Gestalt Therapy: when mind, body and soul come together

Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that aims to guide you in awareness, self-realization, and management of your problems.. It is a holistic perspective of psychology itself that integrates fields as broad as emotional, social, sensory and even spiritual.

This humanist model has influences from Eastern, existential and phenomenological philosophy. Furthermore, place the focus on your present and not so much on the conflicts of the past. Created by Fritz Perls in the 1940s, it rose as an alternative to psychoanalysis more traditional. Below, we explain its bases and how this approach can help you.

The 5 pillars of Gestalt therapy

When Fritz Perls and his wife Laura Perls laid the foundations of Gestalt therapy, they started from a very basic principle. As the first explained in his book Dreams and existence: gestalt therapy (1974), The human being is a complete entity consisting of a body, a mind and a soul. Your well-being, therefore, depends on the balance of all these areas.

This school was a real revolution. The focus was no longer placed so much on the patient’s own responsibility for his or her discomfort. The environment also has a key significance in this suffering. The goal to guide the person towards wholeness started from the use of empathy and unconditional acceptance. Below, we describe the interesting pillars that support it.

1. Meaning of the term «Gestalt»

You may very well be wondering what this unique word means. “Gestalt” comes from German and means form or configuration. In the context of this therapy, it has to do with the way you process reality by giving a coherent and unified meaning to each isolated stimulus you perceive.

As described in the book Humanistic Psychotherapies, specifically in his chapter “Contemporary Gestalt therapy”, the purpose of this therapeutic model was to understand how you organize and interpret your perceived world. The goal, therefore, is none other than to guide you to build a more integrative meaning for your life and understand, in turn, one of its most distinctive mottos: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

2. The here and now

Gestalt therapy places a strong emphasis on the present moment. The here (spatial) and the now (temporal) are basic concepts from Eastern philosophy. This perspective encourages you to take charge of yourself to manage problems such as anxiety or stress, by downplaying events that occurred in the past or in future dimensions that have not yet happened.

3. Acceptance

For this therapeutic model it is essential that you learn to accept yourself. To this end, they offer you guidelines and tools so that you can identify your emotions and feelings without running away from them; even if you don’t like them and they make you uncomfortable. That way, if you feel anger, joy or rejection, the most important thing is to “realize” —key concept in this model.

Only then can you accept and understand what is happening to you at this precise moment in a more integrated and healthy way. But in case you don’t do it and those emotions get stuck, they will manifest themselves through psychosomatic disorders. And the suffering, of course, will intensify until it manifests itself in headaches, insomnia, muscle discomfort and so on.

In fact, you will be interested to know that Gestalt therapists, as highlighted in the journal Research in Psychotherapy Psychopathology, are specialized in treating those somatic symptoms that, apparently, lack explanation. Because many times, behind them, there are unintegrated, repressed realities that cause great anguish.

4. Responsibility

Being responsible means, according to the bases of this therapy, remaining present and aware.. This last term does not refer only to the perceptual aspect. It has to do with the ability to understand what is happening to you. All of this with the intention of taking control of your reality, acting on it and mediating your well-being.

Responsibility in Gestalt therapy is basic. It is sought at all times that you take charge of what you feel and what happens to you., without blaming others. From that moment on, you can make way for change to properly manage your circumstances and achieve well-being.

5. The therapeutic dialogue

In this type of psychotherapy the relationship between the therapist and the patient is essential for success.. It is an experience in which two growing identities interact, but where the professional, of course, must be skilled enough to help the other person through dialogue. Only in this way will it be possible to discover and shape that desired, fulfilled and healthy “I”.

Gestalt therapy pays more attention to how than to why. It focuses on the individual’s present, direct experience and how it relates to their emotions and thoughts in the current moment. This was quite a change compared to the psychoanalysis model.

How does Gestalt therapy work?

Gestalt therapy is still used today. In fact, from the magazine Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences they report that its benefits in enhancing self-efficacy in divorced women, for example, is positive. It is, without a doubt, a very useful resource to promote empowerment during life changes and transitions.

The way this model works depends on the needs of each patient. Generally, it is based on a prior evaluation to detect the problem and the most conflictive aspects in order to make way for integration. That is, promoting a more complete and healthy vision of the person. Below, we describe their techniques:

Dialogue between parties: This resource is very useful for exploring the relationship between different problem areas of the individual’s personality. In this way it is possible to understand their internal conflicts and difficulties.Empty chair: This therapeutic tool will interest you due to its originality. It allows the person to explore and express their internal wounds, unresolved issues or unregulated emotions, through the representation of people. An example of this is imagining that a family member who hurt you is sitting in front of you in a chair. Next, he should think about what he would say to her.Exaggeration: In this case, the therapist asks the person to exaggerate certain movements or behaviors in order to become aware of their distorted patterns.Self-reflection: thanks to this valuable therapeutic exercise it is possible to get in touch with your own internal processes and discover how they affect your behavior and interpersonal relationships. Sandwich technique: technique responsible for giving a feedback constructive. It consists of first offering a positive comment, a posteriori, a critical or negative comment and finally another positive comment. The objective is to seek to balance criticism, using an assertive basis to get the message across. Projection game: consists of helping the person identify their own projections in other people or in different situations. The goal is for people to realize that their anticipations may not be completely reliable and to learn to self-observe and take responsibility for their cognitions and feelings. Creative coping: responds to helping the person deal with situations more effectively. creative and constructive. The goal is for new neural connections to take place to address problems and not fall into repeating patterns.

Gestalt psychotherapy by Claudio Naranjo

Claudio Naranjo was an influential Chilean psychiatrist and therapist who made important contributions to Gestalt therapy.. He stood out for expanding and enriching the field with his ideas and perspectives. As an example, it is worth noting that he introduced the enneagram of personality to the West, and that he laid the foundations for what we know as attachment therapy.

His book Character and Neurosis (2011) is one of his best-known works in the search that always defined him to better understand personality and consciousness. Below, we leave you some contributions from his work. They are ideas, phrases and concepts that are as inspiring as they are illustrative about the purposes of the therapy that he developed:

Live now and worry about the present more than the past or the future. Live here, relate more to the present than to the absent. Stop imagining: experience the real. Abandon unnecessary thoughts; feel and observe. Choose to express before manipulating, explaining, before justifying or judging. Surrender to displeasure and pain as much as to pleasure; do not restrict your ability to feel. Take responsibility for your actions, feelings and thoughts. The mirror is not the same as its reflection. Being is not the same as appearing.

Is it an effective therapy?

It is interesting that you know something: Gestalt therapy is often criticized a lot in certain areas of psychology. For many it lacks a scientific basis, however, The fact that it lacks empirical, valid and effective support does not mean that it does not provide benefits to patients.. Because the truth is that it does so in certain areas.

Analysis published in the Open Journal of Social Sciences reports that it is useful in the group therapy environment. Improves behavior in certain clinical conditions and social problems. It is not recommended, for example, in situations such as eating disorders (ED) or personality disorders. We highlight in which areas it can help you:

personal development and self-knowledge, empowerment in moments of crisis, enhancing self-esteem, clarifying goals, facing moments of change, greater emotional understanding, regulation of behavior, development of personal skills, promoting general well-being, relational problems, knowing the origin of psychosomatic discomfort, improvement in attention.

The Gestalt approach, an interesting model

It is very possible that this model will spark your interest. It is a psychotherapy that can complement more solid approaches supported by science. In your life, it is always of great value that you enhance aspects such as self-knowledge and self-awareness. They are tools that mediate well-being and that will offer you greater security in this complex and uncertain reality.

For our part, We definitely recommend that you discover the Gestalt universe through the books of Fritz Perls and Claudio Naranjo.. His works are endowed with great wisdom and luminous words that encourage reflection. They are contributions that can also help you better navigate difficult times. Don’t hesitate to enjoy them.

You might be interested…