Humanistic approaches 2
Part 1
Gestalt therapy
Goals of therapy
The only goal is to raise individual awareness (Yonteff & Jacobs, 2014)
Awareness of particular areas and awareness of awareness
o Self-regulation and growth
Paradoxical theory of change:
o Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become
what he is not (Beisser, 1970)
Authenticity and wholeness
Being in touch with that existential centre
Therapeutic process
Exploration, experimentation rather than ‘goal oriented’
Clients need to become much more aware of who they are as people
The process focuses on the what and how and here and now
o Phenomenological inquiry
Part of a direct experience
And they’re the person at the present centre
Perls used relatively showman like processes as he liked the idea of actors putting on
a ‘mask’ as they’re performing and this is reciprocated through Perls’ therapeutic
techniques
Therapeutic techniques
Awareness technique
o Body language – e.g. Gloria
‘stay with it’
Exaggeration
‘I take responsibility for it’
He would often ask if she was aware of her body language such as
moving feet and would follow up with the above statements to try
and gain focus on these particular emotions and let them take
responsibility for their emotion, body language or facial
expression
Tends to try and act as a concentration exercise and homework
would be given to try and keep them centred
o Experiments
Try things out in a safe environment
o Confrontation
o Invitation to learn more about oneself as people
, Drama techniques
Where the client takes control of all the roles in a theatre production e.g. the
director, choreographer, actor etc and performs it to the therapist
Shuttle technique
o Reintegrate disowned aspects of personality
o Direct attention back and forth between 2 aspects of their life e.g. change
between talking and listening to themselves, visualisation of a memory
and living in it
Top dog-underdog dialogue
o Neurotic conflicts: opposing aspects of personality – the controller and
the controlled
o Top dog (controller) – similar to the ‘super-ego’ of Freuds theory,
authoritarian - defining life by should nots and shoulds. Manipulating
individual by making them think there’s catastrophical outcomes if the
top dog demands aren’t carried out.
o Underdog (controlled) – ‘infraego’ more defensive, apologetic tries their
best but is inferior to top dog. Client is encouraged to use shuttling
technique to shift bet opposing personalities. To compromise bet the two
extremes.
Empty chair technique
o Projection identification gimmick waiting to be filled with fantasised
people and things the idea is that you sit in a chair facing an empty chair.
Client would play one person in first seat then move to empty chair and
shift to another acting role in the scenario they’re playing out.
Dream work
‘royal road to integration’; existential messages for individual particularly relevant
for repetitive/serial dreams as may be an existential crisis needing to be resolved
Sharing the dream
o Sharing the dream with therapist or group they’re in
o Retelling in present tense – here and now, retell the dream as if they’re in the
dream at that time.
o Talking to dream actors – client would then become director of the play,
control the different actors involved in that dream. Idea is to get client to
identify with some elements of dream, this exercise is particularly valuable
o Dialogue between dream elements – facilitated by acting techniques such as
empty chair method. Uses different conflicts with different actors in the
dream, different objects or part of the self and maybe allow individual to
reidentify parts that may have been denied or alienated. The aim is to find
wholes in the clients personality and make that person whole self again by
reintegrating those conflicting parts of personality itself
Part 1
Gestalt therapy
Goals of therapy
The only goal is to raise individual awareness (Yonteff & Jacobs, 2014)
Awareness of particular areas and awareness of awareness
o Self-regulation and growth
Paradoxical theory of change:
o Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become
what he is not (Beisser, 1970)
Authenticity and wholeness
Being in touch with that existential centre
Therapeutic process
Exploration, experimentation rather than ‘goal oriented’
Clients need to become much more aware of who they are as people
The process focuses on the what and how and here and now
o Phenomenological inquiry
Part of a direct experience
And they’re the person at the present centre
Perls used relatively showman like processes as he liked the idea of actors putting on
a ‘mask’ as they’re performing and this is reciprocated through Perls’ therapeutic
techniques
Therapeutic techniques
Awareness technique
o Body language – e.g. Gloria
‘stay with it’
Exaggeration
‘I take responsibility for it’
He would often ask if she was aware of her body language such as
moving feet and would follow up with the above statements to try
and gain focus on these particular emotions and let them take
responsibility for their emotion, body language or facial
expression
Tends to try and act as a concentration exercise and homework
would be given to try and keep them centred
o Experiments
Try things out in a safe environment
o Confrontation
o Invitation to learn more about oneself as people
, Drama techniques
Where the client takes control of all the roles in a theatre production e.g. the
director, choreographer, actor etc and performs it to the therapist
Shuttle technique
o Reintegrate disowned aspects of personality
o Direct attention back and forth between 2 aspects of their life e.g. change
between talking and listening to themselves, visualisation of a memory
and living in it
Top dog-underdog dialogue
o Neurotic conflicts: opposing aspects of personality – the controller and
the controlled
o Top dog (controller) – similar to the ‘super-ego’ of Freuds theory,
authoritarian - defining life by should nots and shoulds. Manipulating
individual by making them think there’s catastrophical outcomes if the
top dog demands aren’t carried out.
o Underdog (controlled) – ‘infraego’ more defensive, apologetic tries their
best but is inferior to top dog. Client is encouraged to use shuttling
technique to shift bet opposing personalities. To compromise bet the two
extremes.
Empty chair technique
o Projection identification gimmick waiting to be filled with fantasised
people and things the idea is that you sit in a chair facing an empty chair.
Client would play one person in first seat then move to empty chair and
shift to another acting role in the scenario they’re playing out.
Dream work
‘royal road to integration’; existential messages for individual particularly relevant
for repetitive/serial dreams as may be an existential crisis needing to be resolved
Sharing the dream
o Sharing the dream with therapist or group they’re in
o Retelling in present tense – here and now, retell the dream as if they’re in the
dream at that time.
o Talking to dream actors – client would then become director of the play,
control the different actors involved in that dream. Idea is to get client to
identify with some elements of dream, this exercise is particularly valuable
o Dialogue between dream elements – facilitated by acting techniques such as
empty chair method. Uses different conflicts with different actors in the
dream, different objects or part of the self and maybe allow individual to
reidentify parts that may have been denied or alienated. The aim is to find
wholes in the clients personality and make that person whole self again by
reintegrating those conflicting parts of personality itself
