Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy 1575240904, 9781575240909

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INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS | OF GESTALT THERAPY

Shraga Serok

Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy

Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy

Shraga Serok

& KRIEGER PUBLISHING COMPANY MALABAR, FLORIDA 2000

Original Edition 2000

Printed and Published by

KRIEGER PUBLISHING COMPANY KRIEGER DRIVE MALABAR, FLORIDA 32950 Copyright © 2000 by Krieger Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Printed in the United States of America.

FROM A DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS: This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Serok, Shraga, 1927-

Innovative applications of Gestalt therapy / Shraga Serok. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-57524-090-4 (alk. paper) 1. Gestalt therapy. I. Title. RC489.G4S47 2000 616.89'143—dc21

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Contents

Foreword

Vil

Section I—Introduction to Theory

1. Introduction as Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events: Their Effect on the Entire Gestalt 3. Looking at Gestalt Group Impact: An Experiment

22

Section I[—Stress and Crises

4. The Application of Gestalt Methods for the Reduction of Test Anxiety in Students 5. Implications of Gestalt Therapy with Post-Traumatic Patients 6. Gestalt and Social Integration: A Theoretical Model and an Intervention Program for Immigrant Absorption in Israel

31 40

56

Section I11]—Health and Aging

4h The Application of Gestalt Methods to Reduce High Blood Pressure 8. Short-Term Gestalt Group Therapy with Multiple Sclerosis Patients 9. Application of Gestalt Therapy to Group Work with the Aged Section IV—Chronic

719 89 103

Conditions

10. A Gestalt Therapy Approach to the Treatment of Schizophrenia Lv An Experiment of Gestalt Group Therapy with Hospitalized Schizophrenics: A Pilot Study 12: Intensive Gestalt Group Therapy with Schizophrenics v

117 124 138

vi / Contents

13. Gestalt Therapy with Hospitalized Adolescents 14. Application of Gestalt Therapy with Long-Term Prison Inmates in Israel

156 165

Section V—Supervision

15. Supervision in Social Work and Psychotherapy from a Gestalt Perspective 16. Gestalt Therapy’s Theory of Experiential Organization and Mutual Support Processes in Psychotherapy and Supervision

183

201

Section VI—Gestalt and Play

17. The Therapeutic Value of Play

221

Section VII—Summary

18. Concluding Remarks: A Gestalt Intervention for Peace 19. Epilogue Index

243 249 29

FOREWORD Dr. Joseph Zinker

Professor Shraga Serok has had a long, illustrious career as an educator, Gestalt therapist, and researcher, and I have known him personally for many of those years. Now we have the pleasure of reading his book entitled Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy. Much of what is covered in this unique collection of essays reflects Serok’s wide range of interest in the useful application of Gestalt—not simply in run-of-the mill neurotic cases, where its value is known—but in the many diverse aspects of life that surround all of us. Many of the studies contained in this volume involve statistical results of group interventions, but there are individual cases of therapeutic intervention highlighted as well. Although the group therapy studies did not yield ideal results, it is shown that the use of Gestalt in this kind of intervention does produce increased decisiveness and higher self-adaptation. Professor Serok has reported on his work on “test anxiety” in students, qualitative analyses of post-traumatic patients, group work with the physically disabled (using patients suffering from multiple sclerosis as his example), and the aging, as well as the use of Gestalt methods in helping immigrants in Israel to adapt to their new and unfamiliar environment—techniques that can be generalized to help immigrants or displaced persons anywhere in the world. He also reports the use of Gestalt methods in several studies of schizophrenic patients and of inmates in an Israeli prison. In addition, he offers several helpful chapters on methods of Gestalt supervisory techniques for therapists. What impresses me most is that we are looking at a very wide spectrum of life through the Gestalt lenses of a therapist and scholar who has been fully immersed in the life around him, rather than an “armchair” philosopher whose experience is restricted to theoretical speculation. Serok’s final proposal for a Gestalt approach to the question of how to engender peace and cooperation between disparate populations is very

down-to-earth. This is a rich book of ideas—both practical and theoretical—that will add to our way of looking at Gestalt therapy. A short example should Vil

viii / Foreword

suffice to demonstrate the latter. Serok speaks of “Unstarted Business” in contrast to the concept of “unfinished business,” which was popularized by Fritz Perls. Unstarted business has to begin with the competence and self-support of the person in the here and now and leads to important outcomes in the future. Whereas unfinished business involved delvying into the past (Perls was a psychoanalyst), unstarted business, a term coined by Professor Serok and clearly differentiated as an addition to Gestalt theory and practice, begins with the electric urgency of the moment: a very powerful idea that supplements Perls. This book is a unique contribution to the body of knowledge of Gestalt therapy, both by providing a broad range of empirical evidence and by extending the theoretical framework that informs therapeutic techniques. I wholeheartedly recommend this collection of essays and ideas to all therapists—especially those gestalt therapists who are interested in the application of our work to a wide range of human experiences. *

*

*

Dr. Joseph Zinker is a founding fellow of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, where he has served as Chair of the Post-Graduate Training Faculty. He is an internationally known expert in Gestalt therapy and teaches throughout the world. His book Creative Processing Gestalt Therapy (1976) is a classic work in the field, and takes pride of place among his many articles and his more recent book, In Search of Good Form (1994). In addition to teaching Gestalt couple and family therapy in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Buenos Airs, Sao Paulo, among many other places

in the world, Dr. Zinker is also an artist and poet.

SECTION I—INTRODUCTION TO THEORY

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Most publications in Gestalt therapy deal with the philosophical and psychological concepts of this school of thought. Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy is a breakthrough: it extends the possible application of Gestalt therapy to a variety of populations, including the “normal.” The methodology described is derived from exact and specific research, and emphasis is on exploring new areas and populations to which Gestalt principles and techniques might be successfully applied. The findings of the experiments and studies discussed herein, as well as the introduction of additional theory, contribute to the verification of Gestalt theory and

its completion. This book, therefore, offers expansion of Gestalt concepts into such fields as social psychology, social integration, and group psychotherapy, including specific therapeutic approaches to post-traumatic stress, hypertension, anxiety before exams, chronic illness, aging, the mentally ill, the institutionalized, and so on. Gestalt therapy is a school of thought that combines psychodynamic theory, existentialism, and Gestalt psychology.

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC

ORIENTATION

The influence of psychodynamic orientation is expressed through Gestalt therapy’s assumption that human behavior is an interactive process of various aspects of the personality, including events from the past of which the individual is unaware and which are sometimes repressed from memory. There are conflicts between various emotional motives that affect present behavior and the existence of anxiety, the illustration of which can be found in the concepts of “unfinished business,” “topdog/underdog” interaction, and “disturbance in contact” (Perls, 1969). Actually, an analogy might even be drawn between “unfinished business” and “fixation.” Both are events that affect the normal fluency of energy, happened in the past, and left their imprints on the present behavior through the expression of certain symptoms. The difference,

however, relates to the time dimension: while fixation is an event that

4 / Introduction to Theory

happened during early childhood, particularly in the period of psychosexual development, unfinished business is not limited to any period in life—it can happen in childhood, or in the early past (just a short time ago). The psychodynamics of these two concepts, however, are similar.

EXISTENTIAL ELEMENTS

IN GESTALT THERAPY

There is a direct relationship between the patient and the therapist that leads to the “I-Thou” dialogue, which includes mutual respect, uniqueness of the individual, and emotional involvement, and can be implied in the therapeutic relationship. Emphasis is placed on the present— particularly the experience of the given “here and now”—which enables the past to be explored by means of the creation of artificial reality and existence in terms of the present. Such a structure provides the opportunities for therapeutic experimentation (Simkin, 1983). The Zen influence is manifest in the Gestalt approach, which evaluates the phenomenology of existence and its experience rather than its symbolic meaning; for example, in relating to the actual interaction and experience of interpersonal relationships rather than analyzing the meaning of friendship.

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Gestalt psychology deals with perception, learning, the relationship between elements in the field, and structuring and restructuring processes. In the following, we will elaborate the relationship between Gestalt psychology and Gestalt therapy.

Organization of Elements into Meaningful Wholes The elements, or components,

of wholes are dynamic and tend to

organize into gestalts, or patterns, according to certain sequential laws. These elements have no significance when appearing separately, and only upon combination do they express their uniqueness as well as their meaning as a whole. From this derives the well-known saying attributed to Kurt Levin, that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Listening to music is one example of the principle of elements organized into a whole gestalt. The-individual tones and sounds comprising the melody are meaningless without being organized into a whole; meaningful musical composition requires tempo and order. It seems, therefore,

Introduction / 5

that only when musical elements appear together, according to some sequential law, do they obtain their whole and complete meaning. Once the melody is organized, we no longer perceive each individual, different sound unless it appears in a form unsuited to the total organization. ; Under Gestalt theory, elements comprising the gestalt organize according to a certain sequence and laws, such as similarity, proximity, or complementality. A gestalt, then, is an organized combination of elements into a meaningful whole. The elements could be organized into a gestalt in many ways, such as by giving the gestalt a name, or because of some decision. The giving of a name—for example, house, song, demonstration—is a concept that expresses the gestalt’s definition. The combination of elements into a gestalt may occur also as a result of personal decisions that this is a gestalt according to one’s own individual sense of order and meaning. Different gestalts can be created from a single group of people of different ages and sexes, all belonging to the same family. They can be grouped by age, such that older members, or parents, form one gestalt and all the children a different gestalt. We can organize them by sex—all women and all men as two separate gestalts; or we can choose to consider them a single gestalt that includes all family members as a meaningful whole. Different people will organize the family members into gestalts according to principles of closeness, similarity, or connection that they consider most significant. Thus, a gestalt is, by definition, related to a

given situation which is changeable according to relevant circumstances.

Primary and Secondary Elements in Gestalt

We propose that the elements that create a gestalt are divided into two main groups: primary and secondary elements. Primary elements are those that constitute the fundamental, necessary form of the gestalt, such as three sides of a triangle, a circle, eyes and mouth in a drawing of

a person, secretion of stomach enzymes during hunger, or adults and children living together constituting a family. These are the basic elements of the structure that are essential for the formation, definition,

and inherent meaning of the gestalt. Secondary elements are those whose appearance is not critical to the gestalt’s basic definition, but which contribute to its color, its richness,

its special expression, or unique meaning. In a drawing of a triangle, the background against which the triangle appears contributes to its clarity

or blurring. In a facial drawing, the hair, ears, eyebrows, creases, and

lines of expression are secondary elements that add unique meaning to

6 / Introduction to Theory

the gestalt. When a person is hungry, the aroma of the food, its appearance and color, its preparation, the setting, and the social company are all secondary to the full expression of the gestalt. The existence of secondary elements expresses the uniqueness of the gestalt and allows the observer/participant to organize them according to personal perceptions, thus expressing personal taste. The basic gestalt exists and can be perceived without its secondary elements, but these bestow greater meaning, power, and uniqueness to the gestalt. On the other hand, often the culture in which we

live determines

which secondary elements will affect the personal gestalt more. Thus, for example, cultural factors will often dictate the permitted or desired type of food, what is considered proper food preparation, identification of “suitable” company, etc. However, these secondary elements are not essential to the existence of the gestalt and they can be removed. We find this to be particularly true in pressure situations. For example, a group of people finding themselves in danger will hasten their actions, foregoing table manners and food preparation habits in order to eat quickly, and taking other essential actions that may be contrary to their usual habits of behavior.

On the other hand, there are life situations

when secondary elements assume primary importance. In old age, for example, the individual becomes dependent on secondary elements in eating which are of major importance for digestive processes (as will be discussed more fully in Chapter 9 on aging). When a person is in a situation of pressure or want, therefore, the secondary elements disappear, their importance to survival and adaptation declines, and only fundamental, primary elements remain. In other words, the distinction between primary and secondary elements is not absolute. They may change with age or under certain conditions, but it remains very important to identify them. A good and complete organization of all possible elements in a gestalt causes the gestalt to be distinguished from its background and environment, so that the other elements

of the environment

serve

as back-

ground, such as a dark, clear form appearing against a light background in a photograph, or vice versa. The more the gestalt appears different, sharper, and more prominent against the background, the more its sig-

nificance becomes clearer. The opposite situation is that of the blurred photograph which does not clearly differentiate between the figure and its background, the figure appearing unclear and unfocused. Sometimes we find situations where two gestalts appear together. In this case, if their boundaries are unclear, we have a confused gestalt comprised of two gestalts whose meaning is not always clear, and this creates conflict. When several elements combine, they begin to create the basic forma-

Introduction / 7

tion of the gestalt. This initial, unfinished gestalt strives for completion, and the clearer the basic structure, the stronger the pressure for its particular completion. Because it is difficult to deal with incomplete situations, an individual observing a partial gestalt feels a need, or urge, for its completion. In response to the tension this type of situation engenders, the individuals collect their energy in order to combine other surrounding elements, often adding elements from their own imagination or previous life experience in order to obtain a clear and meaningful gestalt. Investing energy for this purpose is known in Gestalt psychology as the “tendency for closure,” or the “law of closure.” For example, when we observe an incomplete circle with missing parts, we will see it as a complete circle. Thus, any form, image, or picture will be subjec-

tively completed on the basis of our experience if the incomplete image supplies sufficient basic information for a particular formation. Emerson and Smith (1974) presented an overview of the contribution of Gestalt psychology to Gestalt therapy, summarizing the related principles as follows: Gestalt psychology deals with “wholes” and the basic data are “phenomena.” Some of the properties of the whole are “emergent,” inherent in no single part, but perceived when the parts come together. Gestalt psychology is often concerned with “field” —a dynamic system or whole in which a change in any part affects the entire system, which is organized in terms of “figure and ground.” A “good form” persists and tends to recur; a “strong form” coheres and resists disintegration through analysis or fusion with other forms, and a “closed form” is both good and strong. An “open form” tends toward “closure” by completing itself as a “good form.” This is the Gestalt theory of learning which was used by Perls. (page 10)

We consider a gestalt and a need to be equivalent. Both have the same dynamic whereby the relevant elements form the whole; namely, the arousal of initial elements of the need until the formation of cognitive awareness of the meaning and possible satisfaction of the need takes place. The terms “gestalt” and “need” are therefore used here interchangeably. Perls developed one of the key concepts in Gestalt therapy which describes healthy human behavior as an ongoing process of gestalt formation and gestalt destruction (Perls, Hefferline & Goodman, 1994). A person’s life is a process of meeting spiritual, social, and physical needs. A need, comprised of several elements, is most expressed if all its ele-

ments are allowed to emerge in a clear and organized fashion, such that

8 / Introduction to Theory

the need becomes a dominant, central gestalt and all other needs recede to the background. This is actually a model in which human behavior, in its process of need satisfaction, may be viewed as a pyramidal structure in which a dominant need is temporarily central until its destruction/ satisfaction, while the other needs remain in the background. Once the primary need is destroyed/satisfied, a subsequent need will emerge and remain figural (dominant) until its satisfaction in turn. The ongoing process thus maintains itself perpetually. For example, once the need to eat is dominant and other needs recede to the background, one searches for food, eats, and is satiated. With satiation the need disappears because it has been satisfied. One now requires rest because one feels tired and needs time in order to digest one’s food, so that the need for rest

becomes dominant. Subsequently, a new need can emerge, such as a need for physical exercise, for social company, and so on. Each person develops his or her own hierarchy of needs which determines personal priorities. When several needs strive for dominance simultaneously, the healthy individual organizes them according to a unique order of priorities. In organizing and satisfying human needs, the entire organism participates—the physical, the cognitive, and the emotional components interact together with the environment. Thus, the ideal, healthy, satisfying human behavior is one that allows all elements of one’s needs to organize in a full and satisfying manner. Fully satisfying a need leads to its complete disappearance and enables a subsequent need to fully appear. This process permits free flow of energy without the individual carrying forward unmet needs, which hinder the appearance of subsequent needs. Considering that each of us differs in terms of physical, cognitive and emotional constitution—as well as in the way we relate to the environment—personal style and unique modes of selfexpression and need-satisfaction promote the development of each individual’s unique potential for personal growth. We should emphasize that this growth occurs in reciprocity with the environment. Key Gestalt practitioners at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland have developed a model that elaborates the “gestalt formation and gestalt

destruction” concept developed by Perls et al. (1994). The Cycle of Experience developed in Cleveland (Polster, 1973; Zinker, 1977) describes in detail the developmental process of energy into an emerging need and formulates the stages and processes that lead from sensation to awareness, to the mobilization of energy, through action to contact and withdrawal, and back to sensation. This cycle might also be viewed as a diagnostic model, implying a new definition of healthy functioning based on the fluidity of energy in the awareness, contact, and withdrawing processes. It may well enable us to understand some of the interrup-

Introduction / 9

tions or disturbances in the Gestalt formation and destruction process. Wheeler (1991) discusses this model in great detail in a thoughtful critique that unveils the advantages and disadvantages of the cycle of

experience.

Any model, particularly in the field of psychology and psychotherapy, is scientifically incomplete and subject to criticism. We would say that this cycle of experience model is useful in serving as a guideline to understanding and identifying a multitude of disturbances related to the difficulties in mobilizing and investing energy in each of the stages or in the progressive process between them. Such disturbances may include anxiety resulting from the individual’s inability to mobilize and invest enough energy in the state of contact, or psychosomatic problems which derive from interruption in the stage of awareness. In the following chapters, we will first discuss a new theoretical construct of unstarted business and unexpected events as a completion to the unfinished business concept and, as such, to the entire Gestalt. Perls

has developed the known concept of unfinished business, but we believe that this is incomplete and that its polar partner would be “unstarted business.” Following this introductory material, we will present innovative applications of Gestalt therapy based on empirical studies, as well as new concepts and various interventions derived from them. These studies cover a wide range of target population groups. We first present an exploratory study about the unique effect of a Gestalt group and follow with an application of Gestalt methods for the reduction of test anxiety among university students—a very popular issue—which could easily be applied to other groups of students as well. The chapter which follows describes methods of intervention with post-traumatic events, including a description of two cases, and extends the use of these methods beyond individual trauma to relate to mass trauma. We introduce a study of the application of Gestalt methods, which describes an intervention to reduce high blood pressure among individuals suffering from hypertension. We also introduce Gestalt to special populations such as new immigrants experiencing the crisis of absorption, the elderly, long-term prisoners, and psychotics. We end with a special chapter on play, which is a pleasant processreinforced activity and which, as such, fits well the description of the

philosophy of Gestalt that it is “activity as an integral part of the therapeutic process.” These empirical studies strengthen the validity of several Gestalt concepts and contribute to the scientific status of Gestalt therapy. ' Since each chapter has a short theoretical introduction, a certain amount of repetition may occur, but this is necessary because of the

10 / Introduction to Theory

relevance of specific facets of Gestalt theory to each use Gestalt methodology described.

REFERENCES Emerson, P., & Smith, E. (1974). Contribution of Gestalt psychology to Gestalt therapy. The Counseling Psychologist, 4(4), 8-13. Perls, F. (1969). Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. Moab, UT: Real People Press. Perls, F. (1973). The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy. Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books. Perls, FE, Hefferline, R. EF, & Goodman, P. (1994). Gestalt Therapy: Excitement

and Growth in the Human Personality. New York: Gestalt Journal Press. Polster, E., & Polster, M. (1973). Gestalt Therapy Integrated. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Simkin, J. S. (1983). The development of Gestalt therapy. In C. Hatcher & P. Himelstein (Eds.), The Handbook of Gestalt Therapy pp. 223-233. London: Jason Aronson. Wheeler, G. (1991). Gestalt Reconsidered: A New Approach to Contact and Resistance. New York: Gardner Press. Zinker, J. C. (1977). Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy. New York: Brunner/ Mazel.

ADDITIONAL READING Kogan, J. & Himelstein, P. (1995). The Handbook of Gestalt Therapy. London: Jason Aronson. Korb, M. P. (1992). Gestalt Therapy. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Miller, M. V. (1995). Intimate Terrorism. The Deterioration of Erotic Life. New York: Norton. Naranjo, C. (1993). Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of Atheoretical Experientialism. Nevada City, CA: Gateways Books and Tapes. Nevis, E. C. (ed.) (1992). Gestalt Therapy Perspectives and Applications. New York: Gardner Press. Perls, F. S. (1992). Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. J. Wysong (Ed.). New York: Gestalt Journal Press. Polster, E (1995). A Population of Selves. A Therapeutic Exploration of Personal Diversity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Polster, E. (1987). Every Person’s Life Is Worth a Novel. New York: Norton. Smith, E. W., & Tick, E. (Eds). (1992). Gestalt Voices, Greenwich, CT: Ablex. Zinker, J. C. (1994). In Search of Good Form. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

CHAPTER 2 UNSTARTED BUSINESS AND UNEXPECTED EVENTS: THEIR EFFECT

ON THE ENTIRE GESTALT

The Gestalt approach presumes that an event and experience—i.e., one’s interaction

with the environment

or with other people, or the

expression of emotions—may only exist in the present. During this process of interaction, many elements are involved. Among these are factors directly involved in the encounter—the individual and the other person or persons—as well as factors that influence the interaction indirectly or merely by virtue of their presence, such as physical environment, light, distance, etc.

The present is thus a concrete and visible expression of life in this time dimension during which the various characteristics of the personality are expressed. Although the past cannot be changed and the future can only partially be planned, the present, in which there is active involvement, can be significantly influenced. Gestalt therapy deals with difficulties confronted that interfere with the achievement of a satisfactory life in the present, even if the source of these difficulties lies in the distant or recent past. One of the main tools in the therapeutic process is the move toward internal support. Individu-

als attain this support by learning “here and now” problem solving, through self-awareness, and through the use of all the means at their disposal in the present. Each problem solved makes it easier to find the solution for the following one, since every successful solution reinforces internal support. In order to live fully in the present, and to make effective use of one’s skills, powers, and characteristics, one must be aware of, and focus on,

the immediate and surrounding reality, including the internal processes taking place. This awareness and focus are essential for successful comprehension of the environment and effective adoption of the means to act creatively in meeting needs, for maximizing self-contact, and for

11

12 / Introduction to Theory

total involvement in the “here and now.” It therefore weakens the processes of self-disturbance. Past experience may either help or hinder behavior. Successful past experiences help to define the present as something at least partially familiar, and we are therefore able to apply to the present those same behavior patterns that had previously proven themselves effective. On the other hand, “unfinished business” from the past distorts our understanding of the present, warping present reality, and causing incorrect interpretations and reactions by subjecting it to unfinished business, which seeks completion. There is a natural tendency in humans for closure—for completion of unfinished matters. Some empirical proof for this premise is found in Zeigarnik’s research, which shows that uncompleted tasks are remembered for a longer period of time than completed tasks, suggesting that these tasks absorb more energy (Serok & Rabinowitz, 1984; Wheeler, 1991). The concept of unfinished business developed by Perls, Hefferline and

Goodman

(1994) is considered a key concept in Gestalt therapy and

offers the main explanation for difficulties in the present. This concept can be linked to the model of healthy behavior, which, according to Perls, is an infinite process of gestalt formation and gestalt destruction (Perls, 1973). In terms of this model, every human need is a gestalt. Human behavior is an ongoing process of need removal/destruction through need satisfaction, which is replaced by the appearance of new

needs.

‘

In Gestalt therapy, full satisfaction/destruction of needs requires the ability to focus on dominant need, identify it correctly, and muster the necessary energy for its full satisfaction. Unsatisfied needs become unfinished business. An additional factor in the development of unfinished business is the existence of traumatic events in the life of individuals. A traumatic event is one in which unexpected stimuli are encountered that cannot be understood, coped with, or overcome. This event usually poses a dangerous threat, but it may also constitute an unexpectedly pleasant surprise that is beyond the ability to internalize. Unfinished business leads to selective biases in the way in which needs and goals in the present are conceptualized. This occurs because one focuses on previously unsatisfied needs instead of other needs that are perhaps more urgent in the “here and now.” The more unfinished business people have in their past, the more difficult it is to fully satisfy or destroy their needs in the present. Gestalt therapy claims that completion-or closure of unfinished business frees people to be more involved in their real present, thus allowing them to

Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events / 13

effectively utilize their energies, enjoy their activities, and contribute to the environment. Without closure, unfinished business remains. Despite the importance attached to the concept of unfinished business and its contribution to the understanding of human behavior, it seems to

us that it does not sufficiently explain the blockages and impediments that affect one’s ability to act effectively in the present. The concept of unfinished business does not take into consideration unsatisfied and unexpressed emotions that might be related to the future. In fact, exaggerated involvement in future satisfaction and expectations may also interfere with one’s efficient utilization of energy in relevant present activities, thus confusing the differentiation between present and future activities. In our opinion, there is an ongoing interaction between the three dimensions of time: past, present, and future. The past is expressed by the development of a given response style that is based on the introduction into the present of past experiences and unfinished business. The present, therefore, is the arena in which this interaction is actually expressed. We suggest that behavior is also significantly influenced by “unstarted business,” which may or may not take place in the future. Difficulties may be encountered in the present because both unfinished business from the past or unstarted business can prevent attention being focused on what occurs in the immediate present. In this way, the ongoing process of creating gestalts—needs and their destruction—is weakened or disturbed, causing less energy to be available in the present for effectiveness. The future is a part of life which has not yet occurred—one which is anticipated and planned with the help of accumulated experience. The threat of unexpected occurrences that do not mesh with experience, and which may include many factors over which individuals have no control, leads to a certain amount of anxiety in the present. The more unknown, unfamiliar, and threatening these factors are, the more excited individu-

als become, and the more likely it is that this will become anxiety. The future influences our behavior in two major ways: 1. Learning and adaptation. One endeavors to predict the future and influence it on the basis of past successful experience, and learns to link effective patterns of problem solving in the past and present with future goals. In other words, one learns to predict the relationship between present actions and expected consequences in the immediate or more distant future on the basis of past experience. This type of prediction is rational and provides us with a model for

14 / Introduction to Theory

making appropriate choices of behavior according to the demands of immediate reality. Relating to the future in this way makes it possible to try out different patterns of behavior, to be flexible when making choices, and thus to influence the future to a certain extent by participating actively in the immediate environment in which we live. 2. Ways of relating to the future. The future and the way in which one relates to it may interfere with and hamper actions in the immediate present. This may occur if one refrains from present activity toward attaining goals or satisfying needs, postponing such activity to an undefined future, to the moment when all the necessary conditions for satisfying the need or attaining the goal will, hopefully, be fulfilled. Unstarted business includes imaginary events, fantasies, expectations,

utopias of wished-for conditions, ideals that will be realized at some undefined time in the future; but nothing— not even on a limited basis— is done to transform them into reality in the present. The time concepts used for referring to unstarted business such as this are vague, postponed, and undefined: “one day,” “when I grow up,” “when the children are grown up,” “when I retire,” and so on. Such notions might arise when plans are made, or there is an awareness that what is taking place in the present may be the beginning of unstarted business—i.e., the immediate present, including needs that motivate, are viewed in terms of these ideal fantasies. Having made this assessment, and in order to avoid spoiling the utopian picture or damaging its wholeness, present activities are avoided or the process of getting closer to people or goals is disrupted. In this way, unstarted business can prevent the enjoyment of satisfactory contact with the present in order to better maintain the fantasy that present lives are similar enough to the ideal picture wanted for the future.

THE DYNAMICS OF UNSTARTED AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Gestalt literature describes in great depth the concept of unfinished business (Perls, Hefferline & Goodman, 1994; Polster & Polster, 1973; Zinker, 1977). To our knowledge, however, there is no reference to unstarted business and its influence on the present. What is the source of unstarted business and how is it created? Unstarted business is a thought structure, a simulated picture of a situa-

Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events / 15

tion. The building material of this picture includes ideas, concepts, words, images, and symbols, the source whereof lies primarily in our imaginary and spiritual life and very little in actual experience. These imaginary thought processes have the ability to borrow feelings and emotions through association, and thus they may be attractive, utopian, and pleasant, or frightening and nightmarish. Imaginary pictures do not necessarily have to constitute a direct representation of actual experience at any given moment. Instead, they may be the product of imaginary thought guided by rules of purely cognitive activity, rather than the rules of actual learning and experience. The

unstarted

event,

therefore,

is created

imagination, association, words and ideas tion of living people or imaginary heroes, memory until such time as the imaginary structed. For example, people may create

from

combinations

of

(heard or read), or the imitaall being accumulated in the picture of the event is congrandiose plans for business

success, or imagine themselves achieving wealth, power, or education,

without ever having experienced any such events and without trying to realize this imaginary picture in reality. Another example—and many of us in the field of therapy have unfortunately encountered this—is that of trained psychologists or social workers who are hesitant to begin clinical work and gain the type of experience that can only be obtained through professional practice. Instead, they are busy enrolling in continuing education programs, and do not actually see patients because they envisage themselves as successful, world-famous therapists. In this way they prevent any attempt to act in the present, since these expectations are unrealistic and unachievable. By keeping activity in the unapproachable, inaccessible future, one develops unstarted business. Moreover, if the nature of unstarted business is examined, what is seen

as one of its typical characteristics is its appearance as combinations representing two sides of the same coin. For example, the individual creates an ideal utopian picture of a “perfect romance,” the “ideal family,” the “maximum success story,” the “social relationship I dreamed about.” Simultaneously, a catastrophic picture may exist of the “terrible disappointment

in love,”

the “disturbed

family,”

the “ultimate

failure at

work,” and the “social rejection I am anxious about.” Occasionally, more than one catastrophic picture is linked to the ideal utopian picture—the unfulfilled dream. For example, if unstarted business is the hope for a worldwide reputation, a few alternative catastrophic pictures may accompany the ideal one—the “ultimate disgrace,” “anonymity and mediocrity,” “resignation or dismissal.” The multidimensional existence of scenarios of unstarted events hints

16 / Introduction to Theory

at their possible motivational source: what is revealed here is a dynamic of disorganized opposing forces or the creation of an ambivalent situation which causes individuals to avoid real contact with any of them, or to develop or recognize an alternative realistic option. A similarity can be found in the dynamics of dealing with unfinished business. When an important and significant unfinished event exists in the past, one way of experiencing it is to imagine possible solutions and closures. One scenario might be the full satisfaction of the need—an ideal experience following perfect contact with the object of the need. Thus, an imaginary closure of the unfinished event is formulated that provides an imaginary closure of the gestalt. Examples of incomplete or unsuccessful efforts at closure might be an imaginary partial or temporary satisfaction/destruction, with only partial relief of tension and anxiety, or an imaginary scenario of total failure— infinite, repetitive dissatisfaction. This picture of dissatisfaction can create guilt feelings, self-pity, and diminishing self-worth. Following an important unfinished event, a person often enters a vicious circle in which ideal pictures of full satisfaction and catastrophic pictures of absolute dissatisfaction tear at each other. Individuals are not prepared to try to bring about these solutions in reality and examine whether full satisfaction can be achieved, or whether a catastrophe of absolute dissatisfaction will take place. There is a similar process in the dynamics of creating unstarted business. The interaction between satisfaction/achievement and dissatisfaction with regard to important unfinished business in our past creates an ambivalent motivational process. On the one hand, there is a great desire to complete it, and thus positive imaginary pictures are created. On the other hand, there is a fear that closure might be without satisfaction, as occurred

in the past with the original event, which

in turn

created the unfinished business. As a solution to this ambivalent motivational process, we create unstarted business for ourselves, and thus use our imagination and thought processes to create unstarted business as partial solutions and imaginary closures for unfinished business. Every process of realization of unstarted business such as this will lead to partial release from the fears of failure, which is a protection against foregoing beautiful ideals. Images of unstarted business prevent coping with reality because they provide unlimited excitement and satisfaction. The energy directed toward creating imaginary pictures should in reality be redirected to actual activity and utilized for a realistic examination of fantasies. This process forces division of “beautiful and perfect pictures” into small, attainable, and realistic goals in the present. It is human nature, however, to prefer imaginary solutions, which make cre-

Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events / 17

ative manipulation possible and temporarily reduce anxiety by providing imaginary satisfaction. The danger of sinking into this trap lies in the reduction of life potentials. Many situations associated with unstarted business are avoided in order to escape the commitment to start its resolution. Individuals “make do with less” in many areas of behavior and enslave their existential present to utopian goals which have no hope of being achieved. They are unable to absorb events in their immediate lives through processes of conceptual and emotional selection. At the same time, there is difficulty in absorbing new, unexpected, and surprising events that might be the very thing that would lead to learning new behavior patterns and attaining greater satisfaction. In such a situation, involvement in various ways from the experiential present is limited. Some present events are perceived as being totally related to the unstarted business, and thus are distorted in order to prevent the fulfillment of current need. Other events are perceived as unstarted business that are not worth dealing with, because one would have to give up part of the imaginary satisfaction. These are either ignored or their significance distorted. With these two processes in operation, not much business remains in the immediate present that does not belong to the past or the future. Behavior then becomes stereotyped, limited, and repetitive. In conclusion, a common factor between unfinished business, unstarted business, and unexpected events is the incompletion of the gestalt. Full contact with reality in the present means complete organization of the elements into a meaningful gestalt; namely, to differentiate the relevance of these elements to the existential present. Unfinished business means that events from the past interfere with the contact in the present; i.e., the gestalt in the present is incomplete. Unstarted business means that unapproachable or threatening future ideas interfere with contact in the present, and thereby avoids completion of the gestalt. Unexpected events also interfere with immediate organization of the gestalt and avoid completion. The common factor is the incompleted gestalt.

SURPRISING OR UNEXPECTED

EVENTS

A third event that is not based on past experience interferes with the present. This is the “surprising or unexpected event.” A surprising event, something that is different from past experience, is unexpected; its future

18 / Introduction to Theory

direction is unclear to us, and no clear concept of the event prior to its taking place has been constructed. When we meet unexpected and surprising events, we have to arrange them in a new perception organization which will be compatible with their novelty and difference. The expected, as well as the unexpected, serve as important factors in the organization of current reality. The expected is based on past experience and has a calming effect, enabling us to use it with confidence. The unexpected threatens and violates our perceptual organization. The more threatening it is, the more it shocks the organization of the present. The Gulf War is an example (Shiron & Shperling, 1996; Cwikel, Kacen

&

Slonim-Nevo,

1993;

Kretsch,

Benyakar,

Baruch

&

Roth,

1997). During that period Israelis were confined to sealed rooms and prepared for the unexpected and unfamiliar threat of possible death or injury from gas or biological bombs; there was an increase in anxiety which sometimes resulted in pathological behavior (Barzilai & Inbar, 1992). In one instance, a young girl of 12 years, who reacted with great anxiety after being in a sealed room for 2 hours during an alarm, lost coordination, her arms and legs trembled, and she cried and reacted to

her parents with confusion. Even positive unexpected events, such as winning a fortune in the lottery—something many people might dream about—may surprise the individual to such an extent that the balance of the fluent energy will be interrupted, confusing perceptual organization and causing anxiety. According to Gestalt theory, homeostasis and balance mean that the elements in any situation are organized in one whole formation, or gestalt. This clear and organized formation makes it possible to relate fully to reality and to other people (Serok & Zemet, 1983). Surprising and unexpected events violate homeostatic balance or organization of gestalt, forcing digestion and internalization of this event into a new organization of reality in the given present. The Gestalt therapeutic intervention, which can be drawn from Perls’s concept of “impasse” (Perls, 1973), fosters such reorganization. First, assistance should be provided in order that individuals can stay with present events so they may familiarize themselves with these events. Second, the structure and possibilities of restructuring these events should be learned so as to gain control over them. After a period of confusion, this process leads to free experimentation, change, and reorganization of behavior patterns. In this way, people become adapted and achieve a new and surprising balance in the present. Unexpected events often lead to new learning and change, therefore becoming key components in any therapeutic

process.

Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events / 19

FACTORS AFFECTING PRESENT ENERGY It is ipso facto that there are three kinds of events that influence the present, and which may hinder the healthy process of gestalt formation, i.e., the fulfillment and destruction of needs. In severe cases, this hin-

drance is the basis for the understanding of the pathological functioning of the individual:

1. Unfinished business, as Perls described it, belongs to the distant or recent past.

2: Unstarted business, as described here, belongs to the future. 3. Surprising and unexpected events, only the beginning of which occur in the present, are not part of the usual gestalt formation of one’s current reality, because these events are so extreme that they cannot be easily absorbed in the current gestalt organization. These three “events” express the three dimensions of time, the interaction among them, and their effect on individuals, creating the wholeness

of behavior. In the Gestalt therapeutic process, these concepts may be applied by the following:

1. Helping to free emotions in the present from unfinished past events by providing full expression and satisfaction through therapeutic intervention, so that the events can be changed into the “remembered past,” rather than “active past” events that penetrate the present. . Helping people to recognize their unstarted business, thereby enabling them to stop deferring realization of current needs to some distant and undefined future. In other words, they should be helped to bridge the gap and develop a fluent interaction between their present and future, and to work toward realistically fulfilling their wishes in the present. . Trying to foster maximum awareness of, and concentration on, the actual present, so that there is sufficient flexibility to identify surprising and unexpected events in order to internalize them into the present, thereby learning to understand the elements of their structure and possible restructuring to enhance the development of new and flexible ways of action and response.

20 / Introduction to Theory

CONCLUSION

Gestalt therapy emphasizes the present and the development of the ability to utilize energy in the given present, in which the actual experience exists. By utilizing energy in the present, individuals can attain full expression of their potential for development. Gestalt therapy thus focuses on identifying the factors that hinder them in their existential present. Consequently, the therapeutic process concentrates the experiential “here and now.” Perls claimed that the main factor preventing the full utilization of the present is unfinished business from the past. We maintain that, in addition to unfinished business, there are two additional disrupting factors: unstarted business, and surprising and unexpected events. The meeting of current needs is prevented when energies are mobilized toward unfinished business. Unstarted business, the imaginary “plans” for the future, or imaginary pictures of failure to achieve future goals, create anxiety and tension. Moreover, there is the tendency of individuals to avoid realization of imaginary utopian plans, both because the plans may be unrealistic, or because attempting to actualize unstarted business would disrupt much of the satisfaction associated with fantasizing. At the same time, catastrophic pictures of failure are frightening and constitute an additional impediment to the fulfillment of dreams. Surprising and unexpected events are not part of the gestalt formation of a person’s current reality. These “new” elements may, however, be incorporated into the reorganization process of the gestalt, leading to readjustment or reality. The combination of the concepts of unfinished business and unexpected events in their interrelationship with the given present, in our view, reflects more comprehensively the essentially holistic theory of Gestalt and its therapeutic processes.

REFERENCES Barzilai, G., & Inbar, E. (1992). Does war have an impact? Israeli public opinion after the Gulf War. Jerusalem Journal of International Relations, 14(1), 48-64. Cwikel, J., Kacen, L., & Slonim-Nevo, V. (1993). Stress management consultation to Israeli social workers during the Gulf War. Health and Social Work, 18(3), 172-183. Kretsch R., Benyakar, M. Baruch, E., & Roth, M. (1997). A shared reality of therapists and survivors in a national crisis as illustrated by the Gulf War. Psychotherapy, 34(1), 28-33.

Unstarted Business and Unexpected Events / 21 Perls, F. (1973). The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy. CA: Science & Behavior Books. Perls, F., Hefferline, R. F, & Goodman, P. (1994). Gestalt Therapy: and Growth in the Human Personality. New York: Gestalt Journal Polster, E., & Polster, M. (1973). Gestalt Therapy Integrated. Brunner/Mazel. Serok, S., & Rabinowitz, G. (1984). The Human Being and His

Palo Alto,

Excitement Press. New York:

Fulfillment. Yavne, Israel: T.A. Israel. [Hebrew] Serok, S., & Zemet, R. (1983). An experiment of Gestalt therapy with hospitalized schizophrenics. Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice, 20, 417423. Shiron, A., & Shperling, Z. (1996). Missile stress, help-seeking behavior, and

psychological reaction to the Gulf War. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26(7), 503-376. Wheeler, G. (1991). Gestalt Reconsidered. New York: Gardner Press. Zinker, J. C. (1977). Creative Process of Gestalt Therapy. New York: Brunner/ Mazel.

NOTE Chapter 2 is a revision of an earlier unpublished manuscript by Shraga Serok and Galiya Rabinovitz. Mrs. Rabinovitz is Head of the Normal Infant Development Post-Graduate Program, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, and Supervisor of the Faye Ratner Gestalt Program, School of Social Work, Tel-Aviv University.

CHAPTER 3 LOOKING AT GESTALT GROUP IMPACT: AN EXPERIMENT

INTRODUCTION Gestalt therapy was primarily developed on an experiential base in opposition to the intellectual scientific approach. As Perls put it, “Lose your mind and go to your senses” (Perls, 1969). After Perls’s initial work, a growing number of publications appeared describing methods of intervention using the basic principles of Gestalt therapy. In the last two decades, there have been many theoretical publications (Hatcher & Himelstein, 1983). Theory has to be based on, or proven by, empirical findings. In Innovative Applications of Gestalt Therapy there is an attempt to provide some of this empirical evidence by describing research programs and therapeutic techniques, and their results that support Gestalt principies. The following study of a group intervention was designed to differentiate between the effects in normal people of Gestalt and traditional group intervention techniques. The formal goal of Gestalt therapy is to assist the individual in reaching a particular and complete subjective fulfillment within his or her environment (Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1994). In order to achieve this, certain intermediary goals must be accomplished first. The first of these goals is assisting individuals to understand that aspiration toward self-fulfillment should not be dictated by stereotypical criteria; they should elect those social norms that represent their personal subjective wishes and goals and ignore social conventions that contradict or do not answer these needs. Should these needs be, in fact, in juxtaposition to accepted social norms, they may attempt to influence or change societal norms and seek to align them with their own. The second intermediary goal is to aid individuals in the organization of their own hierarchies of needs and goals. They must learn to build personal scales of subjective importance (Perls, 1973; Zinker, 1977; Feder & Ronall, 1994; Houston, 1993). 22

Looking at Gestalt Group Impact / 23

For this study, we hypothesized that when these two intermediary goals were achieved, the self-concept would be influenced in several ways. First, when individuals reject the stereotypic norms to which they compare themselves, frustration and inferiority feelings diminish. By this nonacceptance, they place a lower value on these norms, and therefore the lack of success in their attainment becomes less important. Because of this, we assumed that there would be a meaningful reduction of low self-concept and movement toward enhanced self-identification. Second, Gestalt accepts individuals and their needs “where they are”—an attitude that builds self-acceptance. The social concepts of “bad” or “forbidden” disappear. We postulated that, because of this, there would be a reduction of self-criticism developed through unfulfilled and unfulfilling social conventions. The third intermediary goal is the development of individual responsibility for decisions and actions, including the sequencing of decisions. In order for needs to be met, the individual must decide which needs to

fulfill and what methods to employ toward their fulfillment. Individuals must not be passive creatures watching events go by without knowing the how and why of them. Thus, the goal is to aid people to become active, decisive individuals, responsible for their own choices, decisions, and actions (Perls, 1973; Perls et al., 1994; Polster & Polster, 1973;

Zinker, 1977). We also hypothesized that widening the individuals’ sense of responsibility would also heighten their degree of decisiveness on every level. In order to become responsible people, individuals must constantly pursue and achieve a higher level of decisiveness. We assumed that low and diffused decisiveness paralyzes the ability to react and to take responsibility. The fourth intermediary goal involves the widening of the active capabilities of individuals. In order to reach self-fulfillment, people must not simply decide; they must also act to carry out decisions (Perls, 1973; Perls et al., 1951). When this goal is reached, we postulated a rise in individuals’ self-concept; they would view themselves as active, efficient human beings. Fitts’s test (1965) of self-concept was used to measure the variable, “How do IJ act?” The fifth intermediary goal stresses the strengthening of the individual’s state of mental health so that he or she will be free to cope with obstacles that may obstruct the path to self-fulfillment. Mental health, in gestalt terms, is defined as the function and manifestation of individual wishes and capabilities. In order to facilitate this process and to arrive at full mental health, certain subgoals must be emphasized. “Unfinished business” must be brought to completion so that energies and attention

24 / Introduction to Theory

may be concentrated on present activities and needs (Perls, 1973; Polster

& Polster, 1973). Prevailing rational, emotional, and physical functions must be developed so that self-resolution can be reached in the most efficient manner. Finally, individuals must be exposed to new experiences beyond those previously learned (in Gestalt terms, “experience of boundaries”). These new experiences will enable individuals to examine and redefine their needs and capabilities and then to fulfill them. Gestalt theorists claim that if these goals are reached, mental health

will be strengthened. Thus, we also postulated that there would be an increase in the various parameters of self-concept that also represent mental health. The population of our study consisted of students defined as normal. We did not intend to measure disorders such as neuroses or psychoses, but instead to examine improvement in the general ability of functionally normal people to adapt. Our expectation was that a trend toward increased adaptability would be found in this population. This parameter of adaptability was measured by the General Maladjustment Parameter of the Fitts Self-Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965). This seems to be the best parameter of general adaptation and the best denominator of the mentally healthy population, as opposed to a population that includes mental disturbances.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Design The research design was built on three groups—one experimental and two control. All 33 subjects were master’s degree students in psychology and social work at Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and ranged in age from 25 to 35. The students were divided into the three groups according to individual preference. All subjects completed the experiment. The experimental gestalt group consisted of 13 subjects. These participants received two lectures on Gestalt therapy and 10 sessions of actual experience in Gestalt group therapy. The first control group consisted of 9 subjects, who experienced 12 training sessions based on the T-group framework. The second control group consisted of 11 subjects, who heard 12 conventional frontal lectures dealing with various types of

psychological treatment.

Looking at Gestalt Group Impact / 25

Process

In the first two sessions, the gestalt group received lectures stressing the goals of Gestalt therapy as described above. In the following 10 sessions, the participants experienced working toward the goals presented in the initial two sessions. The first intermediary goal was achieved through the creation of an accepting atmosphere in the group. Each person was considered an individual with personal subjective needs. This was accomplished by allowing full expressiveness and unrestricted action to each participant, while abolishing as much of the conventional social “good” and “bad” values as possible. The members of the group were encouraged to feel, think, say, and react according to their personal wishes. Little attention was given to whether their behavior was disturbing or boring to the group. After achieving this accepting atmosphere, the members of the group were asked to list their important needs in a decided order from the most important to the least important. Participants received encouragement to fulfill their own written needs, if possible, within the group. Through this method, the second intermediary goal was achieved. The third intermediary goal was the development of each individual’s responsibility toward his or her choices and decisions. This was attained through the use of three different techniques:

1. Insistence on the use of the first person: “I did,” “I wanted.” 2. Insistence on the use of expressions that showed full acceptance of responsibility: instead of “We met on the street, so we spoke,” say “I saw him on the street, and I began to speak to him.” 3. Exercises in which each participant was allowed to approach or avoid (physically) other members of the group according to his or her own wishes or needs. In addition, each participant was encouraged to accept or refuse attempts to bring him or her closer or push him or her further away. The fourth intermediary goal was achieved through stressing that each expression should include the active form, verbally and physically. For instance, feelings of anger, affection, or love were allowed, not only verbally, but physically, in order to strengthen emotional affect. Movement, touching, stroking, and even physical pushing, were encouraged. The fifth intermediary goal—improving the individual adaptation— was achieved in several ways.

26 / Introduction to Theory

1. Unfinished business was brought to completion through the technique of re-experiencing and establishing contact with past events through restructured and dramatic presentation within the group. This allowed individuals to reorganize and give new explanations to events from their pasts while reacting accordingly. 2. Logical, physical, and emotional functions were further developed so that individuals would be better equipped to solve their conflicts or problems. This was accomplished by allowing individuals to express themselves excessively so that these functions could be learned and used more efficiently. Feelings of tension, pain, love, and so forth encouraged release without eliciting shame or repression. This resulted in improved ability to express emotions and acceptance of expressed emotion. 3. The individual was exposed to new experiences in an attempt to widen self-recognition. This was accomplished by requesting each member to experience something new. For instance, if a participant felt unable to join group activity, he or she was encouraged to become the center of such an activity physically (sitting in the center) and mentally (conducting the group conversation). Two control groups were used. The first group experienced group dynamics in the T-group style (Golembiewski & Blumberg, 1977). The leader of this group was intentionally passive, and the group conducted itself. No special goals were aimed for, either by the therapist or by the group, other than experiencing interpersonal group sensitivity based on feedback and give and take. The purpose of this group was to ascertain whether or not the assumed change in the gestalt group was due to the experiencing of group intervention (in which case there would be no significant difference between the two groups in the self-concept measure) or if there would be a significant difference due to the use and influence of Gestalt therapy. The second control group, as described above, received conventional frontal lectures. The aim was to check whether the assumed change in the self-concept measure in the groups was caused by occasional effects and social action not considered previously or if, in fact, the assumed change was associated with the use of the gestalt intervention. At the outset of the meetings and lectures, the self-concept test (Fitts, 1965) was given to all participants. The same test was administered 3

months later, after all the meetings and lectures. The statistical test used was ANOVA 2 x 3. One independent variable was constituted by the three groups participating in the experiment; the other independent

Looking at Gestalt Group Impact / 27

variable was operationalized by the results of the Fitts Self-Concept Scale before, and three months after, the experiment.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION One of the primary hypotheses—that there would be improvement in the self-concept “How do I act?” in the Gestalt experimental group as compared to the control groups—was proven statistically significant (p