About Gestalt therapy in your own words. Gestalt therapy and magical practices

Modern existential psychotherapy has many directions, one of which is Gestalt therapy.

The purpose of this therapy is the awareness of the individual in an effort to increase self-esteem, fullness and meaningfulness of life, increase actions that are aimed at improving communication and interaction with other people.

life situations

To understand the essence of this concept, we can take as an example life situations that can occur in every person:

• A woman spends all her time at work, and even at home, all conversations are related to her activities. The husband is offended by this situation.
• A mother who is constantly busy with the problems of her children, distracted by extraneous thoughts, made a mistake in the working documentation.
• While walking down the street, your head is busy thinking about broken feelings or a missed romance, without noticing a traffic light, you go through a red light.

Thus, a person, living in the inner world, thinking about what is unnecessary for him, lives an extraneous life. His memories and thoughts do not allow him to be in real time, to live real emotions.

Or, on the contrary, everyday fuss moves a person away from his dream or goal. Instead of focusing on this, we do unnecessary, vain things.

We live either in memories that sometimes bring us suffering, or we are chasing a phantom - a dream that is unlikely to come true. As a result, this leads to divorces, heart attacks, diseases, ulcers, or dismissal from work. Having mastered the technique of Gestalt therapy, you will be able to filter situations that are unnecessary for you.

History reference

This teaching was developed by Fritz Perls (1893-1970). He was a psychiatrist with great experience, he developed a method of treating people with mental illness. But already during the lifetime of the scientist and to the present, Gestalt therapy has grown from a psychotherapeutic teaching into something more. Now this therapy is used in all spheres of life, as it helps to resolve difficult situations in life.

Fritz Perls himself argued that a person is a holistic creature, and not its assembled parts. Physical, spiritual and social aspects must merge into a single person.

Each problem must be solved not from the cause, but from its awareness. It is worth asking a question about how a person feels at the moment and how this can be changed, and not looking for the guilty and not wondering why this happened. Perls therapy aims to be aware of life in the moment, here and now, to live fully in the present moment, not in the past or the future.

In 1951, Fritz Perls, with his two colleagues Paul Gooden and Ralph Hefferlin, wrote his work Gestalt Therapy, Arousal and the Growth of the Human Personality. In 1952, the Gestalt Institute was established in the US city of New York. Back in 1913, the scientist began to study medicine from a philosophical point of view. Fritz Perls' reference book was Freud's Psychoalnaliz.

What is Gestalt Therapy?

The gestalt therapist does it. Through suggestion, he focuses the patient on the state of "here and now", turning him into every moment of the present. A person begins to realize himself in real time, he has a sense of responsibility, he begins to experience feelings and emotions now and here.

The main methods of Gestalt therapy when working with clients:

• Focusing energy.
• Awareness of responsibility.
• Art therapy. Application of creativity and art in this treatment.
• Monodrama. Here are used role-playing games, staging, which allows a person to live dramatic situations in a new way.
• Intersection of work with other types of psychotherapy, such as the "hot chair" technique.
• Gestalt prayer, etc.
• Body Oriented Therapy. It allows you to know your body and understand that the soul and body are one.

There are other ways to work with patients, but the main methods of the Gestalt therapy technique have been presented above.

Principles of this technique

The basis of this doctrine was the following concepts and principles:

• Integrity. It should be understood that a person is a holistic creature. Dividing it into the psyche, soul and body is not able to help him in understanding his inner world.

• The principle of creation and destruction of Gestalt therapy structures. It is based on the needs and desires of the individual. When the goal is achieved, the destruction of the gestalt occurs.
• The meaning of the pumped-up gestalt, methods and techniques of therapy. There are in people's lives and unfinished life situations that negatively affect their psyche. In Gestalt sessions, the therapist helps the patient to become aware of his unfinished business, mentally complete it or bring it closer to completion. This experience is transferred to everyday life which allows him to cope with many negative situations.
• Contact and its boundary. A person is constantly in contact with visible things - environment, people, animals, etc. There are also invisible contacts - energy, bioenergy, psychological fields, the presence of various information in life. The place of contact of a person with all these species is called the contact boundary. The task of the existing therapy is to create favorable conditions precisely at the border of such contacts.
• Awareness of reality. This does not mean that a person knows his nature and the world around him. And the realization that he is here and now. Realize it not with the mind, but with the senses. Live not with a mechanical consciousness, when all situations and emotions occur unconsciously, but move based on your inner content.
• Finding here and now. Understand that all the important moments in life are happening right now. By focusing our minds on the past or the future, we miss the present moment. The past is already far away, and the future has not yet come, so a person is in illusions, forgetting about the present.
• The concept of responsibility. This is an important quality of the individual, which comes from his awareness. If people begin to realize the real reality, then their sense of responsibility will be developed. It is very important to take responsibility for yourself, and not blame it on others.

Gestalt therapy is a method practical psychology aimed at understanding and analyzing by patients everything that is unspoken, suppressed and incomplete in life, in order to get rid of problems and harmonize the personality.

The Gestalt approach is based on its own theoretical theses, postulates of psychoanalysis, elements of psychodrama and bioenergetics.

The founder of this direction is a German scientist - Fritz Perls, he used the theory of psychoanalysis for its development, which he constantly supplemented with his own conclusions. The holistic approach (the unity of soul and body, feelings and emotions) in Gestalt therapy appeared thanks to the work of psychologists Wertheimer, Koehler, Kurt Goldstein. The development of bodily sensations was positioned by the researcher Reich, and introduced elements of psychodrama Jacob Moreno.

Having passed Gestalt therapy, a person begins to see, feel and understand his own personality not as a set of individual character traits, qualities, desires, prohibitions and abilities, but as a whole as a single organism that he can control. In the process of treatment, the therapist helps the patient to “extract” “painful” memories, images, thoughts, feelings from the subconscious and “work” on them.

As a result, it should be gestalt(internal image of the problem and barriers to the expression of emotions). His step-by-step analysis allows people to build harmonious relationships with themselves, loved ones and the world around them in such a way as to receive pleasure and positive emotions.

Changing the habitual perception of oneself, one's behavior, the revival of sincerity and the ability to rejoice, rethinking actions and relationships - this is what Gestalt therapy is in simple terms.

In their consultations or group trainings, Gestalt therapists teach patients:

• always rely on your desires and needs, taking into account reality and circumstances;
• do not suppress your feelings and do not accumulate negativity;
• express themselves in communication, creativity, activity.

The main provisions of the Gestalt approach are:

• developing an attentive attitude and a quick response to any own emotions;
• enrichment, increase and preservation of internal energy;
• emancipation of the manifestation of bodily reactions;
• the desire for authenticity (building harmonious relationships with your body).

Gestalt therapy is most effective for women(due to their emotionality), for men, such prolonged attention and careful analysis of feelings may seem like an exaggeration, they are usually guided by the arguments of reason and easily ignore their desires and needs for the sake of achievements and success.

In addition, in society, an overly emotional man is considered weak, so it is not easy for many representatives of the stronger sex to talk about their problems even when meeting with a psychotherapist.

Basic Methods and Techniques

The Gestalt approach uses:

• work with feelings;
• exercises to express one's state with body movements;
• analysis of dreams and memories;
• work with fictional characters (playing out situations and feelings).

The therapy process is considered effective:

• if it lasts no more than 2 years;
• shows patients the strengths of their personality;
• promotes positive perception yourself in the world.

Stages of Gestalt therapy:

• search for problems, obvious and “disguised” negativity among clients, weaknesses of their personality;
• analysis and “letting go” of the detected obstacles;
• building trust in one's own sphere of feelings and learning to freely express emotions (taking into account social norms and rules).

The main role in any Gestalt methods is given to emotions, the movements of the mind are considered secondary, they are taken into account if they do not suppress the sphere of feelings.

A task gestalt therapist to help the patient see how he “impedes” the satisfaction of his needs, what psychological blocks he exposes and together find acceptable ways to satisfy them.

A task client- reflection (comprehension and expression) of one's feelings and related actions.
The main strategy of Gestalt therapy is the development of the desire for self-acceptance (personality change techniques are practically not used in it).

Therapists of the Gestalt approach in their work operate with special terms:

1. Interprojection. The replacement of the real needs of people by those imposed (by society, traditions, important people).

2. Confluence (lack of boundaries between the external environment and the body). The fusion of feelings and actions in order to obtain maximum satisfaction from life.

3. Retroflection. "Freezing" in the subconscious of their needs and desires.

4. Cycle-contact. The process of forming an image of an obstacle in the mind of the client, expressing feelings about the problem, destroying the gestalt.

5. Precontact. The stage of formation of a gestalt with a predominance of sensations of its background (on the basis of bodily sensations, an image of the dominant feeling arises).

6. Contacting. Free expression of feelings and overcoming emotional "clamps".

7. Final contact. Identification of oneself with the Gestalt image, awareness of the unity of feelings and actions.

8. Egotism. Self-interruption of the Gestalt therapy chain. Avoiding the awareness of the need, preventing the transition to the final contact and getting stuck in contacting.

9. Postcontact. The dissolution of the Gestalt figure in the background. Obtaining and consolidating the experience of emotional and bodily expression of feelings.

Thus, the whole process of traditional Gestalt therapy is the formation of a figure and background in the minds of patients and a gradual reflection of them. inner work over psychological problems.

And here is what it is in simple words:

• awareness of one's emotions at rest;
• analysis of feelings and desires when a stimulus occurs;
• formation of a holistic image (gestalt) of a provocative factor and a reaction to it;
• emotional response to it;
• catharsis (stress relief and satisfaction);
• return to harmony

Exercises

Individual or group sessions with a Gestalt therapist allow
step by step to “uncover” emotional “slags” in the subconscious of clients, bring them to the realization of a problem situation, teach them to express themselves according to inner impulses and live in harmony with their body.

At the beginning of therapy, exercises aimed at focusing feelings and their reflection are used, then release techniques are used. negative emotions. The doctor carries out the general management of the process of gestalt formation, he draws the attention of patients to problematic points, encouraging the awareness of the need to freely express their emotions.

Exercise examples:

1. "Hot chair". The client sits in the center of the group (at trainings, participants usually sit in a circle) and he is invited to talk about what worries him. After a dialogue with the patient in the “hot chair”, the trainer asks to express the feelings and sensations of other participants. All of them must be in the center of the circle.

2. Awareness. Here, patients talk about their feelings and thoughts in the present moment.

3. Strengthening bodily manifestations during classes. Any non-verbal gestures The therapist asks the participants of the training to exaggerate, for example, turn the tapping of the fingers into a “drum” roll.

4. Shuttle movement. Forcing the background to the figure. If the client reports loneliness, the therapist tries to “color” the background as negatively as possible, i.e. focuses on bodily manifestations (trembling, clenching hands or feet, etc.).

5. "Empty chair." In this exercise, on a chair in the center, patients are engaged in a dialogue not with real person, but with the imaginary, the dead, or with oneself.

6. Making circles. All members of the group speak to each other in a circle.

The doctrine of Gestalt therapy was developed by the spouses Fritz and Laura Perls, together with Paul Goodman in 1940-1950. Perls worked on a method of treating people suffering from mental disorders. Already during the life of a psychoanalyst, Gestalt therapy turned from a simple teaching into a practice widely used in psychological circles. It was actively developed and developed, absorbing the ideas of various schools of psychology.

Many modern psychotherapists use this technique in almost all areas of life, since with its help can resolve difficult situations into which the patient enters.

According to Perls, a person must be whole, and all aspects of his life - spiritual, social and physical - must merge into a single whole personality. From this statement of the scientist came the name of therapy. Word Gestalt literally translated from German language translated as "figure", "form", "personality", "holistic image".

The theories of Fritz Perls are aimed at understanding life "here" and "now", on a full life in the present, and not in the past or future.

In the course of the growth and development of psychology, two important changes were made to Gestalt therapy:

1. Group therapy became much less common;
2. A more attentive and tolerant attitude towards the patient appeared, and contact with him (which was often used by the founder of the teaching) was undesirable.

In 1969, Perls published in one of his books a short text that became widely known. first in America and then spread throughout the world. The Gestalt Prayer, which offered the concept of an independent person, was subjected to both stormy criticism and rave reviews. It had a significant impact on the culture of the 1970s, when people were actively fighting for their rights, rejected many traditions and were in constant search for new forms of relationship with each other.

Basic principles and provisions of therapy

This teaching is based on the following concepts and principles:

Thus, the main goal of Gestalt therapy is manifested in the ability to allow a person realize yourself in the present accept and love yourself, move forward in your own way, and not try to suppress individuality. Doing Gestalt therapy exercises helps to feel better, more confident, discard everything unnecessary and find your own path in life.

Therapy can be group or carried out in individually. During group sessions, the therapist usually works with one (maximum two) participants, while the rest of the group can give them feedback, identify with the "working" participant and provide emotional support, which plays an important role in the treatment process.

Who is Gestalt Therapy for?

Any person who experiences communication difficulties, is at odds with himself and wants to change his life for the better can resort to Gestalt therapy methods.

Gestalt therapy can also be applied for the following disorders characteristic of chronic stress:

• psychosomatic diseases;
• repressed feelings, phobias and fears;
• neurotic disorders;
• depression, suicidal tendencies, nightmares;
• increased aggression, irritability and anxiety.

It turned out that this method is highly effective when working with clients who have suicidal tendencies.

Gestalt therapy is very effective at work with rape victims. The methods used here make it possible to:

• return to reality, focusing on the "here and now";
• focusing on current experiences, moving away from the past, setting an emphasis on changes in one's own state;
• working through negative memories, completing the gestalt;
• verbalization of thoughts and feelings;
• conscious control of their emotions, getting rid of insensitivity and fear.

There are several features that you need to know for successful therapy.

According to statistics, women turn to psychology for help much more often than men. They are more open and emotional, and therefore it is easier to establish contact with a specialist, listen to advice and recommendations more often, and are more willing to participate in games and group activities.

Men, on the contrary, for the most part, are not inclined to communicate in group classes and hardly make contact. However, it all depends on individual approach psychotherapist to communicate with the client. A talented specialist who knows how to choose a competent communication technique will be able to get in touch with even the most unsociable client.

Psychotherapists have a special approach to children, including in Gestalt therapy. For example, a child who never complains about his parents is considered problematic for them. This may mean it's coming suppression of true feelings child for fear of parental dissatisfaction. With such children, it is most difficult to find mutual language.

How does Gestalt therapy work?

Unfinished Gestalts

Personal behavior is easily explained in the creation and completion of gestalt structures. Every person arranges his life in such a way as to direct his actions towards the completion of current needs and requirements.

For example, a person who wants to acquire some valuable thing saves money to buy it, looking for additional ways of income and profit. And the one who wants to acquire offspring directs all his efforts to achieve precisely this goal. After the execution, the gestalt is destroyed, and the person experiences a sense of satisfaction.

However, not every process reaches its completion, and people start constantly form uniform patterns. These deviations are associated with incomplete mental images, and a person will continue to fall into a negative situation of the same nature until the gestalt is destroyed.

Psychotherapists help to work out unfinished gestalts in individual or group sessions, using special practices.

Therapeutic techniques

All Gestalt therapy techniques can be divided into two groups:

1. Projective. They are used while working with dreams, images, dialogues with fictitious interlocutors, and so on.
2. Dialogue. During these techniques, the psychotherapist performs complex work with the client. Having traced the interruption mechanisms, the psychologist transforms his own emotions into a part of the client's environment and transfers them to the contact boundary.

There is a clear distinction between techniques only in theoretical psychology; in practice, they are closely intertwined with each other.

Conclusion of a contract

Most often, the process of Gestalt therapy begins with the "signing of the contract": agreements that the doctor and the patient are equal partners, bearing equal responsibility for the result joint work. Sharing responsibility is one of the most important steps in therapy.

"Hot Chair", "Empty Chair"

Perhaps this is the most famous and widespread method of Gestalt therapy.

A hot chair is a place where a person sits and talks about their problems, while the psychologist and group members listen carefully. Expressing your emotions, sharing opinions and feelings is allowed only after the speech is completed.

An “empty chair” is a place where, with the help of imagination, a significant person for the patient is placed, with whom you can have a conversation, regardless of what kind of relationship they have, and, in general, whether this person is alive. Another purpose of the "empty chair" is a conversation between different parts of the personality, which is necessary if a person has an internal conflict. Such dialogues help to find integrity, to accept yourself and the world around you.

Concentration

Concentration is the original technique of the Gestalt Institute. The method is based on a concentrated awareness of the inner worlds (emotional and physical sensations), external worlds (see, hear) and thoughts. Using main principle Gestalt therapy "here and now", the client tells the psychologist about his feelings at a given time, describes everything that happens to him and what he thinks.

This technology allows you to enhance your sense of reality and understand your ways of avoiding it.

Experimental Gain

One of the effective techniques is special reinforcement any minor symptoms. For example, a patient may unknowingly repeat the words “Yes, but” often, thereby looking for a reason not to do something, not to follow the recommendations of the attending physician, and so on. The specialist may suggest that the client begin each of his sentences with this phrase, so that the person becomes aware of the desire for contradiction and the desire to always have the last word.

Working with polarities

Techniques of this direction are usually aimed at finding opposites in personality. For example, a psychologist can offer a modest, insecure person to imagine himself as a strong confident person and communicate from this position with people around him.

A shy client who is afraid to ask for help may be advised by the therapist to approach the group with the most unimaginable requests.

This technique will help expand the zone of awareness and open up previously inaccessible potential.

Working with dreams

With dreams psychologists and therapists a wide variety of schools, but the Gestalt methodology has character traits. In it, the details of the dream are considered as parts of the personality, with each of which the client is identified. This is done to appropriate one's own projections and, despite the subtle scope of this technique, the basic rule of Gestalt therapy continues to operate in it: "here and now."

The client can tell the therapist about his dream as if it were happening in present time. It is important that the description of the dream occurs not only on behalf of the dreamer, but also on behalf of the objects and other people that are part of the dream.

Working with Gestalt Therapy techniques will be extremely useful for any person who has unfinished business, is stuck in a certain scenario, is at odds with himself or society. And even if there is no time or opportunity to contact a qualified specialist, it will be useful to try do some exercises on one's own. Often, during such exercises, insights happen that help you choose the right and desired direction in life.

Gestalt - what is it? Many people ask this question modern people, but not everyone manages to find the right answer to it. The word "gestalt" itself is of German origin. Translated into Russian, it means "structure", "image", "form".

This concept was introduced into psychiatry by the psychoanalyst Frederick Perls. He is the founder of Gestalt Therapy.

Frederick Perls was a practicing psychiatrist, so all the methods he developed were primarily used to treat mental disorders, including psychoses, neuroses, etc. However, the Gestalt therapy method was very widespread. What it is, psychologists and psychiatrists working in various fields soon became interested. Such a wide popularity of Gestalt therapy is due to the presence of reasonable and understandable theory, a wide choice of methods or the patient, as well as a high level of efficiency.

Main advantage

The main and biggest advantage is a holistic approach to a person, which takes into account his mental, physical, spiritual and social aspects. Gestalt therapy instead of focusing on the question "Why is this happening to a person?" replaces it with the following: “What is the person feeling now and how can this be changed?”. Therapists working in this direction try to focus people's attention on the awareness of the processes that are happening to them "here and now". Thus, the client learns to be responsible for his life and for everything that happens in it, and, consequently, for making the desired changes.

Perls himself considered the gestalt as a whole, the destruction of which leads to the production of fragments. The form strives to be unified, and if this does not happen, the person finds himself in an incomplete situation that puts pressure on him. There are often many unfinished gestalts in people, which are not so difficult to get rid of, it is enough to see them. The great advantage is that to find them there is no need to delve into the bowels of the unconscious, but you just need to learn to notice the obvious.

The Gestalt approach is based on such principles and concepts as integrity, responsibility, the emergence and destruction of structures, incomplete forms, contact, awareness, "here and now".

The most important principle

Man is a holistic being, and he cannot be divided into any components, for example, into body and psyche or soul and body, since such artificial techniques cannot positively affect his understanding of his own inner world.

A holistic gestalt consists of a personality and the space surrounding it, while influencing each other. For a better understanding of this principle, one can turn to the psychology of interpersonal relationships. It allows you to clearly see how big influence society has on the individual. However, by changing himself, he affects other people, who, in turn, also become different.

The key concepts of the Moscow Gestalt Institute, like many others, include the concept of "contact". A person is constantly in contact with something or someone - with plants, the environment, other people, informational, bioenergetic and psychological fields.

The place where the individual comes into contact with the environment is called the contact boundary. How better man feels and the more flexible he can regulate the contact difference, the more successful he is in meeting his own needs and achieving his goals. However, this process is characterized by characteristic features that lead to disruption of the individual's productive activity in various areas of interaction. Perls Gestalt therapy is aimed at overcoming such disorders.

The principle of the emergence and destruction of gestalt structures

Using the principle of the emergence and destruction of gestalt structures, one can easily explain the behavior of a person. Each person arranges his life depending on his own needs, to which he gives priority. His actions are aimed at meeting needs and achieving existing goals.

For a better understanding, consider a few examples. So, a person who wants to buy a house saves money to buy it, finds a suitable option and becomes the owner of his own home. And the one who wants to have a child, directs all his strength to achieve this goal. After the desired is achieved (the need is satisfied), the gestalt is completed and destroyed.

The concept of an incomplete gestalt

However, far from every gestalt reaches its completion (and further - destruction). What happens to some people and why do they constantly form the same type of unfinished situation? It's a question long years interested in specialists in the field of psychology and psychiatry. This phenomenon is called the incomplete gestalt.

Specialists who work in one or another Gestalt Institute have been able to recognize that the lives of many people are often filled with constantly recurring typical negative situations. For example, a person, despite the fact that he does not like to be exploited, constantly finds himself in precisely such situations, and someone who does not have a personal life comes into contact with people he does not need again and again. Such "deviations" are associated precisely with incomplete "images", and the human psyche will not be able to find peace until they reach their logical end.

That is, a person who has an incomplete "structure", on a subconscious level, constantly strives to create a negative incomplete situation only in order to resolve it, and finally close this issue. The Gestalt therapist artificially creates for his client similar situation and helps to find a way out of it.

Awareness

Another basic concept of Gestalt therapy is awareness. It is worth noting that the intellectual knowledge of a person about his external and internal world has nothing to do with him. Gestalt psychology associates awareness with being in the so-called "here and now" state. It is characterized by the fact that a person performs all actions guided by consciousness and being vigilant, and does not live a mechanical life, relying solely on the stimulus-reactive mechanism, as is characteristic of an animal.

Most problems (if not all) appear in a person's life for the reason that he is guided by the mind, not consciousness. But, unfortunately, the mind is a rather limited function, and people who live only by it do not even suspect that they are actually something more. This leads to the replacement of the true state of reality with an intellectual and false one, and also to the fact that the life of each person takes place in a separate illusory world.

Gestalt therapists around the world, including the Moscow Gestalt Institute, are confident that in order to solve most problems, misunderstandings, misunderstandings and difficulties, a person only needs to achieve awareness of his inner and outer reality. The state of awareness does not allow people to do bad things, succumbing to impulses of random emotions, since they are always able to see the world around them as it really is.

A responsibility

From the awareness of a person, another quality that is useful for him is born - responsibility. The level of responsibility for one's life directly depends on the level of clarity of the person's awareness of the surrounding reality. It is human nature to always shift the responsibility for one's failures and mistakes onto others or even higher power, however, everyone who manages to take responsibility for himself, makes a big leap on the path of individual development.

Most people are not familiar with the concept of gestalt at all. What it is, they learn already at the reception of a psychologist or psychotherapist. The specialist identifies the problem and develops ways to eliminate it. It is for this purpose that Gestalt therapy has a wide variety of techniques, among which there are both its own and borrowed from such as transactional analysis, art therapy, psychodrama, etc. According to Gestaltists, within their approach, you can use any methods that serve as natural continuation of the “therapist-client” dialogue and enhance the processes of awareness.

Principle of "here and now"

According to him, everything really important is happening at the moment. The mind takes a person to the past (memories, analysis of past situations) or to the future (dreams, fantasies, planning), but does not give the opportunity to live in the present, which leads to the fact that life passes by. Gestalt therapists encourage each of their clients to live "here and now", without looking into the illusory world. All the work of this approach is connected with the awareness of the present moment.

Types of gestalt techniques and contracting

All techniques of Gestalt therapy are conditionally divided into "projective" and "dialogue". The former are used to work with dreams, images, imaginary dialogues, etc.

The second is painstaking work that is carried out by the therapist at the border of contact with the client. The specialist, having tracked the interruption mechanisms of the person with whom he works, turns his emotions and experiences into a part of his environment, after which he brings them to the border of contact. It is worth noting that the Gestalt techniques of both types are intertwined in work, and their clear distinction is possible only in theory.

The Gestalt therapy procedure usually begins with such a technique as the conclusion of a contract. This direction is characterized by the fact that the specialist and the client are equal partners, and the latter bears no less responsibility for the results of the work performed than the former. This aspect is just stipulated at the stage of concluding a contract. At the same moment, the client forms his goals. It is very difficult for a person who constantly avoids responsibility to agree to such conditions, and already at this stage he needs elaboration. At the stage of concluding a contract, a person begins to learn to be responsible for himself and for what happens to him.

"Hot chair" and "empty chair"

The "hot chair" technique is one of the most famous among therapists, whose place of work is the Moscow Gestalt Institute and many other structures. This method used in group work. A "hot chair" is a place where a person sits who intends to tell those present about their difficulties. During the work, only the client and the therapist interact with each other, the rest of the group listens silently, and only at the end of the session talk about what they felt.

The main Gestalt techniques also include the "empty chair". It is used to place a significant person for the client with whom he can have a dialogue, and it is not so important whether he is currently alive or has already died. Another purpose of the "empty chair" is the dialogue between various parts personality. This is necessary when the client has opposing attitudes that generate

Concentration and Experimental Amplification

The Gestalt Institute calls concentration (focused awareness) its original technique. There are three levels of awareness - inner worlds (emotions, bodily sensations), outer worlds (what I see, hear), and thoughts. Keeping in mind one of the main principles of Gestalt therapy "here and now", the client tells the specialist about his awareness at the moment. For example: “Now I am lying on the couch and looking at the ceiling. I can't relax at all. My heart is beating very hard. I know I have a therapist next to me.” This technique enhances the sense of the present, helps to understand the ways of detaching a person from reality, and is also valuable information for further work with him.

One more efficient technique is experimental gain. It consists in maximizing any verbal and non-verbal manifestations that are little conscious of him. For example, in the case when the client, without realizing it himself, often begins his conversation with the words “yes, but ...”, the therapist can suggest that he begin each phrase in this way, and then the person is aware of his rivalry with others and the desire to always reserve the last word .

Working with polarities

This is another method that Gestalt therapy often resorts to. Techniques in this branch are often aimed at identifying opposites in personality. Among them special place occupies work with polarities.

For example, a person who constantly complains that he doubts himself, the specialist suggests confident, and from this position, try to communicate with the people around him. It is equally useful to have a dialogue between your uncertainty and confidence.

For a client who does not know how to ask for help, the Gestalt therapist suggests contacting group members, sometimes even with very ridiculous requests. This technique makes it possible to expand the zone of awareness of the individual by including in it a previously inaccessible personal potential.

Dream work

This technique is used by psychotherapists of various directions, but the original Gestalt technique has its own characteristic features. Here, the specialist considers all the elements of sleep as parts of the human personality, with each of which the client must identify. This is done to assign their own projections or get rid of retroflections. In addition, in this technique, no one has canceled the use of the "here and now" principle.

Thus, the client should tell the therapist about his dream as if it were something happening in the present. For example: “I am running along a forest path. I am in a great mood and I enjoy every moment spent in this forest, etc.” It is necessary that the client describe his dream "here and now" not only on his own behalf, but also on behalf of other people and objects present in the vision. For example, “I am a winding forest path. A person is running over me now, etc.”

Thanks to its own and borrowed techniques, Gestalt therapy helps people to get rid of all kinds of masks, to establish trusting contact with others. The Gestalt approach takes into account heredity, the experience acquired in the first years of life, the influence of society, but at the same time calls on each person to take responsibility for their own life and for everything that happens in it.

WHERE DID THIS STRANGE WORD GESTALT COME FROM?

Initially, there was Gestalt psychology, which studies the dynamics of human perception. From the point of view of this science, a person does not just perceive what is happening, he structures and imposes rules on his perception. So a circle drawn with a continuous line and a circle drawn with separate points will be perceived as two circles on the background white sheet. Many are familiar with the images of a young girl and an old woman, which can be seen peering into different details of the picture. Or two profiles and a vase, which appear either as a background or as a figure. The figure protruding against the background is the Gestalt (the German word for an image, a set of details that form something whole). In the same way, we can assess the situation the way we are used to or the way we want to see it.

What does this have to do with Gestalt therapy? Fritz Perls, a talented student of Freud, who later grew up to be the no less famous founder of a new direction in psychotherapy, used the laws of perception to create a new psychotherapeutic system and humanistic ideas about human existence. He used the concepts of figure and background to denote important things in our lives.

Our feelings are a continuous process. Every moment of life can be defined at least as pleasant or unpleasant, comfortable or uncomfortable. If you perceive your state in a more differentiated way, then you can talk about feelings. AT modern society feelings that orient a person in relation to the situation are considered rather as a hindrance. It is customary to be calm, cold and collected. The manifestation of emotions is seen as a loss of control and education is aimed at ensuring that a person learns to control himself and the expression of his feelings. Going to " crusade for control over emotions ”parents impatiently demand that the child quickly cope with his natural manifestations, after which tears and crying are quite seriously considered by adults for something completely indecent. Therefore, calmness is often only depicted, being considered a manifestation of good manners in behavior.

Such calmness is a mask that is put on, for example, in order to "not show one's weaknesses" or to demonstrate "mastery of oneself." However, avoiding pain, a person “hides” important feelings and experiences in the background, “forgetting” about them ... And then to the question “What do you feel now?” The patient replies “Nothing! And what should I feel?”, demonstrating one of the mechanisms of psychological defense. It is needed in order to protect a person from too strong feelings: heartache, disappointment, fear, hatred, etc. Still, a person is never “empty”. And repressed, unexpressed feelings can live with him for many years. The lack of a “figure”, or rather suppressed and unexpressed feelings, leads to emotional tension, anxiety, irritability, poor sleep, loss of appetite, or, conversely, its excessive increase.

It is very important to be aware of the continuity of your emotional experience and accept feelings not as an obstacle that prevents you from managing your life, but as guidelines in relation to your desires. Neurotic patients, for example, often cannot understand what their particular desires are or cannot determine their own attitude towards the environment so that their important vital needs are satisfied. Here one of the patients complains that she cannot determine her attitude towards young people. If she is told that others like a young man, he becomes attractive to her too. At the same time, she cannot understand why she herself does not develop stable relationships with men, why she is abandoned ...

If this way of dealing with oneself becomes predominant, the patient ceases to orient himself in his life situation (background). People without desires suffer from depression. Everything seems unnecessary to them, they do not want anything. In order to navigate, you need to be able to “feel yourself”. Feeling yourself, it is easier to find your desires (figure). Desire is a sign of the road to the future. Desire mobilizes a person, directs in the right direction and determines the goal. And then you can make a decision - to do something or not to do something for their implementation and what exactly.

If we listen to our body (our body self), we will notice that it chooses to do what is related to its need. If we are thirsty, then our actions will be aimed at finding a glass of water ... Of course, you can say "I will cultivate the will and will not drink water all day!". However, you must admit that we will constantly return to thoughts about it ... “accidentally” find ourselves near a carafe of water ... get angry “in a different way” about ... A person who lives in accordance with the natural rhythm of the appearance and completion of a need (desire) feels clear and effective .

UNFINISHED SITUATIONS AND GESTALT THERAPY

Gestalt therapy is based on the psychological concept of "unfinished business". Very often, a patient is a person who simply leaves a problematic situation in order to avoid painful feelings, to protect himself from unbearable grief or contempt, rage or sadness, i.e. without completing it for yourself.

This accumulated emotion can “detonate” at any moment and for the wrong reason. If a person does not dare to express his opinion to the boss, it is likely that at home he will “quite rightly” (and find a suitable reason!) to scold the children. And all the same, patients constantly return to those situations, or rather to those people who caused these feelings.

The continuation of a quarrel with his wife in the patient's head, the painful return to situations that arose in marriage, when the divorce was already finalized, "stuck" on childhood grievances in adulthood - all these are examples of unfinished situations. All these unexpressed feelings, unexplained relationships and unspoken words, undone deeds can live in us for many years. Twenty-five years later, the patient recalls a childhood grudge against a friend who quietly leaves to play with the children in the yard, and she turns out to be odd, superfluous. And, remembering this, he guesses why now, being already an adult, she found a lot of good reasons not to meet her, who came to visit her parents.

And no matter how successful a person is in other areas of life, it is important for him to complete precisely these situations. If unfinished business becomes the center of a person's existence, it will always interfere with his life. The patient must return to the "unfinished business" he left behind because it was so painful that he had to run from it. Therefore, behind the complaints and actions of the patient, the Gestalt therapist seeks to discover the unfinished situations of his life, to return to them so that the patient can go through the experience and complete the situation as he wants now.

LIFE “HERE AND NOW”

From the point of view of Gestalt therapy, the main problem modern man- this is alienation from oneself, from one's inner experience, one's sensations and one's feelings. Gestalt therapy differs from other forms of psychological practice in its philosophy - the philosophy of integrity, fullness of life, living every moment in all its sharpness "here and now".

The emphasis is on the present, on what is happening at the moment (in life or in the session) with the client. Instead of endlessly explaining what is happening to the client, the therapist encourages him to recognize and express the experiences that underlie the problematic behavior. Even if the content of the meeting at the moment is memories of an unpleasant event, the main thing is awareness of those feelings and experiences, thoughts and desires that the patient is experiencing now. What was “forgotten” is suppressed, revived and concentrated until the tension leaves the person.

The Gestalt therapist rarely asks “Why?” questions. This question is often only a variant of self-deception for patients, leading to endless chewing (not experiencing!) of the past. By answering it, they force themselves to believe that since they talk about their problems, they are already sort of solving them and growing as individuals. To help the patient be in touch with the present, the Gestalt therapist encourages dialogue in the present, asking questions such as “What is happening to you right now?”, “How do you feel your fear?” or “How exactly are you not answering my question now?”

However, the so-called psychological defense mechanisms or resistance stand in the way of awareness and experience “here and now”. The patient unconsciously tries to protect himself from sharp and unpleasant feelings. These psychological defenses are also the subject of close consideration in the dialogue between the therapist and the client.

CONTACT AND PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS

In Gestalt therapy there is the concept of contact. This is interaction with the environment and people without losing individuality. Gestalt therapists encourage patients to become more aware of their body, sensations, feelings, and their own desires. However, the peculiarities of upbringing, prohibitions imposed by society, unfinished situations prevent the experience of the present moment. There are unconscious psychological defense mechanisms that prevent people from being authentic.

It interferes, for example, with the tendency to uncritically perceive the views and standards of other people, which are alien to this particular patient's personality. Or an unconscious desire to deny one's own, often forbidden, feelings and desires and attribute them to others. This version of psychological defense is reflected in the drawing by Herluf Bidstrup, where an angry man furiously asks his relatives “Who is evil? I'm angry?". It is also possible to over-identify oneself with others, avoid awareness and even prohibit differences in relation to loved ones. It is a common disease of marriages and lasting friendships. Sometimes it also happens that the patient scolds or blames himself for what is addressed to other people and does not realize the real addressee.

Usually such behaviors escape our consciousness and block the energy that can be directed to satisfy the needs of the patient. Blocked energy is manifested in a tense posture, trembling, a choked voice and unusual gestures, turning away from the interlocutor in a conversation, etc. and leads to impotence. An observant and empathetic therapist helps the client discover where he is blocking energy and encourages the channeling of that energy into more adaptive channels.

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND SELF-MANIPULATION

A universal way to cope with a problem situation is experience. Feelings most often have an external addressee, the person to whom they are directed. Most people are more inclined to avoid painful experiences than to do what is necessary to change the situation and themselves. Therefore, they find themselves in a dead end, blocking the possibility of their growth.

Many of us have a tendency to avoid confrontation and the full experience of worry, guilt, anger and other "uncomfortable" feelings. This is usually due to catastrophic expectations towards others. “Because of my anger, people may turn away from me…” or “If I start crying and grieving, I won’t be able to stop…” are fears that are often found in communication. To do this, they are trained not to feel what is (self-manipulation), but this does not give them the opportunity to be fully alive.

What will orient the patient in time, what should be paid attention to? But just for those feelings from which we run to others, more comfortable or to “not feeling anything” ... If you stop rushing in your “favorite” situation and turn to yourself, you can understand what brings us such pain, what feeling we are trying to avoid . If this is impotence, then maybe it is better to recognize it as existing for yourself and leave? Or make a plan of action. If it is an unbearable fear of loneliness, “over which” we scream at loved one so that he doesn’t leave (and he, of course, runs away ...), then it might be better to tell him about your desire to be closer, to be with him ... It is quite possible that this will be “new information for thought” for him and pave the way for a new relationship .

Why do you need a psychotherapist? Just to stop the patient at the point of avoidance (or escape, whichever you prefer) and ask what is going on. It is at this moment that it becomes possible for the patient to meet himself, his feelings and desires.

Personal growth requires a certain amount of risk in feeling and expressing yourself. After all, it may turn out that the patient feels exactly what he condemns or what is forbidden. Therefore, the Gestalt therapist encourages the expression in the “here and now” of all the feelings that are relevant at this moment. With the help of the therapist directing attention to important details of his behavior, the person learns to become more aware of those feelings that were previously ignored. By living the avoided feelings and actions, the patient gets the opportunity to find and complete that unfinished action that prevents him from living fully and happily in real life.

ATTENTION: ORGANISM!

A lot of time in working with a client, the Gestalt therapist devotes to the physiological manifestations of the patient who is in contact with the psychotherapist. Disturbances in contact, restraint of oneself can be manifested by tight or shallow breathing, a change in the timbre of the voice, monotonous intonations, a feeling of a lump in the throat (they even say that these are “swallowed”, i.e., unspoken words). The observant therapist will soon note, or try to find out, the suppression of which feelings that are unacceptable for the patient is associated with a suddenly appeared, hollow and cracked voice, intonation that has become unusually monotonous. The anxiety complained of by the patient is often associated with an unconscious “suppression” of arousal that could be used in action to solve problems.

In the same way, gait, posture and gestures matter. Even just entering the office, a person is able to tell a lot about his condition with the help of movements. One walks easily and freely, leaning on the floor, the other is sneaking, the third is barely moving his legs, the fourth is “hovering” above the ground .... Or, for example, the patient shakes his head from side to side, talking about his love, but the movements of the head negate the verbal message. Sometimes in contact with a patient, the therapist cannot catch his eye because the patient is not looking at him. Distrust of the therapist, fears towards him make the patient "blind". In the same way, in his life he does not receive visual information from other people. By ignoring them, he remains alone, receiving neither condemnation nor support.

Unexpressed feelings are often manifested by incomplete movements. Here is a patient monotonously talking about her relationship with her husband, holding right hand left. The therapist offers to release the hand, allow it to move freely and continue its story. The hand begins to live own life, clenching into a fist and hitting the arm of the chair. Awareness of this movement leads to awareness and expression of the feeling of anger that has been suppressed. The therapist encourages the patient to feel his movements, looking for an opportunity to regain access to the real experience.

A DREAM IS ME TOO...

Dreams in Gestalt therapy are considered as the world of his inner experiences, and all dream situations, his characters, related to the patient or not, represent the patient himself. This is especially true of recurring, unusual and nightmarish dreams. They often contain surprising, unacceptable or mysterious images for patients. These images, not subject to logic and reason, behaving at their own discretion and, in principle, not controlled by the patient, are very important for therapy.

The Gestalt therapist encourages the patient to become a character in the dream and act out the dream situation as if it were real. When a person is immersed in his own dream, he experiences very different and exciting experiences about those aspects of his existence that he forbids himself, does not consider his own, or attributes to other people.

The patient can become the Queen Mother from her dream and replay the interaction situation with her son. At the same time, all those features of it that were not previously obvious become clear. Or, having “become a son” for a while, feel this position from within and come to the need to choose a different behavior in family life. The patient learns a lot about his sexuality by identifying with the water in the pool, the tower above it and the lonely swimmer from the dream.

Whatever direction the work with a dream takes, it always exactly corresponds to the real relationship of a person with significant people in his life, his position in relation to the world. A dream worked out in a session with a therapist can tell the patient about his inner life no less colorful and interesting than his story and his actions.

NEW EXPERIENCE

Psychotherapy is effective and useful for the patient only when in it a person meets with new experience - the experience of perceiving oneself, one's actions, relationships with other people. Such a new experience for the patient may be the non-judgmental perception by the therapist of his feelings and desires, the exchange of feelings with another person, the acceptance that the other person differs in values ​​and behavior, being at a loss, but without a feverish fight against it, the experience of loneliness and the experience of independent behavior. new may be the opportunity to be weak or an open manifestation of love and tenderness, the experience of open protest and the experience of presenting oneself to others, the new may be the opportunity to live serenely without condemning oneself for it ... In a word, everything that differs from the old, problematic can become a new experience ...

PATIENT AND RELATIVES

Sometimes patients come to a psychotherapist at the insistence of relatives, and sometimes on their own initiative, carefully concealing their visits to a psychotherapist. Both cases mean that there is not enough support for the process of changing the patient from relatives. In the first case, this is, as a rule, manipulation with a patient like “Doctor, change my husband” (child, wife, mother) to make them obedient. In the second, relatives have a negative attitude towards a patient who wants to change something in family relationships or who has a weakness to be treated for “something mental”. In any case, the patient will have to endure the hidden or obvious pressure of loved ones who are accustomed to a certain type of relationship and who want to return everything back to a convenient track.

Relationship restructuring is a risky process, but if the patient changes, the winner is ie. Finding a closer and freer relationship can turn out to be everything. Of course, it is not bad if the patient is supported by someone close. When this is not the case, support can be provided by friends or acquaintances who have successfully completed therapy, members of the psychotherapy group, the therapist himself.

THE ROLE OF THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST

Let us recall once again the myths that accompany the work of a psychotherapist. One option is to issue a prescription. It is assumed that the psychotherapist is a superman who sees everything, knows everything and can tell the client how to behave correctly, after which the client will follow the therapist's instructions and everything will work out.

On this occasion, there is a paradoxical statement by the famous English psychotherapist Wilfrid Bayon - “In any office (of a psychotherapist) you can always find two rather frightened people: a patient and a psychoanalyst. If this is not the case, then it is generally incomprehensible why they are trying to find out well-known truths”

This statement indicates that the psychotherapist does not have a preconceived opinion about the patient, and the patient's knowledge of himself does not always give relief and comfort ... immediately. And also about the fact that the psychotherapist does not bring the understanding of himself and his problems to the patient “on a silver platter”. And the work can be accompanied by a variety of feelings - joy and anger, sadness and pain, laughter and fear, love and hatred - for both participants in the psychotherapeutic session. This is a joint effort and joint, sometimes difficult mental work of both the patient and his psychotherapist.

Sometimes psychotherapists have to go through quite long periods during which they remain in ignorance and helplessness. The quality of the psychotherapist's work depends on his ability to experience feelings of not-knowing, incompetence and willingness to wait until something significant appears in his dialogue with the patient. Thus, he will avoid a prejudiced view of the patient and preserve the freshness of perception, of this particular person, unique in his problem.

The psychotherapist is, to some extent, a guide, an accompanying person, in the patient's search for his Self. He will never evaluate and condemn the patient, tell him what to do and how to do it. This can only be decided by the patient. But the therapist will create everything the necessary conditions so that such a decision is feasible, adequate for the patient and was made in his interests. Therefore, seeking to understand the patient, the psychotherapist patiently waits for the moment to catch the thread of the very meaning that is relevant to the patient's problem.

The emotional relationship between psychotherapist and client that emerges in dealing with a problem is very significant. For the therapist, one's own emotional responses to the client's behavior are an extremely important diagnostic tool. In this sense, a professionally competent psychotherapist should be freer than the client in understanding and expressing his feelings. The latter give him the opportunity to understand what role the client or client assigns to him in their interaction, what it is like to live in this role, how the client will react to its change ... All this is very important for understanding the client's problem ... and, of course, does not exclude simple human interest, empathy and sympathy for the client.

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS

So, what happens at the appointment with a psychotherapist, when he told his, often sad, story? So, the patient is confused ... He has already tried all the ways he knows to cope with the situation. And, most often, he knows himself how it would be necessary to conduct it. But it can’t… and with this “I know how, but it doesn’t work out,” psychotherapy begins.

Many patients see the cause of their difficulties and problems in other people. And, of course, with this approach, they ask the therapist to teach them more subtle manipulations in relationships with others in order to better control their behavior. Moreover, they want guarantees that people unknown to the psychotherapist will begin to behave the way he (the patient) needs. Psychotherapy does nothing of the kind. And it is simply unrealistic to cope with the crowd of relatives and acquaintances, which the patient mentally “brings” with him to the office. The reality is that another person's behavior can only change when our own changes. It is this desire for change that is the subject of the meeting of two personalities - the psychotherapist and his patient.

Some time of therapy is occupied by the "legend" of the patient - a story that he already knows about himself and how he relates to this. “Facade” information about oneself usually does not contain anything new for the patient, but this period itself is extremely important for getting to know both parties. The patient is very attentive to the reactions of the psychotherapist, he evaluates how suitable the person sitting opposite him is, whether it is possible to be open and frank with him ...

Some patients begin and, having not received the magic formula from one psychotherapist, interrupt the treatment, moving on to the next. They remain in the belief that the therapist does not understand their case. Sometimes this happens, but much more often patients consciously or unconsciously want to prescribe to the psychotherapist to some extent how they should be treated. As a rule, such a prescription does not imply their own responsibility and their own efforts in the treatment process.

Meanwhile, the doctor expects the patient to perform the difficult work of returning experiences. And then there is a reaction of disappointment, because the patient was hoping to get something just the opposite from the doctor - The best way avoidance of experiences, pain, actions. It even seems absurd that therapy invites the patient to experience something that he certainly tries to avoid. And if the patient patiently overcomes the reaction of disappointment without stopping therapy, he gradually acquires orientation in the therapeutic situation. The work of changing oneself begins to take on meaning and perspective.

Listening to the patient, the psychotherapist also determines his attitude and his feelings towards him. Despite the myths about the “superhumanity” of the psychotherapist, he still a common person and the patient may be attractive to him and not very (and in this “not very”, if you figure out how and from what, there may be the root of the patient’s problems with others). In contact with a patient, it is important for a psychotherapist to be very attentive, not only to him, but also to himself (yes, yes!), his feelings and desires. This is the most valuable landmark in what is happening in the relationship between them. The best thing that a psychotherapist can give a patient at the beginning of an acquaintance is support for his desire to understand himself and change, as well as convey his own sense of the value of what is happening. Gradually, a special relationship develops between the psychotherapist and the patient, which has no analogues in everyday life.

Within this meeting, what is happening between them "here and now", in a therapeutic session, soon manifests itself. And these relationships are very seriously influenced by the patient's life history, his relationship with his parents - the most important people of his childhood, stereotypes of behavior (this is when I know how to do it, but I do it, as always), favorite feelings that he experiences in stressful situations. Many of these patterns of behavior (a term denoting a set of characteristics) are unconscious and the task of the psychotherapist is to create conditions for their awareness.

Having not received enough love and acceptance in childhood, the patient can indirectly demand this from other people (and from the psychotherapist too), and manipulate them skillfully enough to achieve his goal. But the bottom line is that he begins to completely depend on the reaction of these people and take offense at them if he does not achieve what he wants. Close such dependence is a burden, many can not stand it, conflicts arise. This behavior is often based on fear and distrust - the patient may be unconsciously convinced that the people around him will not give him love and support, or simply “not see” that it is being provided.

So, the psychotherapist for the patient in a symbolic sense, to one degree or another, is a parent. The patient asks him for support and advice, asks to teach him to behave differently. His position in relation to the psychotherapist is different in that he perceives him as a powerful and authoritative person (what parents once were for a child) and “does not notice” what distinguishes him from his parents.

By his behavior, remarks and questions, the patient unconsciously changes the situation so that the psychotherapist does not differ too much from one of the parents in his reactions. And then the psychotherapist can feel like a “strict and angry father” of the patient or become a “rejecting mother” for a while. In their interaction, there may appear a competition characteristic of the patient in everyday life (and this is already a reflection of the relationship with the older brother), and the desire to prove to the therapist that he can not cope. This phenomenon in psychotherapy is called transfer or transfer (this term came to Gestalt therapy from psychoanalysis).

Why is transference analyzed in a psychotherapeutic session? There is a very valuable opportunity to understand and “work through” the early experience of interacting with people who are fundamental to a person’s life (parents). Exploring these relationships together can bring a lot to the patient's life, especially if the patient ends up using a large set of behavioral responses. The transfer assists the patient in understanding and accepting their needs.

This is normal and becomes an incentive to analyze the relationship, the feelings that they cause, the patient's desires and direct (!), And not indirect, ways to satisfy them. And, then, the patient can honestly come to terms with the fact that for a direct and open request, he runs the risk of receiving a direct and open refusal. Or, on the contrary, warming him, consent. And ... be glad that such a path to the fulfillment of desires does not spoil relations, but makes them warm and close.

In the case when the patient did not have the opportunity in childhood to see his parents as ideally beautiful, smart and worthy of love, he will be inclined to attribute the qualities of the ideal to the psychotherapist (and in life to other people), to expect praise from him. And then, of course, to be disappointed, angry (after all, people are so far from ideal) and demand that they meet his expectations. And this also causes tension in relations with people and conflicts.

In such a case, accept support or dissatisfaction from the real, and not perfect person will mean for the patient that in time he himself will be able to support and love other people. And his ties to them will deepen. The psychotherapist faces a difficult task, not succumbing to the temptation to be an ideal, to appear before the patient as an ordinary, perhaps imperfect, but real person with whom one can build relationships in a different way. The experience of the relationship between the patient and the therapist plays a large role in shaping mature personality. Such a person begins to better understand himself and others and becomes more attractive to others - spouses, friends, colleagues.

DEAD ENDS AND PROGRESS IN THERAPY

In the long-term work of the therapist and the client, impasses sometimes arise. The client stops moving forward and feels that the therapy has ceased to benefit him. The results of therapy seem small, at least not in line with the effort expended. The ultimate goal seems to be just as distant and unattainable. The therapist who previously seemed all-knowing and extraordinary turns out to be an ordinary and often boring person.

Strange as it may seem, a dead end is, first of all, evidence of good therapy - a close distance is established between the patient and the psychotherapist. But it develops only when the therapist and the client find themselves in the grip of a rigid role structure. Each plays his role without going beyond it, and each "justifies the expectations of the other" from the standpoint of this role. The real identity of each of the participants in the therapeutic process is temporarily hidden under the mask of a role.

This is a very dangerous moment in therapy. In favorable cases, the patient expresses his dissatisfaction with the therapist, reproaching or blaming him for not moving the therapy forward enough or for some personal qualities. This usually makes the therapy environment safer for the client to ensure that the expression of negative feelings does not lead to a break in the relationship. If the patient is "too polite to express anger", unexpressed resentments accumulate and therapy may be interrupted by the patient.

In the therapeutic space of the impasse, another very important thing manifests itself - this is impotence. Powerlessness is a real fact of relationships, a real fact of life. There are a lot of events in life that cannot be influenced and can only be accepted. Powerlessness is inevitable and lies in the spirit of therapy itself. Interaction leads to powerlessness not only of the therapist, but also of the patient. When shared not only by the patient but also by the therapist, the experience becomes a meta-event—the two explore something that goes beyond the relationship.

The way out of this situation is often very close. You can get out of the impasse by realizing your negative feelings and changing the role structure of communication. In the course of psychotherapy, any free creative flow of communication protects against closed stalemate passages. When the patient has tied the psychotherapist hand and foot with a role structure, it is better if the role is changed by the therapist. And the more one's own personality and feelings will be in this changed role, the sooner the role structure will change. And then the patient will be able to try out a new role for himself and this will be discussed in the course of therapy. A new role for the patient, a role in which he feels differently, is evidence of undoubted progress in treatment.

GROUP GESTALT THERAPY

Gestalt therapy is not only individual work with a client. In the event that a client experiences difficulties in communicating with other people, the experience of a psychotherapeutic group can be very valuable for him. All over the world, psychological groups are a familiar element of culture that has entered the lives of many people.

The group comes in different ways. Some light up as soon as the therapist recommends it to them, others are cautious and ask for guarantees of safety .... But here the members of the group gather together and look at each other. The trainers (usually two therapists leading the group) announce the start and there is silence. Someone interrupts first and risks exposing the group to their problems. And this usually causes a completely benevolent reaction of the group in the form of questions or advice like “And you tell her ...” or “It is necessary to do this ...” As a rule, these tips do not contain anything new, he (she) has already tried all this.

But here another participant talks about himself, while the other at this time prefers to remain silent or discuss other people's problems. (in the group, everyone is free to talk about himself or be silent ...). And someone asks a question about the impression that he makes on others or complains that he is not understood in the group. So the group approaches its most important barrier in communication - the fear of self-disclosure, beginning to feel that superficial interaction does not give anything "neither mind nor heart."

And this barrier of misunderstanding in the group is overcome only when the participants begin to speak in a special, unique language of the group - the language of personal experiences and feelings. Such language may be incomprehensible to people "outside". But it is precisely this language that makes it possible to accurately describe the reality of personal and group experience. And what the group begins to discuss shifts from interaction with other people “outside the circle”, here, into the circle, in the “here and now”, to itself. The concentration of emotions and experiences is one of the features of the Gestalt group.

And then, the feelings of the group members become important for everyone, and everyone can find their bearings in what they do in relation to another person and how it is perceived by others, what attracts others in him and what repels them. Here everyone is interesting to others, because they are different. The most surprising thing is that the so-called negative feelings are expressed first: irritation, annoyance, fear, hostility ... And only after them support, sympathy, love. “You are here like a front portrait in a frame!” - they can say to a participant who does not show himself in any way. Or “Ask you what time it is?” , and you answered “Have you read today's newspaper?” - a participant who avoids expressing feelings.

What is the use of it, to come to the group and find out that you are afraid or you annoy someone? In the psychotherapy group (and in life, paradoxically) the expression of negative feelings leads to ... freedom and close relationships with people. To the freedom to be as you are, and the freedom to accept others as they are. To the freedom to talk about yourself, not worrying about whether these feelings raise or lower you in the eyes of others ... The personal history of the participants becomes genuine. But not in the sense of objective, but just subjective, subjective and ... alive. You have to see how the faces of the band members change! Excited, filled with feelings and energy of empathy…

The most valuable experience that members of these groups receive, in the description of one of the participants, looks like this

- And I thought ... I could not talk about the problems that worried me, even with friends. I thought I would die of shame if anyone found out about this. Here, in the group, I managed to overcome my fear, found understanding in people whom I did not know a month ago. And now I think I can find a common language with others, I know how to do it ...

People who come to a psychotherapy group usually have only one way to solve their problems. In this sense, a person's lack of behavioral choice is like riding a bicycle along a circular path ... past a fork in which you can get on the highway and reach your destination. And the task of a participant in a group is not only to understand the existing way of behaving in a problem situation (and the group will always help in this), but also to find a fork in the road, that is, the ability to choose other options for action.

This is the real result of the work of the group - to find for themselves alternative ways of behaving in a problem situation that were not noticed before. For this, interaction with other members of the group who are not similar in character, age and problems is necessary.

The value of group experience also lies in the fact that each participant, based on their feelings, formulates their desires. And these are already different desires than at the beginning (I want him to change”). These desires are reinforced by personal responsibility for choices and their actions. And then the group members say goodbye to each other and leave the circle for Big world, full of risk and joy, loss and discovery, danger and love, accepting him as he is - wrong ... alive ... beautiful ...

WHEN PSYCHOTHERAPY ENDS

When does the work of the Gestalt therapist and his patient end? The end of work on the problem will not only be understanding the role of the patient in creating his own problem, and not so much even changing his behavior. The signal about the completion of work is freedom in emotional and behavioral response (from automatic actions and stereotypes). As well as conscious personal responsibility for the consequences of their choice.

Therapy ends when the patient begins to perceive and accept the psychotherapist alive, with his weaknesses and virtues, achievements and failures, without the halo of omniscience and infallibility. This means that he becomes able to independently cope with his life and the problems that arise, acquires the ability to love and be independent, as well as the ability to choose the most suitable lifestyle, people, work ....

Working with a psychotherapist involves overcoming one's own limitations, gaining the freedom to grow and develop. And in this sense, the patient himself determines the direction of his development. Approaching without fear and prejudice what is inside him, whether it be strength or weakness, hatred or love, cruelty or gentleness, or all of these together, he becomes a real person in real world. This approach, in contrast to the myth about oneself, is noticed by the patient in terms of well-being, energy and activity that have appeared.