PSYchology

How we Gestalt therapists work. Subjective notes of the Gestalt therapist.

We have a few basic views:

  1. The client comes with the usual way of contact. Everything that he does and feels during the session (to himself and to others) is his secondary physiology, his habit, this is what he already knows, what he has learned.
  2. The client’s request is associated with the inability to satisfy their needs. At some point, he interrupts himself. Interruptions indicate unfinished situations, internal conflict.
  3. The client comes «on the head». Those. he tries to solve his problems by thinking, which almost always leads to a dead end, exhausting and does not bring the desired results.
  4. Any work begins with the establishment of a trusting relationship of cooperation.
  5. Any work begins with the client’s awareness of his body and feelings, which explicitly contain unfinished situations.
  6. The therapist is more interested in what the client does not yet know about himself.
  7. Contact is the basic concept. Healthy Contact Criteria:- relevance (a person speaks and acts in accordance with what is important for him at the moment, i.e. relies on his feelings and needs), — responsibility (a person speaks about himself and makes his own choice, refuses to accuse, evaluate, interpret and indicate what the other should do), — awareness (a person is aware of what he is currently doing and relies only on facts). Criteria for broken contact: all types of resistance.
  8. The work is based on trial and error, on actions that awaken feelings and memories, on reacting with pent-up feelings, on living unfinished situations.
  9. A person has several dimensions — bodily, emotional, rational, social, spiritual. The goal of therapy is to harmonize these dimensions.
  10. Aggression is a basic life force. Work is being done to restore this vitality. It is believed that any illness, like any interruption in the satisfaction of one’s needs, is a turn of a person’s own aggression on himself.
  11. The therapist encourages the expression of feelings for others because there is no other way to become more alive and happy.
  12. The therapist promotes the assignment of responsibility because there is no other way to deal with disappointment.
  13. The therapist encourages acceptance of the facts because there is no other way to avoid confusion. And for this you need to return to point 11.
  14. The balance of frustration and support is necessary in order for the client’s strengths to be realized. When a dad teaches his son to ride a bike, he supports the bike and thus the son, and is frustrated when he lets go of his hands. Sometimes the therapist provokes the client, and this is the frustration that creates resentment and resolve.

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