Gestalt

Gestalt means a sense of wholeness, an integration of the various parts of self. According to this theory, people become fragmented in contemporary life, pulled in so many different directions that they lose their sense of being grounded. Similar to the existential approach, Gestaltists are concerned with issues related to freedom and responsibility, expecially in the present moment. Yet, Gestaltists are intensely action-oriented.

Gestalt therapy emphasizes human perfectibility: The Gestaltists place a great emphasis on nonverbal experience. In fact, Gestalt therapy places the body on the same level as the mind. The basic idea of Gestalt therapy is that any organism seeks to maintain its internal organization through exchanges with its environment. It does this through the process of awareness: First, an awareness of an imbalance in its internal organization; second, an awareness of something in the environment that can restore balance. The organism recognizes the relationship between itself and its environment as an integrated unit, an organized, meaningful whole.

Human life is an unending series of incomplete gestalts. When we are living well, we are aware of our needs. As these needs express themselves through our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we become aware of what it is in the environment that will satisfy them, and we move to close the gestalt. When we are not living well, we are unaware of our needs. Consequently, we are unaware of what will satisfy our needs, and we do not move to close the gestalt. Failure to close the gestalt leads to psychological fragmentation, which, in turn, leads to anxiety, frustration, and conflict which we experience as we blindly grope to put the pieces together again.