Frederick (Fritz) Perls (1893-1970) brought together certain of the basic concepts of Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychodrama, an approach to therapy developed by J. L. Moreno (1889-1974) that emphasizes role-playing, acting out of fantasies, and group interaction.
Perls transformed the Gestalt psychologists' central idea so it would serve as a basis for his approach to psychotherapy. Let's look at an example.
A man has been stranded in the desert and has become severely dehydrated. He has wandered for several days in search of water. He stumbles along, nearly blinded by the sun, seeing only vaguely defined shapes of rocks and cacti. Suddenly, out of this hazy world, something becomes clearly defined: he sees a watering hole, surrounded by low bushes. It is clearly etched in his eyes, set against the indistinct background of the hot desert. Once he has plunged his head into the water and quenched his thirst, his Gestalt is closed: the need that caused him to struggle for days has performed its purpose.
In this derivative sense, Gestalt means "a problem (figure) that arises out of a situation (background) which motivates an individual to action." If his action is successful, his Gestalt is closed: the problem is resolved, and the motivation is fulfilled. Like the Gestalt of the psychologists, the closed Gestalt of therapy signifies an organized whole. In the example, the man suffering from thirst in the desert has a Gestalt that impels him to find water. When he does, his thirst is satisfied, and the Gestalt is resolved into a whole that no longer stands in need of completion.
Perls saw life as a succession of unfinished situations, incomplete Gestalts. No sooner is one closed than another takes its place. To cope effectively with living, we must be able to deal with life's problems and challenges, yet not all of us can.
Perls used the term growth disorders to refer to what other therapists might call personality disorders or neuroses. He believed that emotional problems result from "getting stuck" in the natural process of growth. People get stuck in childish patterns of dependency because of a variety of childhood experiences. For example, a mother and father may withdraw the support of a stable environment, while a child relies on this for a sense of security. (The example of Bobby in the chapter on psychoanalysis may come to mind.) Or, parents may force a child to accept adult responsibilities prematurely. It is as if a child were asked to walk before his sense of balance and leg strength had developed sufficiently. The child will learn uncertainty; his natural early fear of falling becomes pronounced and will leave a mark that can stand in his way later. Perls called such experiences impasses, and they form blocks to a person's growth.
For Perls, human personality is like a multilayered onion: From the most superficial, outside layer, moving inward, there is the usually insincere cliché layer ("How are you?," asked without real interest), the role-playing layer (the habitual masks of father, mother, businessperson, homemaker, therapist, client), the impasse layer (the person stripped of clichés and masks, often very frightening), the implosive layer (where emotions are either vented or explode inward), and the innermost layer, which makes up the genuine personality as it is, freed from learned pretensions. The goal of Gestalt therapy is to reach this last layer. In a word, Gestalt therapy seeks to encourage the growth of authenticity—a combination of a balanced sense of reality, of inner integration complemented by its outward expression, personal integrity, and of independence from the need for the approval of others.
In Gestalt therapy, self-change seems paradoxical. As long as inner conflicts continue, you try not to be the person you are; you cannot be genuine and are divided against yourself. Change, the Gestalt therapist claims, is possible only when you give up, at least for a time, trying not to be the person you are. There must be a firm place to stand from which to initiate change, and that place can only be the person you are right now.
WHAT GESTALT THERAPY IS LIKE
Gestalt therapy as it was developed by Perls is individual therapy done in a group setting. Gestalt therapists since Perls most commonly continue to practice therapy this way: individual members of a group are asked to volunteer to take the "hot seat"; the volunteer then becomes the focus of attention. This is not group therapy where relationships among members of the group are most important (see Chapter 13). In Gestalt therapy, emphasis is on the individual, who is pushed to drop his or her masks and pretensions. Other members of the group form an audience and try to learn by example until it is time to occupy the hot seat themselves.