show him what a good trembler I am—I’ll really
show him how nicely I can tremble”(p. 226). This
procedure resembles those of implosion therapy,
which is discussed in Chapter 14. The second tech-
nique,de-reflection, instructs the client to ignore a
troublesome behavior or symptom. Many clients
are exquisitely attuned to their own responses and
bodily reactions. De-reflection attempts to divert
the client’s attention to more constructive activities
and reflections.
Gestalt Therapy
InGestalt therapy, the emphasis is on present expe-
rience and on the immediate awareness of emotion
and action.“Being in touch”with one’s feelings
replaces the search for the origins of behavior.
Existential problems expressed by a failure to find
meaning in life have arisen in a technological soci-
ety that separates people from themselves. The
“unreality”of computers and plastic credit cards
has overwhelmed the true meaning of life, which
can only be found in the immediate experience of
emotions. Gestalt therapy attempts to restore the
proper balance.
A Movement of Heterogeneity. Frederick
(Fritz) Perls is the figure most closely identified
with the development of the Gestalt therapy move-
ment. Perls’s initial grounding was in medicine and
psychoanalysis. He left Germany in 1934, after the
Nazis came to power, and settled in South Africa,
where he established a psychoanalytic institute. As
time went on, however, he began to move away
from the tenets of psychoanalysis and toward the
development of what was to become Gestalt ther-
apy. In 1946, Perls immigrated to the United States.
He died in 1970.
Gestalt therapy is really a heterogeneous mix of
techniques and ideas. Gestalt therapists do not agree
among themselves and at times seem to revel in
their lack of agreement. Their goal does not seem
to be the construction of a monolithic theory of
therapy but rather to express through their therapy
their own sense of uniqueness and their interpreta-
tion of life. Even the contribution of Perls himself
was hardly a model of consistency. Some of his
major works—Ego, Hunger, and Aggression(Perls,
1947),Gestalt Therapy(Perls, Hefferline, & Good-
man, 1951),Gestalt Therapy Verbatim(Perls, 1969a),
andIn and Out the Garbage Pail(Perls, 1969b)—
express a variety of notions. Kempler (1973) pro-
vides an account of Gestalt therapy theory, as does
Smith (1976). Adding to the confusion is the fact
that Gestalt therapy does not really have very much
to do with the Gestalt principles of Wertheimer,
Koffka, Kohler, or Lewin. The connections are
more superficial than substantive.Basic Notions. Central to Gestalt therapy is the
conceptualization of the person as an organized
whole, not as a disjointed collection of emotions,
cognitions, and behaviors. Also running through
accounts of Gestalt therapy is the admonition that
an individual must develop an awareness not only
of themselves but also of the ways in which they
defeat themselves. This awareness is reached
through the expression of what one is feelingnow,
on a moment-to-moment basis. Whatever is
impeding progress toward a higher plane of adjust-
ment must be experienced so that it, too, becomes a
part of awareness. Presumably, the person’s inner
potential is capable of overcoming problems in
adjustment. But first there must be awareness both
of the obstacles to improved adjustment and of that
potential itself.
The therapist becomes a catalytic agent who
facilitates the client’s awareness of how inner
potential is being deflected from expression. Thus,
the therapist does not give the client reasons for
the ineffective use of potential or tell the client
how it all got started. Instead, the therapist shows
the client where the responsibility for more effec-
tive experiences resides—in the client. The empha-
sis is on momentary awareness, not on the recovery
of memories or repressed impulses. However,
although Perls rejected many features of psycho-
analysis, his approach is really an amalgam of
existentialism and psychoanalysis. For example, he
seems to readily accept the importance of tradi-
tional psychoanalytic insights regarding the nature
of motivation and defense.PSYCHOTHERAPY: PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVES 385