GESTALT THERAPY is a ‘Humanistic Psychology’ which holds the core belief that we have the inner potential for growth & self-actualization. When connected and centred, we have a natural, intrinsic way to auto-regulate and in this way, we live out our true inner nature in a harmonic way with its environment. Suffering is seen from a growth perspective.​
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...easier said than done right?! Throughout life we are covered over by a multitude of protections and self-defence mechanisms that we create to help us cope with life. These protective systems though once useful in helping us to grow as safely as possible, usually become out-dated and we become stuck using old methods to cope with new circumstances.
Often we try to avoid unpleasant feelings in ourselves and we do this by using these old rigid patterns to evade the anxiety that arises within. These avoidance behaviours may help us for quite some time to deal with various threatening situations but a great deal of energy is also required to keep suppressing the anxiety underneath. At certain times our defence system may start to weaken leaving us feeling more and more anxious, unable to cope etc.
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... so what can we do? Well, the keyword here is ‘Awareness’. The goal of Gestalt Therapy is to increase and deepen our awareness in the present moment. We want to see ‘how’ we really function in the world, (with our families, friends, at work etc) and ‘how’ we avoid certain feelings, thoughts and sensations. In this way, we can come to accept the ‘what is’, the reality of ourselves and of our situation … how we are moment by moment; how this may not be working for us; and how we can create new ways of being and interacting in the world that are more fluid and expansive instead of rigid and constricting ... We want to move into a place of more authentic living and interacting; of more present-centred awareness; of acceptance of all of who we are (the perceived positive as well as negative qualities).
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GESTALT / TRANSPERSONAL APPROACH
“In the deepest within, the most infinite beyond.” (Ken Wilber)
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I am drawn to the Gestalt-Transpersonal approach which provides a "spiritual" developmental framework for this psychological-personal-spiritual transformative work. In order for Gestalt Therapy to consider itself truly holistic, it should consider a multidimensional approach to therapy which includes an integration of mind, body, emotions and ‘the spiritual’, where all of these areas influence and interact with each other as an interconnected holistic network.
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My personal focus is greatly inspired by the World Picture of the Cosmologist, Martinus (Martinus Thomsen)
For further information on Martinus Cosmology click here