Posted by gardenergirl on March 9, 2004, at 23:53:14
In reply to Re: Gestalt Therapy?, posted by Poet on March 9, 2004, at 19:44:22
Gestalt therapy is a more experiential and humanistic approach. It uses a lot of techniques, such as dream work and empty chair mentioned by others, to help a person become more "whole" by integrating unconscious aspects of themselves into the conscious self. It usually involves dialoguing with that part, either in the form of an inner voice (such as that critical voice we all seem to have in some way) or the inner hurt we try not to acknowlege. It takes all these parts, both positive and negative and melds them together into the whole self. Sometimes it has "objects" from a person's dream or environment be a part of the dialog as they are thought to also represent a part of the person.
The approach came out of the 60's and/or 70's I think, when encounter groups were big. When used purely, it does still have that flavor about it.
Hope this helps,
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:322319
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040308/msgs/322698.html