Gestalt therapy essay

The client informed me that for three to four years now, she had a reoccurring problem with her divorced parents. In particular, she was bothered about her getting into conflict with her dad regarding the time she spent with him. In addition, her mom was also complaining though, subtly, that she was never home. My client mentioned that she needed help in trying to find a balance between spending time with her parents and friend. She mentioned that the issue was affecting her mental health, day to day activities and general wellbeing. • Make her aware that she is in control of the situation. • Enhance her awareness of her freedom of choice when responding to environmental boundaries. • To assist the client in taking the initiative towards her personal development despite her parent’s marital status.

• To help the client handle the situation by providing statistical data, techniques, and ideas from multiple trusted sources. • To assist the client in finding a balance to spend enough time for family and friends. Identification of emotions in the body As a Gestalt therapist, I was able to identify several physical signs she displayed throughout the session. After I told her to take a minute to reflect on what she had shared so far, I noticed that she was shaking her legs and swinging on the chair as she was explaining that she was feeling a lot of pressure. When I talked to her further, she mentioned that whenever she feels upset and overwhelmed, she gets so angry that she feels as if her blood is boiling (Stevenson, 2018).

Empty Chair: The empty chair was a technique to facilitate a role taking dialogue between my client and her father from different perspectives of her personality. By switching positions with the empty chair, I was able to make the client aware of the issue from her view of her father’s thoughts. Moreover, awareness is one of the goals of treatment. I noticed that the main hindrances to her awareness were a preoccupation with past frustrations in communicating with her divorced parents (Philippson, 2018). At the end of the session, she was more aware and able to regulate the intensity of the emotions individually. Energy and blocks to energy After I identified where she felt pressure in the body, I used the Gestalts principle to focus on where the energy blocks to the situation were concentrated.

As she was explaining how she feels when she is overwhelmed, relating to specific energy points enabled her to express her story in full emotion. Repetition of the chair technique enabled her to connect her feelings to that of her father deeply (Carroll, 2018). Confrontation I applied a bit of direct challenge but sensitively point out to the real issues affecting the client. This helped stir the client’s emotions. Throughout, I would point out where she was going astray and leading her into suggesting a solution to the problem. According to lessons from this unit, confrontation is a priceless instrument in bringing the client to a clears sense of reality (Philippson, 2018).  Revista Electrónica de Psicología Iztacala, 17(1), 226- 253. Beck, A.