Gestalt therapy is one of the most popular areas of psychology today. The concept of “gestalt” is familiar to most people as the ability to independently complete “suspended”, unfinished situations, for example, letting go of an insult or getting rid of love addiction. But gestalt therapy is a more voluminous direction, and it is worth every person who is not indifferent to the quality of their life.
In order to fully evaluate this area of psychology, it is worth knowing how it arose, who its creator Fritz Perls was, the gestaltist’s prayer, and how gestalt therapy is useful for every person in everyday life.
Destination History
Gestalt therapy was formed in the middle of the last century, becoming a kind of alternative to psychoanalysis. The latter deals mainly with unconscious psychological processes, the influence of the past on the present. Gestalt, on the other hand, invites a person to take responsibility for all experienced feelings, bringing them to a more superficial, conscious level.
In a simplified sense, this direction can be perceived as a way of self-improvement, personal growth. But, nevertheless, gestalt therapy is still a way to treat psychological problems.
A psychologist or psychotherapist helps a person establish contact with himself, to better understand the motives of his desires and actions. Thus, a person gets the opportunity to influence the quality of his life, improving his mood, contacts with other people. Of paramount importance for the independent management of one’s life is the so-called Gestaltist prayer formulated by Perls.
Gestalt psychology and gestalt therapy
People who are interested in the field of psychology and self-improvement often have the question: "Are gestalt psychology and gestalt therapy synonymous?".
The answer to this question is negative. The founder of gestalt therapy, Perls, often admitted that he was familiar with gestalt psychology very superficially, and that his teaching was a peculiar symbiosis of psychoanalysis, psychodrama, and bioenergy. The word "gestalt" was used to give the name sonority and solidity.
Fritz Perls
Frederick (Fritz) Perls - a famous psychiatrist from Germany, who published a work on the growth of the human personality, which later became the basis for gestalt therapy. He later established the Gestalt Institute in New York.
The book became the basis of his own approach to psychotherapy as a way to manage his life and reveal his inner potential. After the founding of gestaltism, he devoted his development to the rest of his life, in particular the prayer of the gestaltist in the original saw the light in the 60s of the past century. Some of his works were published posthumously.
Prayer
Gestaltist Prayer Frederick Perls has tremendous popularity. Its advantage is simplicity and at the same time deep impact on the psychological state of a person. Psychologists call one of the main personality problems that are the cause of resentment, quarrels and quarrels fusion. That is, perceiving another person as part of yourself, interested in your own comfort, it is impossible to avoid complaints and bad emotions.
The Gestaltist’s prayer helps to draw a figurative border between himself and society, recognize the right of everyone to live their own lives, pursue their interests and make informed choices without any pressure. At the same time, Perls insists that such separation makes it possible for the person to act within his borders, not counting on the participation of others, help, approval.
The absence of mutual claims and unreasonable expectations not only gives a person a sense of personal moral freedom, independence and internal strength, but also allows us to evaluate such a thing as reciprocity. The Gestaltist’s prayer turns it from the due and expected into a wonderful and wonderful feeling, which is worth it to appreciate and protect it.
When to use prayer?
The advantage of gestaltism is the ability to use it under any circumstances. By making Perls' lines the rule of life, you can achieve significant internal growth and emotional growth. Indeed, the understanding of the autonomy of one’s personality and the independence of another is one of the most important indicators of a person’s spiritual maturity.
But the prayer of the gestaltist Frederick can also be applied situationally. For example, during a strong quarrel or resentment against another person. When a person thinks that someone has not justified the hopes placed on him, these lines will allow him to calm down and return to a good mood.
Lines work in the opposite direction. They can be called a talisman from any kind of manipulation. When another person makes demands, for which he has no legal grounds, to rid himself of shame and, with a calm soul, refuse to follow someone else's instructions.
How to read a prayer?
Indications of how the gestaltist’s prayer should be read do not exist. You can repeat it several times out loud or to yourself during an emotionally difficult situation, you can pronounce it in the morning or at bedtime, you can print and hang it on your desktop.
But it is important to understand that the lines do not have any magical or magical effect. Having delved into the words once and having accepted their meaning for himself, a person begins to use prayer as a principle of interaction with other people. Thus, productive and successful interpersonal relationships begin to line up.