Gestalt therapy demonstration by Fritz Perls 1/2

Fritz Perls demonstrates Gestalt Therapy with his patient Gloria. I was shown this on an intermediate counselling course about twelve years ago and was amused that the group and its tutor were unable to learn from Fritz because of their devotion to political correctness. Fritz's smoking and direct challenging of Gloria's self defeating belief systems were viewed in the group as evidence that he didn't know what he was doing. They preferred the approach of Carl Rogers because he was polite and inoffensive even though Gloria told Rogers that he wasn't helping her despite being a very likeable man. She ended the Rogers session with a frown, but despite all the confrontation with Perls she ends with a smile. This vid has good rewatch value. Perls' language patterns, roleplays and bouts of uncompromising honesty are worthy of study.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• fritz
• perls
• gestalt
• therapy
• cognitive
• behaviour
• gloria

[solreymusic]

The intensely confrontational technique here can aggravate some patients, for sure. But it forces them to be conscious of suppressed feelings, it brings the unconscious to the surface. It is highly probable that Perlz is not coming from an empathic point, as did Rogers, but rather judgmental. After watching these interviews, I must admit that the Rogerian approach was the most confrontational, in fact, in his amazingly client's self centered way. Love hope and tears.

[robag88]

@solreymusic I'd say the Rogerian approach is judgemental. He assumes the client is unable to deal with the kind of practical confrontation average people deal with in the real world. People are more resilient than person centred therapy gives them credit. i remember watching the interview with Gloria after these sessions. She liked and disliked elements of both Rogers and Perls. In fact she actually told Rogers toward the end of the session that although he he was nice he wasn't helping her.

[solreymusic]

What attracts me to the Rogerian approach, is that of the endless acceptance the therapist practices thus allowing the unfoldment process that takes place in their clients, leading them toward their central self, awaking in the realization to their power at formulating their paradigms. If the therapist discovers a key (through transference), the skill is to have the client/patient discover it too. Its a beautiful game where both are winners. And truly very difficult to achieve mastery.

[robag88]

@solreymusic I agree there are certain types of problems that works with but i don't think it works as a catch all. Gloria obviously has issues with learned helplessness as an attention seeking function. The Rogers approach gives her the attention she wants, reinforcing the habit. There are plenty of situations in life where honest and direct challenging breaks through such barriers and creates change. We see it between straight talking friends, in relationships, in parenting and in court rooms.

[TheJabberwock]

I love that the lady sits down and immediately lights a cigarette.

[robag88]

@combandpaper She saw three very different famous therapists as part of the whole project. Lack of confidence, not standing up to authority etc were the basic reasons she gave to the other two guys. It's interesting that before she even verbalizes this Fritz is straight onto her playing the victim for attention and deals with that issue directly. There are a lot of folks who bounce around seeing multiple therapists for the attention.

[DrEdFeraco]

Fritz is hardly being confrontational--this woman most likely has a Borderline Personality. I've not seen many clients behave this way. Perhaps she is an aspiring actress?

[DrEdFeraco]

I find that being Eclectic works the best with a majority of my patients/clients.

[arlobrubaker]

Thank you for putting this up

[SomethingReal1119]

@MrGrevy Yes, you are right, IF you believe that human behavior can be completely "quantified". But the thing is....it CANNOT. Our minds are infinitely more complex than those of lab rats or Pavlov's dogs. CBT works for some people and some problems. But, I don't feel that it is the best therapy for ALL. And there's been research done to show that many clients don't stick with it for very long. Like I said, it works well for some personalities, but for others, it is useless. ^_^

[Raina430]

@MrGrevy " confrontational and unfocused" is a good way to describe it. Therapy is something I have been interested in for a long time. Trying to unravel past programming is a lifelong task, for me anyway. It takes knowing about a lot of different kinds of therapy and other healing modes.

[MrGrevy]

@TheEmotionMachine CBT has been proven most effective, hands down.

[MrGrevy]

@SomethingReal1119 Research doesn't support that view at all. CBT is the king of results, no debate on that. Client centered is unskilled, emotional silliness.

[MrGrevy]

@robag88 Except this didn't work. It only angered Gloria. Gestalt doesn't work and research proves it.

[MrGrevy]

@autumn1605 She obviously mistook his emotional pandering for "help".

[MrGrevy]

@solreymusic Actually it's just pandering and doesn't lead to any solutions, just more observation and insight. Not helpful, it just reinforces weakness.