Here and now awareness
The Gestalt therapy slogan is “I and thou”, “here and now”. Only the now exists. Problems solved in the present solve problems of the past. The client is not allowed to talk about problems in the past tense or in terms of memories. The client is asked to experience them now in his/her breathing, gestures, feelings, emotions and voice. The manner of expression, not the content of the words, is what is important.
The basic sentence the client is required to repeat is “now I am aware”
Other variations maybe;
- What are you aware of now?
- Where are you now?
- What are you seeing? Feeling?
- What are you doing with your hand? Foot?
- Are you aware of what you are doing with your…..?
- What do you expect?
- What do you want?
Perls likens the unfolding of the personality as peeling five layers of an onion:
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The phoney; Reacting to others in stereotyped and non-genuine ways and playing games instead of being real.
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The Phobic; This is what we strive to avoid emotional pain by keeping parts of ourselves out of sight.
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The impasse|: This is where our maturation is stuck and we don not feel alive.
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The implosive: This is where we let go of phoney roles and pretences. Energy is released and we become alive and authentic.
Contact and resistances to contact:
Contact is necessary for change and growth to take place. Effective contact is through the scenes, and interacting with nature and with other people, yet all the while retaining our individuality.
The resistances or the defences we erect to prevent contact are:
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Introjections: This is the tendency to passively incorporate other people’s beliefs and standards and make them our own. This binds up energy.
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Projection: this is the opposite of introjections, where we disown certain aspects of ourselves, and put them into the environment, with the effect that the distinction is blurred between ourselves and the environment.
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Retroflection; This means turning back to ourselves what we would like to do to someone else. Equally it is doing to ourselves what we wish someone would do to us.
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Deflection: This is the process of distraction so that it is difficult to maintain a sense of contact, by such defences as humour, abstractness, generalisations and questions.
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Confluence: This means a blurring between the self and the environment. Some people blend so with the environment that they lose all sense of self, and confluence characterises people who have a pathological need to be accepted and liked.
The counsellor draws attention to:
- What the client says
- How it is said
- The client’s behaviour
- Non-verbal communication
- Breathing pattern
- Tensions within the session.
Clients are encouraged to act out various roles in life that they, and others, have played or are currently playing and to take responsibility for their own conflicts.
Counselling goals
- To re-establish contact and normal interaction; restore ego function and restore the whole
- To foster maturation and growth, independence, self-support and awareness.
- To help the client to deal with unfinished business and learn to live in the “here and now”.
The counselling process
Client’s are asked, and sometimes actively encouraged to experience as much of themselves as possible- gestures, breathing and voice and so on. On so doing they become aware of the relationship between feelings and behaviours, and are thus able to integrate their dissociated parts and establish an adequate balance and appropriate boundaries between self and the environment.
Unfinished business must be concentrated on and re-experienced, not just talked about, in order to be resolved in the here and now. Unfinished business is something that acts as a block or interruption to the flow of energy, the task of which is to form a Gestalt. When there is completion we can move on because we are able to build only on what is completed. As each piece of unfinished business is resolved, a Gestalt is completed and the way is then prepared for the client to move on to the next unfinished business. When a prior need was left unsatisfied, that particular ~Gestalt could not be completed. Part of the counselling task is to help the client to close off and complete what was previously unfinished, similar to closing.
Therapists make client’s take responsibility by inviting them to use “I” not “it” when referring to their body. Any statement or behaviour that does not represent self is challenged.
Techniques of Gestalt therapy
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The chair: Clients’ move forwards and backwards from one chair to another and engage in dialogue between parts of themselves, between other people or between dream objects.
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Skilful frustration; In this the therapist:
- Repeatedly frustrates client’s avoidance of uncomfortable situations, until they show willingness to try and cope.
- Helps client’s to identify the characteristics they project on to others that are most missing in themselves.
- Helps clients express and understand resentment, in the belief that the expression of resentment is one of the most important ways of helping people make life a little easier.
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Monotherapy: Where the client creates and acts every part of the production.
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Fantasy: Through the use of symbols-fantasy can be verbalised, written or acted.
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Shuttle; Directing the clients’ attention back and forth from one activity or experience to another.
- Top -dog-underdog:
- Top dog represents the “shoulds” that the person has introjected; top dog is righteous, perfectionist, authoritarian, bullying and punishing.
- Underdog is primitive, evasive “yes, but”, exercising, passively sabotaging the demands of top dog
- The client enters into a dialogue and alternately takes the part of top dog and underdog.
Confusion
All clients demonstrate confusion, by way of hesitation between contact and withdrawal. Because confusion is unpleasant, the client will attempt to get rid of it by avoidance, blanking out, verbalism and fantasy. The client is encouraged to become aware of, to tolerate and to stay with this confusion. When it is not avoided or interrupted and allowed to develop, it will be transformed into a feeling that can be experienced and can lead to appropriate action.
Many people come for counselling because they feel stuck in situations from which they can see no way out. Counselling can help them develop a sense of direction, which often accompanies hope. One important part of problem –solving that can sometimes be difficult is goal setting, working our a satisfactory solution. Goal setting is a highly cognitive approach, which many people have difficulty working with. Goal –setting must take into account the affective and behavioural factors as well as the creative potential of the client.
Eight important tasks can be identified in the process of problem-solving and goal-setting:
- Assessment- helps clients identify what they feel is Ok about their life, what they feel is not Ok about their life. Resources they have drawn on and assessment continues throughout the counselling relationship.
- Identifying the initial problem: helps the client to focus on the initial problem by using What, Why, How, Where, When and Who.
- Develop new ways of looking at the problem: looking beyond the now, to what could be.
- Goal-setting: A goal is what a person would like to attain so that the problem can be managed more easily and constructively. Clients’ may need help to distinguish clearly between a wish and a goal.
- Opening up possibilities: There are often several ways in which a problem may be tackled using resources the client may not have recognised.
- Making an informed choice: Achieving the best fit between resources, personality and abilities in order to achieve the desired outcome.
- Implementing the choice
- Evaluation.
Direction
In order to move from the now to the desired outcome counsellor and client need to explore the feelings, thoughts and behaviours in order to develop a new perspective and work through hindrances. Problem solving counselling is successful only if it results in problem-handling action. Listening, as part of problem solving, is effective only if it helps clients to become more intentional and leads to realistic goal setting.
Stages of helping a client to change
- The aim of stage one is to help clients understand themselves, understand the problem, set goals and take action
The client’s goal is self-exploration: the counsellor’s goal is responding. The counsellor helps the client tell their story, focus and develop insight and new perspectives.
- The aim of stage two is to create new scenarios and setting goals this helps the client examine their problem, think how it could be handled differently and develop their powers of imagination. The client’s goal is self- understanding, the counsellor’s goal is to integrate understanding, into his the counsellor helps the client to create new scenarios, evaluate possible scenarios and develop choice and commitment to change.
- In stage three the counsellor aims to help the client act. The client’s goal is to action. The counsellor helps the client to identify and assess action strategies, formulate plans and implement plans.
In challenging a client during sessions some useful challenging questions a counsellor may ask a client maybe:
- What would this situation look like if you managed it better?
- What changes would there be your lifestyle?
- What would you do differently with the people in your life?
- What behaviours would there be?
- What would exist that doesn’t exist now?
- What would be happening that isn’t happening now?
- What would you have that you don’t have now?
- What decisions would you have made?
- What would you accomplish?
In a humanistic approach the three stages are often described as a beginning, middle and end. It is in this middle stage that the counsellor would invite challenge to the client with their issue.
I will now give an example of challenging a client during two sessions, I have changed the name of my client to protect his identity but the transcript is taken from an actual sessions I have conducted with my client.
Background information
My client Chris, a 52 year married lecturer, he teaches students to become teachers. He has been on sick leave for 12months, and had counselling at a local hospital for four months prior to being referred to me. The sessions I discuss today are the fifth and sixth session.
Chris feels that he is unable to continue teaching in the department he works in, and feels the stress of the workload placed on him over the past couple of years has caused depression and Chris struggling to enter backing into his previous teaching post. Chris takes anti-depressants to help him cope with the stress.
Chris is currently in discussion with the college human resources as to where they may be able to help him.
Chris enters the counselling session appearing tired and withdrawn.
Counsellor: Hello Chris, what would you like to discuss in your session today?
Chris: I’m not sure, I’ve had a tough week
Counsellor: Would you like to expand on your tough week? You appear tired today are you well?
Chris: I’m finding it hard to sleep at the moment, my mind is working overtime, I’m very restless, I keeping thinking that the college will just make me go back to my job,
Counsellor: what makes you think this?
Chris: Well, I had a meeting with HR this week and they said that there is a job there for me at the college doing my old job, but I know that I am unable to go back into the education department, I feel as though if this happens it will just put me back to where I was twelve months ago.
Counsellor: I’m sorry to hear that, you say it will put you back to where you where twelve months ago, how was that?
Chris: I was extremely stress all the time, I couldn’t manage my workload, the college had placed too much responsibility on my working week and they had unrealistic expectations that I could manage the workload in the time they had given me, but they had given me enough work for two lecturers.
Counsellor: That feels demoralising, as though they where expecting too much from you .Do you have any support at work?
Chris: yes, I have some, I go and speak with the union Alan is really helpful and whilst I’ve been off they have brought another lecturer in to do my job, and I have become friendly with him, even he says that the workload is too much.
Counsellor: This is good that you have support to go to, it is important that you seek support at home too. It helps to talk things through. Would the Alan be able to offer support in your meetings?
Chris: yes, he has said that he will have a meeting with the HR department.
Counsellor: We have thirty minutes left in our session today, I wonder if it would be helpful for you for us to do an exercise about your issue with work? Do you think you would like to do this?
Chris: Yes, I feel this may help me.
Counsellor places three objects on the floor ranging in weight.
Next to each item I placed a piece of blank paper.
Object 1 a tissue
Object 2 a plastic tray
Object 3 a paper weight
Counsellor: ok Chris the objects that you see in front of you represent your issue with work at the moment, I would like to invite you to stand next to the paper weight and hold it if you will please.
Chris: (stands and holds the weight. He is surprised at the weight of it) ok , this feels heavy,
Counsellor: ok, now could you close your eyes for a moment and focus on the weight, when you’re ready I would like you to describe how you’re feeling holding it.
Chris: the longer I hold it the heavy it seems to be getting, though I know that it hasn’t gained any weight whilst I’m holding it. It feels restricting, as though I can only do a small amount of other things whilst I’m holding it.
Counsellor: Is this feeling similar to how you feel when you describe the issue with work?
Chris: Yes, this feels exactly the same, though I know its not the same, but the weight is the same, I can see how this feels, if only I could take away the weight of the issue I may be able to see it like I see this exercise.(Chris starts to cry)
Counsellor: can you tell me why you’re crying?
Chris: I’m crying because your good at this, you can see the things I am unable to see, I just wish I could see them as you do.
Counsellor: in doing this exercise I can show you a way of looking at your issues in a different way, that may help you cope with the pressure.
Counsellor: In your own time, could I invite you to stand in the middle and hold the plastic tray, in your own time repeat the process and experience how it feels holding the tray.
Chris: Ok, The tray is much lighter than the weight, I can balance it easily in my hand, I can see and feel there isn’t anything on the tray, its flexible, but I’m feeling as though it’s a barrier between the two objects, its like a wall around me, that I’m unable to see over or through. I know where I was before I fell ill at work, but I cannot see it anymore.
Counsellor: ok, so to reflect, you can feel that the object is much lighter, therefore easier to carry; you know it would be used to balance things on, but it feels like a barrier between the two objects.
Chris: Yes.
Counsellor: could you describe this barrier a little more for me?
Chris: I’ll try, I know that the first object is a tissue, but the tray feels like is a barrier, its like its unreachable.
Counsellor: If I could help you move the barrier then how would this feel do you think?
Chris: I think that it would feel much better for me; I would be able to move to any of the three objects then.
Counsellor: this is good, would you like work on this then now?
Chris: Yeah that would be good if we could.
Counsellor: ok, if you can put the tray back on the floor for a moment, and just stay standing in the middle. If you can just try and clear your mind and then hold your arms out to make a T shape,
Chris does this.
Right, I’m going to place two objects into each hand,
Counsellor places tissue in one hand and the paperweight in the other
If you imagine that you are a set of weighing scales weighing each object your arms will be able to accommodate the weight changes, if I was to swap the objects to the other hands then you would just do the reverse for each arm, this is what we do with your issue, you have already described the weightiness of the first object you held and you can now feel the opposite of the tissue, though you feel like standing in the middle is a barrier, in actual fact you are in the best position because you can choose which object to hold and standing in the middle, lets call it the neutral position it allows you to move freely.
Can you see this?
Chris: yes, I feel using the scales analogy has made me much bigger and I am in control of whether I want to hold the object or not, so why before I came a pair of scales did I feel a barrier.
Counsellor: maybe because you are now looking at the tray in a different way.
When you see something as a barrier maybe it might be helpful for you to imagine yourself as a pair of scales and then weigh the issues, do you think you could do this?
Chris: I will certainly try it.
Counsellor: right if you would like to sit back down, we can discuss the exercise.
Chris, how are you feeling now we have done the exercise?
Chris: I think it is good for me to see how you can help me see my problems in a different way, I’m feeling good at the moment, it’s been helpful to experience my issues using objects .When I see you next could we look at this more please.
Counsellor: I’m pleased the exercise has helped you today, when you have a session with me, you have the choice of what you would like to discuss.
We are at the end of our session today; I just want to checkout with you and find out if you’re ok?
Chris: yes, I am ok, I will think about what we have done today and I have a meeting organised with personnel so I will discuss what happened with you next week.
Counsellor: Ok, well I hope the meeting goes well and I will see you next week.
Session ends
Session 2
Counsellor: Hello, Chris what would you like to discuss in your session today?
Chris: Hello Jan, When I was here last week I left feeling happy (client smiles) but over the week I have felt that I have slowly fallen back into my current frame of mind.
Counsellor: Can you describe this current frame you speak about?
Chris: Well, my mood last week was good, I felt I had achieved something in our last session, I could see what I was doing, and where I needed to make changes, I had direction of what I thought I wanted to do at work, but over the week my thoughts have slowly moved back into thinking, that the college won’t be able to offer me a new post within the college and I will have to say in the department I’m currently in. The meeting didn’t go ahead; they had had to re-arrange it for next week. But I did get a change to speak with Alan (union rep and friend to Chris)
Counsellor: OK, would you like to use this session to discuss this further?
Chris: I think I do, I need to know what I’m going to do, before I have the meeting with personnel.
Counsellor: ok, would you like to do an exercise with me that will allow you to look at your options.
Chris: (smiling) yes this would be good.
Counsellor: passes Chris a diagram of a cross roads (see diagram in 9a titled crossroads)
I would like to take a look a the cross roads and imagine that you can see this cross roads, and then I would like to invite you to imagine you are standing in the middle of the crossroads, do you think you could do this?
Chris: yes (pause) ok I can see this crossroads, and I’m standing in the middle.
Counsellor: that is good, now in your own time I want you to face the first road entrance, and I want you to take a look down it, if you want you can start walking onto the road.
Chris: Ok, (pause) right I’m slowly walking onto the road.
Counsellor: great, can you describe how you’re feeling right now?
Chris: I’m feeling sick in my stomach, I feel like I did twelve months ago at the start of my problems with the education department I work in.
Counsellor: right, if you stand still, and mentally put a no entry sign on this road , so you cannot walk any further long it, does this change how you feel?
Pause
Chris; Yes, this feel very comfortable for me, I know I don’t want to work in this department any longer, that is why I thought of a possible other post I could do in the college, but then going away last week it is this that has made me feel how I felt when I came today. I know I don’t want to go back there in the education department, and the new post I proposed to the college will keep me attached to this department. ( chris smiles at me)
Counsellor: can I ask you what you’re smiling at?
Chris; Yes I can see that I definitely don’t want to go back into the department, I can see that now.
Counsellor: ok, now can you come back into the centre of the cross roads and face another road, and do the same process of looking down it and if possible imagine your walking down the road?
Chris: sure, (quickly saying) in this road, I don’t feel sick in my stomach anymore,
Counsellor: can you describe what you can see in this road and how you are feeling walking down it?
Chris: yes ok, I feel calm, I feel happier in this road, on this road I can see a possible new role that I could do,
Counsellor: does this new role have a title yet?
Chris: yes, I could see myself doing a job in the college which is working with environment issues, which is what I used to do prior to coming to teaching in this college.
Counsellor: would you be able to propose this to the college?
Chris: yes I could quite easily put something together to submit to the college.
Counsellor: could I just ask you to reflect how this feel, your ability to make choices that are right for you, last week you where unable to do this.
Chris: you are right I couldn’t of done this last week, I’m finding this exercise very easy and very helpful, thank you
Counsellor: you don’t need to thank me, it is you who is making the decisions I’m just offering insight to what you are unable to see at the moment. But thank you for discussing how your feeling.
Could you now move back into the centre again and repeat the process on a new road?
Chris: ok, On the third road I can see a new job external to the college, I don’t know what it may be but it feels a possibility, I could start doing some research at looking at other jobs.
Counsellor; can you describe how your feeling on this road Chris?
Chris; On this road I feel total freedom, knowing I have a job that is out of the college completely feel healthy for me, I don’t have a title of what the job may be, but it doesn’t matter, I have many skills I know I could use in another job,
Counsellor: for some I would imagine that this may be scary, the unknown, does this feel scary for you?
Chris: Not at all has it felt the opposite, I can see how it may feel for some but I don’t feel this, I just feel like a free bird out in the big world.
Counsellor: I can hear what your saying to me but your body language is saying that your thinking further ahead, can I ask you to just take a look at your stance, you look to me as though your about to run a race.
Chris: (laughs) that because I know what is on the last road, and seeing what is on the last road, makes this road feel good.
Counsellor: can you say a little more?
Chris: well, on this road I feel like a free bird in the big world the other road, is titled redundancy, if the college where to make me redundant because I am unable to work in the education department they would have to make me redundant, I how have the financial security to may my mortgage and support my family whilst I’m looking for a new job. And this makes it an ok feeling.
Counsellor: this is great, could I invite you to step into the redundancy road, and for you to describe how this feels.
Chris: Sure, Like I say this road feel comfortable, as long as the college pays me what I think they may pay me, I would be fine if they where to make my post redundant.
Counsellor: Is that a possibility then?
Chris: I’m not sure, but the same has recently happened to another staff member, she was off through stress for over a year and as she was unable to return to her post, the college made her redundant. I would much rather have another job to go to than be made redundant, but if the college don’t offer me another job outside of the education department then I will start looking for a new job outside of the college.
Counsellor: you seem very sure of that!
Chris: I’m feeling much stronger in my thoughts today, this has helped me more than what I thought it would at the start of the exercise, I’m glad I did this,
Counsellor: (smiling) I’m please this exercise has helped you, do you think in our next session we could look at your emotions, I have picked up in the last couple of session that you seem reluctant to want to discuss your emotions, and I feel it may be of some help to you if we discuss them.
Chris: (starts laughing) my wife is always telling me off for not talking to her about my feelings, now you’re saying the same.
Counsellor: so don’t you think that you hold your emotions in?
Chris: I’m not sure!
Counsellor: Who held their emotions in when you where a child?
Chris: My parents, it used to make me very angry, they where ok in doing things like take things back to shops, but when it came to empowering people of importance like the headmaster or the local authority they couldn’t voice their real feelings. I guess I do the same don’t I?
Counsellor: It’s not what I think that matters, its what you think that matters, you have already said you think you do the same, we could look into this a little deeper in our next session?
Chris: yes we could. I have enjoyed my session today, though it has been tough at times, but I can feel I’m making progress in my sessions with you, do you think I could have some more sessions, as I have only got two more booked with you.
Counsellor: We can talk about this next week, if that is ok.
Chris: yes that’s fine.
Counsellor: well once again we have run out of time, before you go can I just check that you’re okay
Chris: yes I’m feeling fine thank you, I will see you again next week, and hopefully I won’t be coming back saying my mood has dropped again.
Counsellor: Just take some time out to think about our work and try and use the skills you have learnt and you should be fine.
Summation with client
Throughout the two sessions I have discussed in my essay, I have challenged my client on many aspects of his behaviour. Having built a working relationship with Chris, I knew that he would benefit for participating in practical exercises where he can see his issue from a new aspect. As my client could see his actions and options open to him throughout the two session’s and then reflected upon the discussion over the period of several weeks he could see change could be achieved, with trust building and my reflection on what he was saying and feeling my client could move from old patterns of behaviour to new one’s and start doing this in a save environment where he wouldn’t be humiliated, belittled and all decisions made would be done with his own choosing.
My client found the practical exercises very helpful to change, and for me as a counsellor challenging my client was much easier using practical exercises.
The exercises gave my client his power back that had been lacking within himself. For my client even accepting this power was a challenge for him, through demonstrating how this power can be used to benefit situations it allowed my client time in his own thought processes that though the challenges I was asking the client to participate in, over a short period of time my client trusted me to help him make choices that where right for the client to move on. in the here and now.