Chapter 7 - Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Therapy was founded by Laura Perls. Gestaly Therapy is an Existential/Humanistic approach to human functioning. Individuals strive to meet physical and emotional needs. There is a cycle of need emergence. Individuals often avoid contact or situations which creates holes and unmet needs. Individuals tend to avoid by introjecting, projection, deflecting, retroflecting, or moving into confluence. The goal is for clients to become aware of what they are doing, how they are doing it, and how they can change themselves, and at the same time, to learn to accept and value themselves.

Gestalt Therapy emphasizes the importance of the client to increase awareness in both him/herself and his/her environment. This theory may apply to a PK-12 setting in many ways. One example would be a student who is fidgeting or distracting others in class. It may be helpful to simply ask the student if he/she realizes that they are distracting others. When the student admits that they never realized, the Gestalt technique of Exaggeration may help. When the student starts fidgeting, tell him/her to exaggerate the behavior so they become more aware of the tendency. This will help the student to realize when they are doing the adverse behavior, so they can stop.

Video: Gestalt Session
By using role-playing, the client uses a Gestalt Approach. The counselor has the client talk to a chair as if the chair was her mother, and they talk about how much energy she invests in pleasing her mother. The counselor points out the clients behaviors and repeats what the client says so the client can really hear what she's saying. The counselor also points out how her tone changes and how she seems more lively, and that it seems easier for her to talk about her dad rather than her mother. The client seems to be deflecting talking about and experiencing her feelings about her mother.