Gestalt therapy is a type of therapy used to deepen our awareness of ourselves. According to O’Connor and Braverman, (2009) “Gestalt" implies wholeness. “Gestalt therapy is a process-oriented, experiential therapy that is concerned with the integrated functioning of all aspects of the person: senses, body, emotions and intellect.”
Gestalt therapy can help shed light on suppressed feelings by helping us to focus our awareness on our feelings in the “here and now.” Once recognized, resolution of uncomfortable feelings, correction of habitual negative behavior patterns, and recognizing and changing negative thought processes can become a part of the therapeutic work. Through this form of therapeutic process, individuals can become better equipped to understand themselves and make better or healthier choices, thus creating a unity of mind, body and spirit.
When the theory is applied to taking of responsibility for one’s own problematic issues and life experiences, in coming to own them, exploring them from all sides, feeling them to the fullest, and then making choices and finding a way out of difficulties, the contributions of a caring therapist contribute significantly to the process of Gestalt Play therapy.
Individuals identify with only one side of an internal conflict, the Gestalt process assumes that becoming attuned to both sides and claiming ownership of both views can result in resolving difficulties without force, with naturally unfolding solutions. In thinking of problems as a whole, Max Wertheimer (Miller, 1975) considered cognition to occur in productive and reproductive ways. Productive cognition is problem solving with insight, a simultaneous, insightful response to situati...
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2011 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 307.47-Other dysfunctions of sleep stages or arousal f from sleep. Retrieved from http://www.icd9data.com/2011/Volume1/290-3 19/300-316/307/307.47.htm
Kalff, Dora. (2003) Sandplay: A Psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche. Temenos Press, Cloverdale, CA.
Lowenfeld, M. (1991) Play in Childhood. MacKeith Press, London.
Miller, A. (1975) Albert Einstein and Max Wertheimer: a Gestalt psychologist's view of the genesis of special relativity theory. History of science; an Annual Review of Literature, Research and Teaching 13 (2): 75–103. PMID 11610002.
Oaklander, V. (1988) Windows to Our Children: A Gestalt Therapy Approach to Children and Adolescents. The Gestalt Journal Press; Gouldsboro, Maine.
Psychoanalysis is a unique form of psychological treatment founded by Sigmund Freud and later modified by his followers including Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Harry Stack-Sullivan (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Although there is no one psychoanalytic theory Wedding and Corsini (2013) tell us that there are basic principles that tend to be found throughout different psychoanalytic perspectives. They note that psychodynamic perspectives emphasize ideas of the unconscious and the ability to increase choice by facilitating an awareness of unconscious motivations. Psychodynamic perspectives tend to focus on the client’s use of defense mechanisms like projection, reaction formation, splitting, intellectualization, repression, transference, and resistance as a way of avoiding painful fantasies, feelings, and thoughts (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Such perspectives embrace the assumption that people are ambivalent about change and emphasize the importance of exploring that ambivalence (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). In addition, the therapeutic relationship is viewed as a vehicle of change; one that can be used for exploring both unconscious (primary) and conscious (secondary) self-defeating processes and actions (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Transference and countertransference are viewed as essential therapeutic tools (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Psyc...
The theory of therapy that I have personalized and developed is that of an Integrative Play Therapy Approach (IPT). Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin & McTaggart Bryan (2015) describe this method as an approach which utilizes a combination of two or more therapeutic styles. This will allow my personal theory to be customized as needed to meet varying client needs. In developing my individual theoretical orientation of therapy, I took into consideration my experiences within the field and my previous education, as well as my own values, personality traits and my natural therapeutic style. Additionally, the setting in which this therapeutic style is being utilized is taken into account. Given this, it is important to highlight that my approach will
Our text book, Systems of Psychotherapy, describes psychotherapy as “…the informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpersonal stances derived from established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirable.”
The rapport and friendship built throughout this movie is vital to the success of the therapy exhibited here. This is a great example of Gestalt therapeutic approach and helps to identify most of the techniques incorporated. The techniques and ways of gently confronting but pushing a client all the way through are very beneficial to each viewer of this film.
Rye N. Child-Centred Play Therapy. In: JH Stone, M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. 2010.
In consequence, humanists and existentialists argue that people who mostly receive judgment and criticism for their behaviors are more vulnerable to developing a psychological disorder because they fail to recognize their worth (Comer, 2016, pg. 110). Overall, the humanistic-existential treatment model objective is to change clients’ harsh self-standards as they gain self-awareness and self-acceptance by valuing and giving meaning to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Comer, 2016, pg. 110). The main types of therapy for this model are client-centered therapy, gestalt therapy, and existential therapy. In these type of treatments, practitioners avoid giving personal remarks and their opinions, because they allow the client to control the session by creating a supportive and warm atmosphere in which clients are able to accept their weaknesses as well as their strengths while critiquing themselves honestly in an attempt to find their own solutions (Comer, 2016,
The most concise way to characterize Gestalt psychology is to say that it deals with wholes and its given data are what have been called phenomena. It is because of their strong phenomenological orientation, which explains that wholes are experienced by conscious man and not in parts. For example, in perceiving a melody one gets a melodic form, not a string or a note, a unitary whole that is something more important than the total list of its parts. This is the way experience comes to man, organizing it into significant structured form.
Your therapist will not judge or try to interpret what you say, but may restate your words in an attempt to fully understand your thoughts and feelings. When you hear your own words repeated back to you, you may then wish to self-edit and clarify your meaning. This may happen several times until you decide that you have expressed exactly what you are thinking and how you feel. There may be moments of silence to allow your thoughts to sink in. This client-focused process facilitates your self-discovery, self-acceptance, and a provides a means toward healing and positive growth. Person-centered therapy was a movement away from the therapist’s traditional role—as an expert and leader—toward a process that allows clients to use their own understanding of their experiences as a platform for
Gestalt therapy can be described as process active, experiential work and can help shed light on suppressed feelings by helping us focus our awareness on feelings in the present. In working through negative the client can realize negative behavior patterns that may have become ingrained. Understanding the relationship between what we tell ourselves (bad gestalts) and negative thought processes and can become a part of the healing process. Through this form of therapeutic process, individuals can become better equipped to understand themselves and make better or healthier choices, creating a unity of mind, body and spirit.
Gestalt therapy is existential, phenomenological, and process-based approach created on the premise that individuals must be understood in the context of their ongoing relationship with the environment. Awareness, choice and responsibility are the cornerstone of practice (Corey, 2013).
A hundred years ago, a young married couple sat at a kitchen table talking over the items of the day while their young boy sat listening earnestly. He had heard the debate every night, and while there were no raised voices, their discussion was intense. It was a subject about which his parents were most passionate - the electrodynamics of moving bodies in the universe. The couple were of equal intelligence and fortitude, working together on a theory that few people can comprehend even to this day. Mileva Maric Einstein was considered to be the intellectual equal of her husband Albert, but somehow went unrecognized for her contributions to the 1905 Papers, which included the Special Theory of Relativity. The stronger force of these two bodies would be propelled into the archives of scientific history, while the other would be left to die alone, virtually unknown. Mrs. Einstein was robbed. She deserved to be recognized for at least a collaborative effort, but it was not to be. The role which society had accorded her and plain, bad luck would prove to be responsible for the life of this great mathematician and scientist, gone unnoticed.
This is a counselling method used to help youngsters communicate their inner experiences through using toys and play. Nondirective play therapy is a non-pathologizing technique founded on the belief that youngsters have the internal drive to attain wellness (Petruk, 2009). Play therapy is grounded on the theory that play is a youngster’s language, the toys considered the words a youngster uses to express or show their inner experiences and how they experience and perceive the world. Within a play session, and throughout the course of sessions, themes develop in the youngster’s play, giving the therapist insight into the child’s feelings, thoughts, experiences, and interpretations of their world (Petruk,
The main goal (though this theory is not as goal-oriented as some other theories) of this theory is to expand a client’s awareness of their here and now. The attempt is to get the client to become more aware of what they are thinking, feeling, and doing. A big saying that is often said when thinking of gestalt therapy is that people are always
Gestalt and TA concept have been widely recognized for their role in psychotherapy. In this context, they provide the therapist with a framework which can be used to help their patients overcome mental problems and issues. As result, personal growth and development is likely to be attained. Their significance is illuminated by the fact that both of them encourage the patient’s ‘here and now’ awareness, which is fundamental in personal development (Brenner 2000).