Wayne E. Carr, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist
NV License, Calif. License No. PSY 14938
What is GESTALT THERAPY?
One perspective
Gestalt Therapy offers a supportive holistic way to allow one a way to regain the parts of ourselves we had to give up, or stifle, to survive when we were children, a creative way to learn self -love and self-support, a creative, experimenting, discovering, often fun, way to try new behaviors and make nourishing contact in relationships, a way to go beyond healthy adjusting and “symptom reduction”, to the integration of all levels of one’s self and the realization of one’s fullest psychological and spiritual potential, to “ suffer one’s death and be reborn again”.
Gestalt Therapy runs counter to the current trend in our society to focus on ideas and reported moods, to avoid or deny deep primal pain, to avoid the real cathartic expression of deep feeling, to avoid deep spontaneous authenticity, to avoid dealing with the “whole” person. Healthy “acting through” is often not distinguished destructive “acting out”. The real spontaneous self is sometimes associated with losing control, addictive and acting out behavior. A healthy person is sometimes equated with a “reasonable” person. There is often little trust of (or the denial of) our own spontaneous, self-regulating core or nature. In Gestalt Therapy behavior and emotions are seen as “self-regulating” and the ultimate purpose of Gestalt Therapy is to re-establish this natural self-regulating process. as opposed to imposing an external program.
Presently, there is a tendency to make “shoulds” more important than “what is”, to make pathology more important than health and growth, to make lack of free will in a situation more important than taking responsibility for one’s own life, to make short term symptom reduction of specific disorders more important than the overall growth and actualization of the whole person, to make the control (medication) of pain more important than the processing of pain, to focus mostly on what is easily measurable and ignore what can’t easily be measured (the deep experience spontaneous aliveness and well-being).
As a result of the above tendencies, in the atmosphere of “managed care”, the power of Gestalt and similar therapies have, unfortunately, not been used to their incredible potential. When our society moves in a more “holistic” direction the “pendulum” will indeed move toward more “growth oriented” therapies that emphasize the integration of the mind, body, feelings, behavior, consciousness and spirit; and the establishing of one’s individual path to wholeness.
If you are interested in personal growth and healing that goes beyond the narrow focus on ideas, mood, beliefs, control, and “symptom reduction”; that tunes you into, and allows you to trust, your natural self-regulating healing mechanisms, processes and feelings, then consider Gestalt Therapy. It’s for people who have issues involving relationships, internal conflicts, self -esteem, self-sabotage, dealing with anxiety, depression or loss, manipulation or being manipulated; and for people who aren’t sure what their issues are, and for people who just want to grow. One does not have to have an agenda to come and learn about themselves. The atmosphere will be safe and supportive to allow you to deal with, and process whatever comes up.
Psychotherapy in general is a treatment which primarily addresses issues such as addictions, anxiety, depression, gender issues, health recovery, parenting, physical and emotional pain, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, relationships, and family issues. Treatment approaches depend on the style and approach of a particular therapist, as well as the relationship between client and therapist. Some methods associated with psychotherapy may be physical health and practices, self-talk, self -monitoring, reinforcement, the gaining of insight, imagery, dream work, emotional catharsis, expressive arts, existential questions, problem-solving skills.
Gestalt Therapy distinguishes itself from many other therapies by tending to focus more on the following:
Gestalt Therapy is the therapy for tapping into the tremendous healing power of being in the here and now through present moment awareness. The emphasis is on trusting one’s own nature as a self-healing and self-regulating organism. Gestalt therapy facilitates the natural reinstatement of healthy and living “contact boundaries”.
Gestalt Therapy allows one the opportunity to change and work through pain at all levels of one’s personality and one’s being, including the deep primal levels which we all know exist with in us if we’re at all honest. Gestalt Therapy is not “mood-making”, rather it focuses on functioning from the very deep authentic self which goes beyond what is usually thought of as mood.
Paradoxically deep change and healing are more possible when we are aware of what we are doing and when we fully own it. It is a process involving direct awareness of one’s feeling and thoughts. The primary focus is on “what is “ as opposed to what “should be”.
Gestalt Therapy acknowledges the pathology of our own society and it’s collective madness, and does not attempt to just substitute another ideology or belief system for one’s potential organismic aliveness. It does not emphasize mere adjustment to a sick society but rather the taking of risks and the looking at of new paradigms to become healthy.
Gestalt therapy uses a technology, second to none, to own and reintegrate one’s own projections. Without the re-owning of projections (the disowned parts of ourselves) little real progress can be made no matter how much one trys to correct one’s “thinking” or one’s “feeling”.
Difficulty in “processing” pain is basic and fundamental. The systemic interaction of the soul, consciousness, “being”, the body, emotions, and behaviors & social interactions are basic and fundamental to the whole person. To focus on one part without tracking the whole is a mistake. The only tool quick & agile enough to track the process of the “whole” is direct here-and-now awareness, free of preconceptions. True integration of mind, body and spirit is a process that can defy description, ideation, categorization and measurement. The spontaneous organismic flow of aliveness and deep authenticity in the ever-changing here and now, requires one “lose one’s mind and come to one’s subtle senses”.
The truth of anything is much more than something to be believed, proved and defended, but something to be experienced, discovered and assimilated from moment to moment. Clarity of thought and feeling (being “centered”) is fundamental and is grounded in the accurate perception of one’s sensory data. This process is blocked by the unfinished business of the past, and the habits we build to avoid finishing (or completing “gestalts”). We end up trying to meet our needs symbolically instead of directly because of how we see the world we project “out there”, and because of the “anti-life” values and sense of self we’ve “swallowed whole” or “introjected”. People go to great length to construct brilliant and elaborate belief systems to explain and justify their world and the world of others. Many develop self-defeating ways of being and behaving in the world - anything to avoid experimenting with feeling one’s deepest feelings, to avoid processing one’s deepest pain, owning one’s deepest needs, and trusting & actualizing one’s deepest powers; anything but risk looking or feeling inside without a preconception or conclusion to discover what’s really there.
Dr. Carr received a Ph.D in psychology from UNR in 1992, Biofeedback Certification in 1993, an MA in educational psychology from Northern Arizona University in 1982, and a BA in psychology from Sonoma State University in 1973. He has practiced in California, Nevada, and New Jersey. He is originally from Pasadena, California and is settled permanently in Reno. He is currently licensed as a Psychologist for the State of Nevada & California.. Dr. Carr draws from his unique background in cognitive-behavioral, humanistic & Gestalt therapies, relationship & family therapy, communication skills & fair fight training, deep cathartic work (e.g., bioenergetics), biofeedback, neurofeedback, breathwork and meditation. Learn more by checking his website: www.