Pieces of the Gestalt

Pieces of the Gestalt

Part one

“I am I and you are you

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations

And you’re not in this world to live up to mine

I do my thing, and you do your thing

If by chance we should meet

It’s beautiful

If not, it can’t be helped.”

                                     F. Pearls

Frederick Pearls

  This primary “axiom of good functioning” (Latner, 2010, p. 35) originates from the founder of the Gestalt therapy Frederick Pearls. It is the starting point of his therapeutic sessions and it integrates the main conditions for health and growth- accepting oneself, accepting the other person and accepting what IS without enforcing, altering or mind-modifying either myself, you, or what IS. The good and healthy functioning is a flow that goes naturally. In this flow we realize our needs (without resisting, transforming them, denying them, and doing what we “should”). Our functioning is conceptualized as being a constant flow of forming Gestalts that we need to differentiate, recognize and destroy. by taking the  appropriate action. Interestingly, responsible behavior in terms of the Gestalt theory is not doing things that we don’t want to, just because we “have to”. To the contrary- this is considered to be irresponsible behavior, because we’re not taking into account our naturally flowing needs. Failing to fulfill natural needs frequently leads to frustration and neurotic behavior. Now, before printing this page and giving it to your boss saying “You see what this page says? My Gestalt is to go and have a beef steak, and then take a nap, and then go to the movies with my friends. I need to be responsible to my needs, so I’m leaving. And if the need to be closed in the office emerges naturally, I’ll be back tomorrow again” you’ll probably realize a small, but significant detail from the picture. The life we live is not exactly constructed in a way that always favors our health and needs. However, the life we choose to construct for ourselves can be closer to our natural and healthy state of mind. Now, we can continue being highly irresponsible and keep working.

To be continued…