9. Gestalt approach in individual and family counseling.

1. Basic theoretical principles

The direction created by the American psychotherapist F. Perls under the influence of the ideas of Gestalt psychology, existentialism and psychoanalysis, in particular Reich's theory. F. Perls believed that a truly holistic view of man and psychotherapy requires substantial de-intellectualization. The constant desire to find out why something is happening, prevents people from experiencing how it is happening. Explanation is a feature of the intellect that is not related to understanding. The anti-intellectualism of F. Perls is reflected in his famous aphorism: “Forget about your mind and trust your feelings.”

To maintain harmony with oneself and the world around us, a person needs to trust the wisdom of his body: listen to the needs of his body and not interfere with their implementation.

The emergence and satisfaction of needs is seen as the rhythm of the formation and completion of gestalt. A person who chronically interferes with the satisfaction of the needs of his body becomes a neurotic. He directs all his efforts to the realization of the I-concept created for him by other people, especially close ones, which he eventually begins to take for his true "I".

In gestalt therapy, there are five mechanisms of violation of the process of self-regulation:

1. Introjection. A person learns the feelings, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, assessments, norms, patterns of behavior of other people, which, however, conflicting with their own experience, are not assimilated by the individual. This unassimilated experience - introject - is an alien part of his personality for a person. The earliest introjects are parental teachings that are learned by a child without critical thinking. Over time, it becomes difficult to distinguish introjects and their own beliefs.

2. Projection is the exact opposite of introjection. The person alienates the qualities inherent in him, because they do not correspond to his concept of self, and projects them onto other people. This is due to the rigid Yaconception. Emotions, attitudes or behavioral elements that do not correspond to or threaten such an I-concept are alienated and projected outwardly, and the “holes” that arise due to this are filled by introjection. This mechanism is associated with a denial of responsibility for their actions and an attempt to shift responsibility to the environment for what is happening to a person (“something pushed me to this,” “something made me do it”). A person sees the world and other people cold, hostile, aggressive, while these are his own feelings.

3. Retroflection (“turning on oneself”) is observed in cases when any needs cannot be satisfied due to their blocking by the social environment, and then the energy intended for manipulation in the external environment is directed towards itself. So often happens with aggressive feelings. The retroflection is manifested in muscle clamps. The initial conflict between the “I” and others becomes an intrapersonal conflict. An indicator of retroflection is the use of expressions like “I have to force myself to do it” in speech.

4. Reflexion - avoiding real contact with other people. It is expressed in the form of salon conversations, talkativeness, jestering, ritual and conditional behavior, the tendency to “smooth out” conflict situations, etc.

5. Confluence (fusion) is expressed in erasing the boundaries between the “I” and the environment. Such people hardly distinguish their feelings, thoughts, desires from others. They fully identify with the group. When describing their behavior, they are characterized by the use of the pronoun “we” instead of “me”.

As a result of these mechanisms, the personality is fragmented, divided into separate chats. F. Perls described the conflict between the “attacker” and the “defender”. An “attacker” is an introject of parental teachings and expectations that dictate to a person what he should do and how. “The defender” is a dependent, insecure part of the personality, fighting with various tricks, procrastination, like “I'll do it tomorrow,” “I promise ...”, “Yes, but ...”, “I will try ...”

According to F. Perls, the neurosis consists of 5 levels (layers) through which the process of therapy must pass on the way to the opening by the client of his true individuality.

1. The level of fake relationships, the level of games and roles.

2. Phobic. This level is associated with the realization of "false" behavior and manipulation. But when a person imagines what the consequences may be, when a person begins to behave sincerely, a sense of fear envelops him.

3. Deadlock, stalemate. Having passed the first two levels, having ceased to play roles not peculiar to him, having refused to pretend to be himself, a person begins to experience a feeling of emptiness and non-existence. He is on the third level in a trap and with a feeling of being lost. A person is experiencing a loss of support from the outside. But he is not yet ready or does not want to use his resources.

4. Implosion. This is the level at which a person with grief, despair, self-loathing can come to a complete understanding of how he has limited and suppressed himself. At this level, a person may experience the fear of death or even the feeling that he is dying.

5. Explosion. Reaching this level means that the person has become an authentic person, that he has gained the ability to experience and express his emotions. Explosion is a deep and intense emotional experience that brings relief and returns emotional balance.

In the process of gestalt therapy, the most important issue is the mobilization of its own resources. The basic idea of ​​the concept of changing an individual can be expressed in the following formulation: “Change occurs when you become who you are, not when you try to become what you are not.” This is the main idea of ​​all gestalt therapy.

2. Consulting techniques

The main goal of gestalt therapy is to integrate fragmented parts of the personality.

Technical procedures in gestalt therapy are called games. Their function is that they contribute to confrontation with meaningful content and experiences. In the process of games, clients “try on” different roles, alternately identify with various significant feelings and experiences, alienated parts of the personality and introjects.

The most famous are the following games:

1. Dialogue with parts of the self — aggressive and passive, “attacker” and “defending.” It can be a dialogue with one’s own feeling, for example with fear, parts or organs of one’s own body, with an imaginary person significant to the client. Opposite to the chair on which the client is sitting (“hot chair”) there is an empty chair on which they put the imaginary interlocutor. The client alternately changes chairs, losing the dialogue, trying to identify himself with the various parts of his personality.

2. Making circles. The client is invited to circle in a circle a number of persons on any matter of concern to him. For example, find out how others assess it, what they think about it, and express their own feelings towards these others.

3. Unfinished business. Most often, complaints and complaints about others that arise when some of our feelings or needs have been infringed are considered as unfinished, unfinished business, but our education does not allow us to adequately respond to the accumulated emotions. The client is offered to express his claims, feelings, and resentments to the imaginary interlocutor using the “empty chair”.

4. Projective game. When a client declares that another person has a certain feeling or character trait, they are asked to check if this is not his projection. He is offered to play a projection, that is, to try this feeling or feature on himself. For example, if a client says: “I feel pity for this person,” he is asked to play the role of a person causing pity, approaching different people, and interacting with them.

5. Revealing the opposite (reversion). Explicit client behavior often has the nature of protection, hiding opposing trends. The client is invited to play the role opposite to that which he usually demonstrates.

6. Exercise on imagination using the projection process - the game "Old abandoned store." The client is asked to close his eyes, relax, then imagine that late at night he walks along a small street past an old abandoned shop, and describe the item found outside the window. Then he is offered to imagine himself with this object and to describe his feelings in the first person, to answer the question of why he was left in the store, what his existence as this object looks like.

7. Perception "here and now." Gestalt therapy methods help the client to perceive the world now, and not in the past or the future. Although past experiences are also discussed, dreams of the future are focused on their connection with current, momentary sensations and experiences. If the client talks about any events of the past, then he can be asked to transfer the action into the present with the help of fantasy and tell about the events as if they are happening at the moment.