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Gestalt
Therapy
In
simplified terms, gestalt means that the whole of a thing is
greater than the sum of its parts. Founded originally by
Max Wertheimer in 1924, Gestalt Theory asserts irreducible
complexity to human existence that is beyond the evidential
conclusions of scientific deduction. Learning, according
to Gestalt psychology, is a continuing process where humans
gather objective pieces of information, and then “fill in
the gaps” to make a whole. This illumination of a whole
from incomplete parts is what Gestaltists call
figure-ground. The “figure” is the concept, and the
“ground” is the background the concept exists upon. Because
we frequently perceive our world in incomplete ways, it is
an inevitable part of human experience to fill in missing
elements from our perceptions with subjectively created
information as to formulate a completed concept in our
minds. When a whole concept is put together from
incomplete fragments, it is known to be a complete Gestalt.
However, often in human experience, there are not enough
pieces in place (incomplete figure) or the background is too
prominent (obscured figure) for illumination to occur, and
as such, the individual cannot complete the Gestalt. From
this philosophy, Fritz Perls, throughout the mid twentieth
century, developed what is today known as Gestalt therapy,
which is a process that ultimately attempts to address the
problem of incomplete Gestalts that encumber the lives of
people.
At its heart, Gestalt therapy attempts to guide
individuals into a state of growth and maturity through an
emphasis on self, its ultimate goal being that each
individual reaches states of completed Gestalts in his or
her life. Because at its very nature, a complete Gestalt
requires subjective information that “fills in gaps”, it is
in this regard, then, that individuals can only reach higher
states of self-actualization by embracing
self-responsibility, relying less on others, and integrating
ones own parts into a greater self whole. Key to achieving
this objective is a critical emphasis on awareness, for
without it, none of the goals of therapy could be met. In
fact, it would not be errant to state that the entire
process of Gestalt therapy is formulated around concept of
awareness; it is the one common element in all of Gestalt’s
therapeutic forms. For it is only through awareness that
one can see a complete “figure” rise up against the
“ground”. In this regard, an emphasis is also placed on
boundaries, as an individual is in a healthier state when
there is a clear awareness of the end of one Gestalt and the
beginning of another.
Techniques of Gestalt therapy stress and occur in
the here-and-now. Historical and future considerations are
de-emphasized and clients are directed into being made aware
of the present. Therapists direct their patients to make
contact with their environment, their surroundings, and
their feelings, simply to touch reality, as it exists right
now, in the present. Any increase in awareness, whether
suddenly realizing an existing emotion previously not
understood, or simply noticing a soft background noise
previously unheard, is considered growth. Counselors may
ask awareness oriented questions, or use any combination of
verbal and non-verbal behavior, enactment or self-dialogue
(i.e. the “empty chair” method) that is directed towards
increasing client awareness of the present. The utilization
of creativity is also a strong technique to this end, as it
encourages one to reach a greater self-awareness through the
process of integrating one’s own internal uniqueness into
objective reality.
The relationship between client and counselor in
Gestalt therapy is similar to Rogerian theory. An effective
Gestalt therapist must be in tune with the client’s senses
and emotions. This requires a high degree of empathy to
exist on the part of the therapist. Dialogue in a Gestalt
session exists for the counselor to understand the feelings
and sensations of the client, so that higher levels of
awareness can be illuminated in the client.
While Gestalt therapy has many forms making it a
versatile tool, some also consider its broad nature to be
its weakness, for it lacks a formalized system of
techniques. Furthermore, Gestalt therapy has come under
criticism for its superficiality and over-emphasis on
present sensations and lack of analysis that some say are
not indicative of depth. It is also important to note that
many proponents of Gestalt psychology view the works of
Fritz Perls as being disharmonious with true gestalt
theory. While Gestalt theory states that human personality
has irreducible complexity, Gestalt therapy, on the other
hand, emphasizes a strong humanistic and existential
approach, discarding much of the original philosophy.
Personal
Evaluation
Gestalt
psychology to me is one of the strongest pro-Christian
theories in secular psychology. It acknowledges numerous
ineffable qualities of human existence. If a scientist
could replicate someone, so that every atom and every
particle in the replication was identical to the original,
would the clone have the same memories, the same beliefs,
and the same mind? A true secular scientist would
emphatically say yes, since the definition of mind is merely
the components of the brain, fully explained by natural
law.
Christians
understand, however, that there exists an immaterial
component to human existence beyond the scope of observable
science. Gestalt theory affirms this vital concept.
Consider the abortion argument. Why is an unborn child more
valuable than simply a mass of salt water, carbon, and
nitrogen? While Gestalt may not recognize God as the
ultimate source of value, it at least does acknowledge there
are macro truths in a world that cannot be explained merely
through microanalysis, a lesser light of general revelation.
While I agree with Gestalt theory, the form of
therapy as proposed by Fritz, sadly, is another story. I
agree completely that people often do not see the “big
picture” (have an incomplete Gestalt). I also agree that a
crucial goal in counselling is to lead a client into a path
that illuminates this picture. However, the idea that this
illumination can only come through self-introspection and an
extreme focus on awareness of the here and now is dangerous
and limiting, respectively.
The danger of self-introspection as a means to
complete a Gestalt is that, even though a Gestalt may be
completed for the individual, it may still be false. Fritz
Pearls does not address this notion of a false Gestalt.
While I agree that, it is human nature to ‘fill in the gaps’
when pieces are missing, it does not necessitate that the
final picture will be true. How much damage has been done
to marriages and families simply because things are assumed
about someone else that simply aren’t true. In fact, the
more that we subjectively “fill in the gaps” to complete a
missing picture, the more dangerous it becomes that the
final picture may be false. I can call the moon red all I
want. I can become “aware” of its redness; I can get in
touch with my inner self and “discover” how red it is.
However, in the end, even though I may be sincere in my
subjective awareness, I am still wrong in my conclusion.
If I see my wife behaving in a strange way, I can formulate
all the Gestalts I want. I may even reach a complete
Gestalt about her behavior simply through my own
self-introspection and awareness of her actions.
Nevertheless, until I communicate to her, until I gather
from her additional information, I have no confidence that
my complete Gestalt is a true Gestalt. The self-alone is
not a complete sourcing for truth, but instead a capable
source for deception.
A final flaw in Gestalt Therapy that I see is its
emphatic prominence of the present, and its disregard of
past or future events. It seems to me that Fritz simply
could not see that this teaching violates the very
principles of Gestalt theory. Consider this simple
example. Let’s say that one morning, while walking through
a park, you saw a hundred red-painted stakes in a perfectly
straight line rising from the grass, east to west. The next
day, the same hundred stakes were in another straight line,
this time from north to south and at right angles from the
line the previous day. The next day, the line of stakes
goes from east to west again, only this time beginning on
the north side of the field. You are not surprised when, on
the fourth day, that line of stakes completes a perfect
square. Gestalt theory fully explains this. Gestalt
therapy, however, cannot. Fritz failed in his attempt to translate into therapy what I believe is a very Christian-friendly theory. Fritz would ignore the past and simply focus on the present...a line of stakes. Yet in reality, the true gestalt was a square, not a line. In gestalt theory (not therapy), the notion of
time as an essential dimension to completing concepts is
accounted for.
Wolfgang
Kohler cited an example of a lighted sign of several dots
that that blink off and on in such a fashion that it appears
to be a single light moving from one side of the sign to the
other. In this case, the human observer uses the element of
time in order to complete the Gestalt. In Gestalt therapy,
since the emphasis is only on the present, each time you
walked through the park, the most you would come away with
would be a “line of stakes”. Fritz’s Gestalt therapy would
not be sufficient enough to guide you to the more accurate
Gestalt of “a square of stakes”. So while I admire and agree with many of the principles in Gestal theory, Fritz, however, falls drastically short of applying them properly in therapy. Fritz took a great theory, and dismantled it in his attempt to convert it to a form of therapy, so that the final result as crafted by Fritz is not a faithful reflection of the source. Fritz's therapy violates the very theory it was derived from.
I believe a Christian therapist has a vast wellspring of excellent principles to draw from when it comes to Gestalt theory. But drawing from Fritz, however, is another proposition. Due to its emphasis on
self and the present, I believe that Fritz’s therapeutic
processes are not an accurate reflection of true Gestalt
philosophy, but are a mish-mash of weakly applied Gestalt
principles, humanistic, and existential philosophy not
compatible with much of Christian truths. I believe that there still exists an empty realm where an innovate therapist can someday create a new (and more accurate) Gestalt Therapy that does not itself violate Gestalt Theory as Fritz did.
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