Gestalt Practice
Encyclopedia
Gestalt Practice - Pratique Gestalt, Gestaltpraxis, Prática Gestalt, Γκεστάλτ-πρακτική, Гештальт-практика, ゲシュタルト・プラクティス
at Esalen Institute
. The objective of the practice is to become more fully aware of the process of living within a unified field of body, mind, relationship, earth and spirit.
Gestalt is a German word that denotes form, shape or configuration, and connotes wholeness. Practice is an ongoing program or process of development. Gestalt Practice is an ongoing process of integrating human awareness across a broad spectrum of consciousness.
Initially, Gestalt was used as a psychological term in Gestalt psychology
. Then Fritz Perls
, Laura Perls
and Paul Goodman
applied it to psychotherapy when they developed Gestalt therapy
, upon which Gestalt Practice was based to a considerable extent. Alan Watts
, who was a mentor of Dick Price, suggested combining practices from the cultures of East and West. The writings of Nyanaponika Thera
and the nearby presence of Zen Roshi Shunryu Suzuki
were sources of Buddhist meditation practice for Dick Price. Gestalt Practice was the term Dick Price used to describe his combination of these Eastern and Western traditions. This term distinguished the practice Dick Price taught from both Gestalt therapy and Buddhist practice.
, physical exercise, environmentalism
, contemplation
and spiritual practice are incorporated into Gestalt Practice, along with some typical Gestalt awareness experiments borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model.
, Alan Watts, Nyanaponika Thera, Shunryu Suzuki, Frederic Spiegelberg
, Rajneesh
, Joseph Campbell
, Gregory Bateson
, Stanislav Grof
and Lao Tzu, as well as many other scholars who were in residence at Esalen Institute during the two decades of Dick's leadership.
Dick Price worked with Fritz Perls for approximately four years at Esalen, between 1966 and 1970. Then Fritz told Dick that it was time for him to start teaching Gestalt on his own. Dick Price became impressed with the similarities between Gestalt and mindfulness meditation, which he used with insights from Eastern religions and altered state research
to develop Gestalt Practice.
Gestalt Practice work may involve the reporting of present awareness, and the integration of awareness through intrapsychic
dialogue between aspects of personality. This kind of work, borrowed from Gestalt therapy, is often practiced as a shared experiment between two partners working together as a "dyad
." Phenomenological
techniques like these are based upon the belief that subjective experience is worthy of direct attention, without the interference of preexisting ideas or interpretations.
Somatic awareness
may be the focus of Gestalt exercises. Awareness of breathing is emphasized because it promotes immediate experience of the body. Dramatic interventions, typical of Reichian Therapy
or Bioenergetics
, generally are not used in Gestalt Practice. However, an initiator’s awareness naturally may be directed toward areas of tension or holding. A scan of body feelings and sensations, similar to forms of Buddhist meditation, can enhance awareness practice. And movement exercises such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Yoga
, dance, art, hiking, chanting and singing may be used to integrate awareness of the body.
Interpersonal relationship
practices may be used in Gestalt Practice to clarify communications, improve relationship skills, and enhance empathy. A neutral moderator may assist with interpersonal encounters, although this is not necessary, in keeping with the Gestalt Practice prinicple of equality among participants.
Dreamwork
is a common Gestalt awareness practice, in which enactment and integration of dream elements are favored. An initiator of Gestalt dreamwork intentionally re-experiences their dream as if it were happening in the present. The initiator then assumes the role of various dream elements, and enters into a dialogue with whatever is encountered in the dream. This approach is borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model developed by Fritz Perls. However, in contrast to Gestalt therapy, alternative sources of dream interpretation and intuition are welcomed in Gestalt Practice.
Meditation
practices, derived from many different contemplative traditions, may be used by Gestalt practitioners. Buddhism
provides many useful models for mindfulness and compassion practice; and some of these have been adapted to complement the objectives of Gestalt Practice.
Taoism
, as it was expressed by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching
, provides a non-judgmental backdrop for non-intervention with an initiator’s process, allowing whatever happens in a Gestalt work session to unfold naturally in the present moment. In addition, Taoism reinforces the reverence for nature that is typical of Gestalt Practice.
These techniques, and many others beyond the ambit of therapy, are regularly used in Gestalt Practice - all with the same objectives of enhanced awareness, spiritual growth, and respect for the natural environment.
Dick Price led Gestalt groups at Esalen for fifteen years, until his death in 1985. His wife and collaborator at Esalen, Christine Stewart Price, carried on the Gestalt Practice tradition by developing her own form of awareness practice, which she calls Gestalt Awareness Practice or GAP. Christine Price now teaches GAP in the United States and Japan. Chris and Tibetan Buddhist practitioner Gail Stewart also offer a Gestalt Practicum once a year at Esalen, in which they teach Gestalt Practice methods and theory to experienced practitioners.
Gestalt Practice influenced many people at Esalen. Prominent among them was a student of Dick Price named Steven Harper, who incorporated aspects of Gestalt Practice, along with principles of ecopsychology
, into his own unique wilderness practice.
Contemporary American forms of psychoanalysis, such as relational psychoanalysis
and intersubjective psychoanalysis
, have had an impact upon Gestalt Practice, leading to the development of Relational Gestalt Process by Dorothy Charles. She teaches this practice at Esalen, in Japan and in Greece.
Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice is a contemporary form of personal exploration and integration developed by Dick PriceDick Price
Richard “Dick” Price -- co-founded Esalen Institute in 1962.Dick Price was a veteran of the Beat Generation. He ran Esalen in Big Sur for many years, sometimes virtually single-handed. He was an explorer of the Santa Lucia Mountains that define the Big Sur coast...
at Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute is a residential community and retreat in Big Sur, California, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. Esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activites such as meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, and spirituality...
. The objective of the practice is to become more fully aware of the process of living within a unified field of body, mind, relationship, earth and spirit.
Gestalt is a German word that denotes form, shape or configuration, and connotes wholeness. Practice is an ongoing program or process of development. Gestalt Practice is an ongoing process of integrating human awareness across a broad spectrum of consciousness.
Initially, Gestalt was used as a psychological term in Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
. Then Fritz Perls
Fritz Perls
Friedrich Salomon Perls , better known as Fritz Perls, was a noted German-born psychiatrist and psychotherapist of Jewish descent....
, Laura Perls
Laura Perls
Laura Perls in Pforzheim, was a noted German-born psychologist and psychotherapist who helped establish the Gestalt school of psychotherapy....
and Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman may refer to:*Paul Goodman , British politician*Paul Goodman , American ice hockey player*Paul Goodman , Grammy Award-winning sound engineer...
applied it to psychotherapy when they developed Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
, upon which Gestalt Practice was based to a considerable extent. Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
, who was a mentor of Dick Price, suggested combining practices from the cultures of East and West. The writings of Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.-Chronology:*1901: born...
and the nearby presence of Zen Roshi Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu Suzuki was a Sōtō Zen roshi who popularized Zen Buddhism in the United States, particularly around San Francisco. Born in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, Suzuki was occasionally mistaken for the Zen scholar D.T...
were sources of Buddhist meditation practice for Dick Price. Gestalt Practice was the term Dick Price used to describe his combination of these Eastern and Western traditions. This term distinguished the practice Dick Price taught from both Gestalt therapy and Buddhist practice.
Practice, not therapy
This form of awareness practice is different from Gestalt therapy, because it is not a “cure” for psychological symptoms, and it relies upon the interaction between two equal partners, namely an "initiator" of awareness work and a "reflector," rather than a patient and a therapist. Some aspects of Gestalt Practice are derived from the theory of Gestalt therapy. However, as Dick Price conceived of Gestalt Practice, if a "patient" wants to do Gestalt work with a "therapist" then they belong in Gestalt therapy. In keeping with this approach, eclectic techniques of meditationMeditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, physical exercise, environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, contemplation
Contemplation
The word contemplation comes from the Latin word contemplatio. Its root is also that of the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship, derived either from Proto-Indo-European base *tem- "to cut", and so a "place reserved or cut out" or...
and spiritual practice are incorporated into Gestalt Practice, along with some typical Gestalt awareness experiments borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model.
Inception
Gestalt Practice is an amalgam of awareness practices. The primary influences upon the development of Gestalt Practice were Fritz Perls, Wilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, Alan Watts, Nyanaponika Thera, Shunryu Suzuki, Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg was a Stanford University professor of religion. A friend of Paul Tillich, Martin Heidegger, and Carl Jung, he participated in Jung's Eranos symposia and lectured in Jung's institute in Zurich. Paul Tillich helped Spiegelberg escape Germany in 1937 after Spiegelberg was fired...
, Rajneesh
Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho , born Chandra Mohan Jain , and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.A professor of philosophy, he travelled...
, Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
, Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist, one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness for purposes of analyzing, healing, and obtaining growth and insight into the human psyche...
and Lao Tzu, as well as many other scholars who were in residence at Esalen Institute during the two decades of Dick's leadership.
Dick Price worked with Fritz Perls for approximately four years at Esalen, between 1966 and 1970. Then Fritz told Dick that it was time for him to start teaching Gestalt on his own. Dick Price became impressed with the similarities between Gestalt and mindfulness meditation, which he used with insights from Eastern religions and altered state research
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
to develop Gestalt Practice.
Modalities
Gestalt practitioners teach mindfulness skills, using a wide variety of methods not limited by the psychotherapeutic model. All Gestalt Practice techniques emphasize experience over analysis. Besides the standard Gestalt exercises that characterized Gestalt therapy, Dick Price widened the approach by incorporating novel techniques from such disciplines as meditation, shamanism, compassion practice and spiritual contemplation. Thus, Gestalt Practice became a personalized form of consciousness exploration beyond the limits of psychotherapy. A partial list of the modalities used in Gestalt Practice includes the following:Gestalt Practice work may involve the reporting of present awareness, and the integration of awareness through intrapsychic
Intrapsychic
Intrapsychic is a psychological term referring to internal psychological processes of the individual. These processes can be positive , negative or neutral....
dialogue between aspects of personality. This kind of work, borrowed from Gestalt therapy, is often practiced as a shared experiment between two partners working together as a "dyad
Dyad (sociology)
A dyad in sociology is a noun used to describe a group of two people. "Dyadic" is an adjective used to describe this type of communication/interaction. A dyad is the smallest possible social group....
." Phenomenological
Phenomenology (psychology)
Phenomenology is an approach to psychological subject matter that has its roots in the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl. Early phenomenologists such as Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty conducted their own psychological investigations in the early 20th century...
techniques like these are based upon the belief that subjective experience is worthy of direct attention, without the interference of preexisting ideas or interpretations.
Somatic awareness
Somatic Psychology
Somatic psychology is an interdisciplinary field involving the study of the body, somatic experience, and the embodied self, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to body. The word somatic comes from the ancient Greek somat . The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek psyche and logia...
may be the focus of Gestalt exercises. Awareness of breathing is emphasized because it promotes immediate experience of the body. Dramatic interventions, typical of Reichian Therapy
Reichian therapy
Reichian therapy can refer to several schools of thought and theraputic techniques whose common touchstone is their origins in the work of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich...
or Bioenergetics
Bioenergetics
Bioenergetics is the subject of a field of biochemistry that concerns energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of thousands of different cellular processes such as cellular respiration and the many other metabolic processes that can...
, generally are not used in Gestalt Practice. However, an initiator’s awareness naturally may be directed toward areas of tension or holding. A scan of body feelings and sensations, similar to forms of Buddhist meditation, can enhance awareness practice. And movement exercises such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, dance, art, hiking, chanting and singing may be used to integrate awareness of the body.
Interpersonal relationship
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
practices may be used in Gestalt Practice to clarify communications, improve relationship skills, and enhance empathy. A neutral moderator may assist with interpersonal encounters, although this is not necessary, in keeping with the Gestalt Practice prinicple of equality among participants.
Dreamwork
Dreamwork
Dreamwork differs from classical dream interpretation in that the aim of dreamwork is to explore the various images and emotions that a dream presents and evokes, while not attempting to come up with a single, unique dream meaning. In this way the dream remains "alive" whereas if it has been...
is a common Gestalt awareness practice, in which enactment and integration of dream elements are favored. An initiator of Gestalt dreamwork intentionally re-experiences their dream as if it were happening in the present. The initiator then assumes the role of various dream elements, and enters into a dialogue with whatever is encountered in the dream. This approach is borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model developed by Fritz Perls. However, in contrast to Gestalt therapy, alternative sources of dream interpretation and intuition are welcomed in Gestalt Practice.
Meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
practices, derived from many different contemplative traditions, may be used by Gestalt practitioners. Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
provides many useful models for mindfulness and compassion practice; and some of these have been adapted to complement the objectives of Gestalt Practice.
Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
, as it was expressed by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
, provides a non-judgmental backdrop for non-intervention with an initiator’s process, allowing whatever happens in a Gestalt work session to unfold naturally in the present moment. In addition, Taoism reinforces the reverence for nature that is typical of Gestalt Practice.
These techniques, and many others beyond the ambit of therapy, are regularly used in Gestalt Practice - all with the same objectives of enhanced awareness, spiritual growth, and respect for the natural environment.
Deployment
Gestalt Practice is most often taught in groups, with an experienced reflector serving as group leader. However, after participants have learned the basics of Gestalt, they frequently choose to do awareness practice work together on their own, outside of a group, without a leader. In this way, a Gestalt Practice group functions as the model for a Gestalt community. Indeed, Gestalt Practice, as Dick Price conceived it, quickly evolves into a congregational awareness practice that transcends the confines of any meeting room.Dick Price led Gestalt groups at Esalen for fifteen years, until his death in 1985. His wife and collaborator at Esalen, Christine Stewart Price, carried on the Gestalt Practice tradition by developing her own form of awareness practice, which she calls Gestalt Awareness Practice or GAP. Christine Price now teaches GAP in the United States and Japan. Chris and Tibetan Buddhist practitioner Gail Stewart also offer a Gestalt Practicum once a year at Esalen, in which they teach Gestalt Practice methods and theory to experienced practitioners.
Gestalt Practice influenced many people at Esalen. Prominent among them was a student of Dick Price named Steven Harper, who incorporated aspects of Gestalt Practice, along with principles of ecopsychology
Ecopsychology
Ecopsychology connects psychology and ecology. Its political and practical goals are to show humans ways of healing alienation and to build a "sane" society and a sustainable culture. Theodore Roszak is credited with coining the term in his 1992 book, The Voice of the Earth...
, into his own unique wilderness practice.
Contemporary American forms of psychoanalysis, such as relational psychoanalysis
Relational psychoanalysis
Relational psychoanalysis is a school of psychoanalysis in the United States that emphasizes the role of real and imagined relationships with others in mental disorder and psychotherapy...
and intersubjective psychoanalysis
Intersubjective psychoanalysis
The term "intersubjectivity" introduced in psychoanalysis by George E. Atwood and Robert Stolorow .-The myth of isolated mind:The intersubjective psychoanalysis accused the traditional psychoanalysis of having described the psychic phenomena as "the myth of isolated mind".-Key figures:Heinz Kohut...
, have had an impact upon Gestalt Practice, leading to the development of Relational Gestalt Process by Dorothy Charles. She teaches this practice at Esalen, in Japan and in Greece.
External links
- Notes on Gestalt Practice
- Tribal Ground - Chistine Stewart Price
- Steven Harper
- Seymour Carter
- Dorothy Charles
- Manual of Gestalt Practice in the tradition of Dick Price - The Gestalt Legacy Project ..."a peaceful practice, not a discourse"... This manual is used by contemporary practitioners to build peaceful communities. Gratitude is owed to all those who labored tirelessly to make this breakthrough possible, including: Dick Price, Chris Price, Dorothy Charles, Steven Harper, Seymour Carter, Gail Stewart, Pema ChödrönPema ChödrönPema Chödrön is a notable American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage which Trungpa founded....
, Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, Erv and Miriam Polster.