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About Gestalt Therapy ...
Origins and Development
By Carol Swanson, LCSW
The theory of Gestalt therapy has its roots in many disciplines, including psychoanalysis, humanistic and existential
philosophies, Eastern spiritual practice, and Gestalt psychology.
Gestalt, a German word, which translates to "whole," points to
the central theme of the therapy, which is the tendency to see
and act in unified wholes, instead of parts. Hence the
expression: the whole is larger than the sum of its parts.
The characteristics that make Gestalt therapy unique are the following:
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•It is a field-theoretical holistic orientation that sees
the individual as an integration of mind-body-spirit,
in the process of contact with, and creative
adjustment to his/her environment. -
•It respects the individual’s defenses as the process
of creative adjustment. -
•It defines health as the ability to experience vividly
in the present. -
•It employs present-centered awareness as a means
of integrating a person’s history, present experience,
and movement into the future. -
•It is an interaction that is both therapist and client.
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•It is inherently ethical and respectful of the client.
Brief History of Gestalt Therapy
Frederick (Fritz) Perls and Laura Perls are often credited as
the cofounders of Gestalt therapy, though there were others
who were influential in its beginnings. Fritz trained as a psychiatrist in Germany in the 1920’s and also trained with
Karen Horney, Otto Rank, and Wilhelm Reich. Laura Perls
studied with Martin Buber and Paul Tillich and with Gestalt psychologist Max Werthheimer.
Development of Gestalt Therapy
Ego, Hunger and Aggression: A Revision of Psychoanalysis,
by Frederick Perls, lays down some of the concepts that later develop into Gestalt Therapy. In this initial text Perls has
chapters from holistic and existential perspectives, along with a reevaluation of the analytic viewpoint on aggression. Frederick and Laura Perls fled Nazi Germany, in the 1930’s, to Holland, then to South Africa and then emigrated to America.
The seminal text, Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in
the Human Personality, by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, and
Ralph Heffereline was published in 1951. It continues to be the definitive text on Gestalt therapy.
Isadore From
Isadore From was one of the original group of intellectuals in
the early 1950’s who met and contributed to the creation of Gestalt therapy. Isadore tells of his needing therapy, which
would have been called analysis then, of being desperate for therapy, and not having the financial means to pay for it. He
was referred to Fritz Perls who lived in a cold water flat on the upper east side. Perls needed paying patients at the time, and was going to refuse Isadore therapy. Fritz asked Isadore what
he was studying at the New School for Social Research, and Isadore replied: phenomenology, to which Fritz said, “lie down
on the couch”. Fritz was interested in phenomenology as this
is part of what informs Gestalt therapy.
Isadore became known as the dean of Gestalt therapy, training hundreds of therapists in the USA and Europe.
Current Trends In Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy has continued to flourish over the past decades and has an international presence around the globe. It is at the forefront of the new integrative models of psychotherapy, while still remaining true to its philosophical and theoretical
foundations.
© 2005 Portland Gestalt Therapy Institute
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‣Origins & Development
- Brief History
- Development
- Isadore From
- Current Trends -
‣Boundary Disturbances
- Confluence &
Projection
- Introjection &
Retroflection
- Egotism, Deflection, &
Other Disturbances -
‣The Self
- Wholeness of Contact
- Ego & Id Functioins
- Middle Mode &
Personality