Gestalt Therapy

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Gestalt Therapy
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Examples of Gestalt and Reality Therapy

• Gestalt Therapy
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vReJhR4XIKh0
• The Gestalt Prayer
• I do my thing, and you do your thing.
• I am not in this world to live up to your
  expectations
• And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
• You are you, I am I,
• And if by chance we find each other, its
  beautiful.
• If not, it cant be helped.

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Life of Frederick Fritz Perls (1893-1970)

• Middle child and only son
• Happy childhood somewhat strained relationship
  w/ father due to rebellious nature
• Failed 7th grade twice and expelled
• Completed medical school and served in WWI as a
  medic
• War experiences influenced humanistic behavior,
  but also contributed to cynicism about human
  nature
• During a brief conversation w/ Freud, Perls felt
  humiliated by him, perhaps spurring his passion
  to disprove Freuds theory
• Wife Lore (Laura) Perls contributed to Perls
  writings

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Gestalt therapy founded in reaction to

• Behaviorism in the US
• Rising popularity of psychoanalysis
• Gestalt believed that society supported quack
  therapy with quick-fixes

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View of human nature

• We do not experience things in isolated pieces,
  but in meaningful intact configurations
• Client is in the here and now, and always in the
  process of being what she/he is here and now, and
  becoming the person she/he can be
• Humans have the ability to change and are be
  responsible for their own choices

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Healthy behavior

• is when a person is able to be fully aware of
  who they are while, at the same time, being able
  to make genuine contact with others
• when people act and react as total organisms
  unfragmented and self-regulating

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Psychopathology via the Gestalt Perspective

• There are five layers or levels of
  psychopathology
• The cliché layer of appearing/acting what you are
  not
• The phony-level where we play games act as if
  and give up actualizing themselves, use
  polarities
• The impasse- we are stuck in our own maturation
  and have no chance of survival
• The implosive-is a level of is the dead part of
  us which needs to be shed, that is the part of us
  that is our identity
• The explosive- is the last level where by the
  person has shed their old habits and character
  releasing tremendous energy allowing the person
  to experience full joy and sorrow

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Role of Therapist

• Therapists engage clients in developing their own
  awareness and experiencing their feelings in the
  present
• Therapists pay attention to clients body language
  to provide clues to feelings about situations
  look for contradictions (saying you are in pain
  and laughing, saying you are mad and smiling,
  etc.)
• Therapist does not ask why but what and how
• Helps client identify energy blocks in the body
  and encourages the release of energy

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Gestalt Therapeutic Techniques

• Games dialogue- pt. carry on dialogue between
  polarities of their personality e.g..M/F
• I take responsibility- pt.are ask to end every
  statement with I take responsibility for it
• Playing the projection- pt plays the role of
  another person
• Reversals- pt act out the opposite of the way
  they are to expose some hidden polarities
• Rehearsals-pt reveals to the group the social
  role playing
• Marriage and counseling game- spouses take turns
  revealing the most positive and negative things
  about each other
• May I feed you a sentence-therapist asks
  permission to repeat and try on for size a sig.
  statement about the pt.
• Empty chair- pt is asked to play one or more
  roles and speaks for each role, moving btwn
  chairs

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Reality Therapy
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Example of Reality Therapy
Reality Therapy http//video.google.com/videoplay?
docid-2387871371208231019qrealitytherapytotal
106start0num10so0typesearchplindex0
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Life of William Glasser (1925-)
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Reality Therapy

• The essence of Reality Therapy is the acceptance
  of responsibility for a persons own behavior
  which enables the individual to achieve success
  and happiness.

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Reality Therapy Client

• Someone who is unable to fulfill needs in a
  realistic way and has taken some less than
  realistic way in unsuccessful attempts to do so.
• They are either unvalued in a present unsatisfied
  relationship, or
• Lack what would even be called a relationship.
• All clients have the same issues that are
  manifested differently through different coping
  mechanisms

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Behavior

• All we do is behave almost all behavior is
  chosen and we are driven to satisfy our five
  basic needs
• Survival
• Love
• Belonging
• Power
• Freedom
• Fun

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Unhealthy behavior is when

• Client choses unhealthy behaviors to deal with
  feelings of disconnectedness
• Mental illness should only refer to issues of
  the brain treated by a neurologist alcohol,
  depression, bipolar are not mental illnesses but
  the behaviors in which a person has chosen to
  express their unhappiness

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Role of Therapist

• Give self not service
• Doesnt accept mental illness - each person is
  responsible for behavior
• Focuses of Here Now
• Increases clients self-esteem
• Accepts and respects
• Builds confidence and trust
• Increases openness, integrity honesty

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Basic Foundation for Counseling

• Counselors using Reality Therapy encourage trust
  in the counseling relationship, promote the view
  that we are responsible for our own actions and
  help develop practical steps for quick
  improvement.

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Major Components of Reality Therapy

• Focus on present
• Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints
• Understand total behavior
• Avoid criticizing, blaming, and/or complaining
• Remain non-judgmental and non-coercive
• No excuses
• Focus on specifics
• Making plans
• Be patient

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Choice Theory (Goal is to replace the seven
deadly habits with the seven caring habits)
Seven Deadly Habits Criticizing Blaming Complainin
g Nagging Threatening Punishing Bribing or
Rewarding to Control
Seven Caring Habits Supporting Encouraging Listeni
ng Accepting Trusting Respecting Negotiating
Differences
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Reality Theory Paradigm