Gestalt Therapy Case Study: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Gestalt therapy is an existential and phenomenological approach that basis it's principles on the "here and now" state of mind. It has the belief that humans are able and have the desire to form their own solutions to conflicts they experience, as well as being able to learn and grow from them along the way. During the use of Gestalt therapy, past experiences are not looked at, but more so the focus is on what is being said and done at the moment. The primary focus is on the process of helping the client develop techniques to help them learn how to process what's taking place in the present moment whether its in the therapeutic relationship or what's happening in their life at that moment. Applying this type of therapy to the case study presented

It focuses on teaching skills to alter dysfunctional thinking and behavior. CBT practitioners believe that the way individuals react to a certain situation, is not due to the situation but more so on how the individual perceives (views) the situation. The therapeutic goal of CBT is to change cognition to produce desired change in affect and behavior. Applying CBT to this case, therapist would conceptualize that Julie's behavior is triggered through her thought process. For example, events do not cause a behavior, but thoughts and beliefs do. In Julies case her negative thoughts ( useless, I' going no-where1, etc.) are leading to her developing feelings of being low and unmotivated, to which than leads to her withdrawing herself from her surroundings. Julie is struggling with emotions and thoughts of being held back or stuck, to which she approaches all daily tasks as being unenjoyable or as being too much effort. Through her thought process, Julie is causing her behavior of not trying to work through her struggles and just withdrawing as a solution. In order to see affect and behavioral change in Julie's daily task and efforts, her cognition/thought must be changed to help better the

Prior to actually proceeding with the treatment the therapist must establish a directive and active role towards the client, so that they both are able to collaboratively work together to resolve problems that the client is trying to target. The best treatment approach for the problems that Julie is showing would be to teach her healthier techniques to prevent her from relying on her negative thinking, and behavior. This can be done by belief/thought reconstruction. When Julie is made aware of her negative thinking , she than can restructure her thought process to help reduce her maladaptive behavior. Since Julie has been using the coping strategies of withdrawal, the goal is to get her to reach a adaptive coping strategies. Hopefully, through the process of changing negative thoughts, Julie will be able to apply this to her daily tasks and be able to resume the life she cares about. Though reconstruction of the thought process is affective, the therapist should also try to address the problem of Julie not partaking in functions (withdrawal from environment). Julie reported that she has stopped going to outings with her friend, and has stopped doing the things she used to enjoy. During treatment there should be a focus on trying to re-establish activity. This can be done by sitting down with Julie and re-establishing activities she once