFOPMPHJDBM BOEQSPDFTTCBTFEBQQSPBDI CHAPTER EIGHT DSFBUFEPOUIFQSFNJTFUIBUJOEJWJEVBMTNVTUCFVOEFSTUPPEJOUIFDPOUFYUPGUIFJS POHPJOHSFMBUJPOTIJQXJUIUIFFOWJSPONFOU"XBSFOFTT DIPJDF BOESFTQPOTJCJMJUZ BSFDPSOFSTUPOFTPGQSBDUJDF5IFJOJUJBMHPBMJTGPSDMJFOUTUPFYQBOEUIFJSaware- nessPGXIBUUIFZBSFFYQFSJFODJOHJOUIFQSFTFOUNPNFOU5ISPVHIUIJTBXBSF OFTT DIBOHFBVUPNBUJDBMMZPDDVST5IFBQQSPBDIJTQIFOPNFOPMPHJDBMCFDBVTFJU GPDVTFTPOUIFDMJFOUTQFSDFQUJPOTPGSFBMJUZBOEFYJTUFOUJBMCFDBVTFJUJTHSPVOEFE JOUIFOPUJPOUIBUQFPQMFBSFBMXBZTJOUIFQSPDFTTPGCFDPNJOH SFNBLJOH BOE SFEJTDPWFSJOHUIFNTFMWFT"TBOFYJTUFOUJBMBQQSPBDI (FTUBMUUIFSBQZHJWFTTQFDJBM BUUFOUJPOUPFYJTUFODFBTJOEJWJEVBMTFYQFSJFODFJUBOEBGmSNTUIFIVNBODBQBDJUZ GPSHSPXUIBOEIFBMJOHUISPVHIJOUFSQFSTPOBMDPOUBDUBOEJOTJHIU :POUFG *OBOVUTIFMM UIJTBQQSPBDIGPDVTFTPOUIFIFSFBOEOPX UIFXIBUBOEIPX BOE UIF*5IPVPGSFMBUJOH #SPXO :POUFG+BDPCT $POUFNQPSBSZ (FTUBMU UIFSBQZ TPNFUJNFT DBMMFE relational Gestalt therapy, TUSFTTFTEJBMPHVFBOESFMBUJPOTIJQCFUXFFODMJFOUBOEUIFSBQJTU'PMMPXJOHUIFMFBE PG-BVSB1FSMTBOEUIFi$MFWFMBOETDIPPM wXIFO&SWJOHBOE.JSJBN1PMTUFSBOE +PTFQI;JOLFSXFSFPOUIFGBDVMUZJOUIFTBOET UIJTNPEFMJODMVEFT NPSFTVQQPSUBOEJODSFBTFETFOTJUJWJUZBOEDPNQBTTJPOJOUIFSBQZBTDPNQBSFEUP UIFDPOGSPOUBUJPOBMBOEESBNBUJDTUZMFPG'SJU[1FSMT :POUFG 5IFNBKPSJUZ PGUPEBZT(FTUBMUUIFSBQJTUTFNQMPZBTUZMFUIBUJTTVQQPSUJWF BDDFQUJOH FNQBUIJD SFTQFDUGVM EJBMPHJDBM BTXFMMBTDIBMMFOHJOH5IFFNQIBTJTJTPOUIFRVBMJUZPGUIF UIFSBQJTUoDMJFOUSFMBUJPOTIJQBOEFNQBUIJDBUUVOFNFOUXIJMFUBQQJOHUIFDMJFOUT XJTEPNBOESFTPVSDFT $BJO "MUIPVHI'SJU[1FSMTXBTJOnVFODFECZQTZDIPBOBMZUJDDPODFQUT IFUPPLJTTVF XJUI'SFVETUIFPSZPOBOVNCFSPGHSPVOET8IFSFBT'SFVETWJFXPGIVNBO CFJOHTJTCBTJDBMMZNFDIBOJTUJD 1FSMTTUSFTTFEBIPMJTUJDBQQSPBDIUPQFSTPOBMJUZ 'SFVEGPDVTFEPOSFQSFTTFEJOUSBQTZDIJDDPOnJDUTGSPNFBSMZDIJMEIPPE XIFSFBT 1FSMTWBMVFEFYBNJOJOHUIFQSFTFOUTJUVBUJPO5IF(FTUBMUBQQSPBDIGPDVTFTNVDI Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. NPSFPOQSPDFTTUIBOPODPOUFOU5IFSBQJTUTEFWJTFFYQFSJNFOUTEFTJHOFEUPJO DSFBTFDMJFOUTBXBSFOFTTPGwhatUIFZBSFEPJOHBOEhowUIFZBSFEPJOHJU1FSMT BTTFSUFEUIBUIPXJOEJWJEVBMTCFIBWFJOUIFQSFTFOUNPNFOUJTGBSNPSFDSVDJBMUP