Outline and explain the principles of one of the following: a) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; b) The Gestalt approach to psychology.

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Outline and explain the principles of one of the following:

a) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs;

b) The Gestalt approach to psychology.

How does humanistic psychology differ in essence from other analyses of "mental disorder", and what are its strengths and weaknesses?

In this essay I will be describing the principles of the Gestalt approach to psychology. I will explore how humanistic psychology differs from other models and discuss its strengths and weaknesses.

Psychiatrist Frederick "Fritz" Perls (1893-1970) devised Gestalt therapy. The word "Gestalt" is of German origin, as was Perls, and means "pattern" or "organised whole" (Gross & McIlveen, 1996).

In order to make sense of life events, our perceptions are organised into gestalts. Just as we cannot fully understand a family by looking solely at the individuals without regard for its operation as a whole, neither can we understand a gestalt by merely observing its constituent parts.

When a gestalt is formed, there is a focus of attention against a background of everything else of potential relevance. This foreground/background (figure/ground) formation is called "field theory". Whatever is of most interest at any moment becomes figure, but if something else becomes more important, figure recedes into ground and is replaced.

In field theory all aspects of an individual and their environment are interrelated so that the field forms their context. Unless we understand a person's environment, we can never fully understand them or their behaviour. As Yontef (1973) said "Behaviour is a function of the field of which it is a part. Experiencing is also a function of the field of which it is a part".

Each field is organised into a gestalt by the dominant need of that moment. As a personal or social need arises, a figure/ground formation develops with whatever is perceived as being able to meet the need becoming figure. The cycle of gestalt formation and destruction, of needs arising and being met, has taken several different forms. One of the earliest models was a four-phase process called the "cycle of contact" (Perls et al, 1973).

The first phase is "fore-contact" where a need arises and the individual is aware that balance has been disturbed. They have either excess or a deficit of something and are driven to restore balance. At this stage, the need is figure and everything else is ground. The second phase is "contact", where possibilities of meeting the need are evaluated. When out of these possibilities a means of restoring balance arises, it becomes figure and the individual assembles their resources to contact figure and overcome any obstacles that they may encounter. As the individual identifies more and more with figure, it becomes more distinguished from ground.
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The third phase is "final contact" where the individual is so engaged with figure that there is hardly any background. It is the quality of contact that determines whether or not the need is met. If contact is good and full, the need will be met and the individual will have a new and enlarged sense of self. Good contact is only possible when the individual can maintain a sense of individuality and dissimilarity from figure. Perls was quoted in a biography as having said "It is the point at which I experience "me" in relation to whatever ...

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