"If Not Now, When?"

By Victoria Story

Just as each cell in the human body holds the energy particles of all the other cells within it, the Gestalt therapist approaches the "now" as containing a particle of all other moments within it. In Gestalt everything that is happening for the client is happening now The history, pains, trauma, joys and excitements are all available in the moment. The client's body, their breath, the sentence structure, the phrasing, the tone, the silence -- all express the work, the focus.

In Gestalt therapy attention is paid to the unfinished situation, aspects of the clients life that are unresolved. A task of therapy is to finish the unfinished business and complete the Gestalt. Another basic tenant of Gestalt therapy is the belief in the organism's ability to regulate itself. The human being will find a way to balance itself. Most clients, on presentation to therapy or treatment, feel incapable of self support so they have creatively used the environment to find balance. Some present with obvious dependencies on substances, work or other people, some mask their environmental support by counterphobically pushing away, denying the need for others. Whatever the recent issue, the Gestalt therapist's task is to assist the client in self support and self regulation. This is accomplished through heightening the client's awareness of her own process, her choices, her ability to respond to her environment. Awareness alone is not enough, it is only a beginning. The purpose of emotional expression i.e., fear, anger, love, joy, pain is that it leads to integration and completion.

An addicted client, as seen through the Gestalt perspective, is a person who is incomplete -- unable to self support in daily life. Addiction is most often masked by denial. So the Gestalt therapist works with this form of resistance in the now. The client's awareness is increased bit by bit until she is able to surrender to the reality of her addiction.

The trauma survivor, in order to survive, has denied the self a complete expression of emotion and cognition in relationship to the violation. The Gestalt therapist assists her at her own pace, to become more aware of what is unexpressed. In order to heal this unfinished situation the therapist works with awareness of breath, body and self in the moment to release the blocked material that is often held in the body.

Technique is only important in gestalt therapy to the degree that it enhances the client's exploration, expression and experience. Catharsis may be a natural outgrowth of the body's relief in coming to a complete gestalt, the essence of which contains mind, body and spirit. Just as the cell is complete in itself the individual has the capacity to recover and reclaim the ability to be a self-regulating, whole being.