Gestalt psychotherapy
Μια σύντομη εξήγηση σχετικά με το τι κάνει η Ψυχοθεραπεία Gestalt
What is Gestalt Psychotherapy
Η παρακάτω ιστοριούλα απεικονίζει το ταξίδι της ψυχοθεραπείας… και δη της ψυχοθεραπείας Gestalt.
I. I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
II. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
Δεν μπορώ να πιστέψω ότι βρίσκομαι στο ίδιο μέρος.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
Είναι δικό μου λάθος.
I get out immediately.
IV. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V. I walk down another street.
Portia Nelson – There's A Hole in My Sidewalk
Initially Gestalt invites us to become aware of our self and our environment. In order to change something, firstly I need to acknowledge and face it. When I am disconnected from my senses and my body, when my feelings are blocked or are anachronistic, when my mind is caught up in the past resuscitating restricted narratives about myself and the world which then mark the future, then I am not in touch with the reality of the here and now, and thus I inescapably continue to fall again and again in the same (or similar) familiar relationships/situations.
How can I become aware and see more effectively what's going on? Gestalt offers us experimentation: constructing a similar artificial hole (!) in psychotherapy, namely in a safe place (safe emergency) with another person who has fallen many times in his own holes and now he's out, hence he knows the terrain and can understand and feel me. This special relationship and condition offers me the space to realise and experience fully (body, feelings, mind) how do I go looking for holes to fall into: how do I choose to keep my eyes shut, with what lies do I fool myself, what attracts me in each specific hole, what do I gain/avoid there.
After awareness follows the moment of owning up. If not me who? If now not when? Only in this way I can find my lost strength, step out of the position of the passive victim of life and regain the choice not only to avoid the old, but to dare to venture to new unknown journeys, which I only fantasied before, as I kept myself busy falling into holes...
Gestalt psychotherapy is one of the most fascinating and established therapeutic modalities. It has been influenced by expressionism and dadaism, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, somatic psychotherapy, the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, psychodrama, zen buddhism and many others. A number of its concepts and techniques, i.e. the "here and now" or "the empty chair" have by now become indispensable tools for all therapists.
Εκτός από τη σημαντική της συνεισφορά στον χώρο της ψυχοθεραπείας η ψυχοθεραπεία Gestalt εφαρμόζεται στο coaching, στην παιδαγωγική και στην οργάνωση και διοίκηση επιχειρήσεων. Έχει αποτελέσει επίσης μεγάλη επιρροή σε άλλες προσεγγίσεις όπως του Νευρογλωσσικού Προγραμματισμού (NLP), της Συστημικής Αναπαράστασης (Hellinger), του Process Work, του Redecision Therapy και πολλών άλλων.
Ο κύριος εμπνευστής της Gestalt, Frtiz Perls, έλεγε χαρακτηριστικά ότι “η θεραπεία μου είναι υπερβολικά καλή για να την περιορίσω σε ασθενείς”. Όντως η θεραπεία Gestalt αποτελεί και μια στάση/φιλοσοφία ζωής με στόχο την προσωπική μας εξέλιξη, η οποία έχει γίνει αρκετά δημοφιλής και μέσα από τα βιβλία του Χόρχε Μπουκάι. Ωστόσο για να μάθεις πραγματικά την Gestalt χρειάζεται να την πάθεις, το οποίο γίνεται μέσα από ατομικές συνεδρίες, θεραπευτικές ομάδες ή/και σεμινάρια.