Gestalt Group
Therapy
Chapter 11, Theory &
Practice of Group
Counseling, by Gerald Corey
Presented by Jeanine
Goodwin
In the Beginning…
Fritz & Laura Perls
Established in the 1940’s
Focused on person-centered awareness,
and addressing the client’s unresolved
issues
Quickly known for its confrontational,
“hot seat” approach
Originally designed for one-on-one
therapy
The group aspect was indirect (one-onone therapy in front of an audience)
The Revised Standard
Version
Referred to as relational Gestalt therapy
Introduced by Erving and Miriam Polster
Less confrontational
More supportive, accepting, and
challenging
Little use of the “empty chair” technique
Focuses on the client-therapist
relationship, empathy, dialogue, and
helping the client tap into his/her own
wisdom and resources
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cwa5X
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Therapeutic Goals
AWARENESS!!!
Integration of polarities
Achieving contact with self and
others
Learning how to clearly state wants
or needs
Learning how to support one another
Learning how to make use of the
resources within the group versus
using the therapist as a resource.
Key Concepts and
Principles
Awareness
Holism (“The whole is greater than the sum of
its parts”)
Field Theory
Figure-Formation
Organismic Self-Regulation
Here-and-Now
Unfinished Business
Contact and Disturbances to Contact
Energy and Blocks to Energy
Group Leader Role and
Function
Creates experiments to help members tap their
resources
Focuses on awareness, contact, and experimentation
Actively engaged with group members and frequently
self-discloses
Creates an atmosphere and structure conducive to
the members’ creativity and innovation
Less emphasis on technique, more emphasis on direct
self-expression, presence, authentic dialogue, and the
client-therapist relationship
Contacts with group members on an “I/Thou” basis
Serves as an “artist involved in creating new life”
according to Polster and Polster (1973) (Corey, 2008,
p. 290).
Uses his/her own experience as an essential
component of the therapy process.
Stages of Group
Therapy
First Stage
Identity and Dependence
Group members (with the therapist’s help) explore questions
they have about their identity within the group
Second Stage
Influence and Counterdependence
Group members grapple with issues of influence, authority,
and control
Third Stage
Intimacy and Interdependence
Real contact occurs within and among the group members.
Members are helped to recognize their unfinished business not
worked through in the group.
Group leader no longer the ultimate authority, but serves as a
resource or consultant.
Techniques &
Procedures
Experiments
Attention to Language
Nonverbal Language
Internal Dialogue Experiments
Making the Rounds
Fantasy Approaches
Rehearsal
Exaggeration Experiment
Dream Work
Gestalt in School
Groups
Emphasis on building quality
therapeutic relationships
Art & Storytelling
Empty Chair
Topdog-Underdog
Techniques are limited within some
adolescent groups (p. 306)
Here and Now
Dream Work
Gestalt in
Multicultural Groups
World View
Phenomenological
Emphasis on non-verbal expression
Use of imagery and fantasy*
Speak in native tongue
Solid understanding of the
limitations of Gestalt techniques
in dealing with diverse populations
Strengths
Quality of contact
Authentic relationship and dialogue
Emphasis on field theory,
phenomenology, and awareness
Creativity and spontaneity
Integration of theory, practice, and
research
Present-centered methodology
Focus on the body (affect, non-verbals)
Limitations
Elicitation of emotions
Misuse of power
Competency of the therapist or group
leader
Rigidity and Pushiness in therapy
Misapplication of methodology
References
Corey, G. (2008). Theory and Practice of
Group Counseling, 7 th ed. Belmont, CA:
Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Polster, E. & Polster, M. (1973). Gestalt
Yontef, G.M. (1993). Awareness,
Therapy Integrated: Contours of theory
and practice. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Dialogue, & Process: Essays on Gestalt
therapy. Gouldsboro, ME: The Gestalt
Journal Press
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