What is Gestalt Psychology? The principle of "here and now". Key Ideas of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt analysis Etymology.

Comes from him. Gestalt - form, structure + Greek. analysis - dismemberment.

Category.

A method for describing psychopathological processes developed in Gestalt psychology.

Specificity.

It attaches particular importance not so much to individual phenomenological facts as to the forms of their subjective ordering and structuring. This method was actively used by K. Konrad.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

See what "Gestalt analysis" is in other dictionaries:

Gestalt Analysis- (from German Gestalt form, structure + Greek analysis dismemberment) a method for describing psychopathological processes developed in Gestalt psychology. In it, special importance is attached not so much to individual phenomenological facts as to their forms ... ... Psychological Dictionary

GESTALT THERAPY- The creator of Gestalt therapy is the American physician and psychologist Frederick Perls (Fritz Perls, 1893–1970). Having received a medical education, in 1926 Perls began his work at the Institute of Military Brain Injuries in Berlin. Its leader... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Gestalt psychology- G. arose at the beginning of the 20th century. as an addition to the traditional method of scientific analysis. The generally accepted way of analyzing complex phenomena was to describe the parts and reconstruct the whole by summing up the resulting descriptions. However, new developments in ... ... Psychological Encyclopedia

Gestalt- - “whole”, “correct form”, a hard-to-translate German term. At the beginning of the XX century. the first Gestalt psychologists appeared who argued that the reduction of perceived phenomena to simple elements leads to the loss of the overall configuration; in other words,… … Social Work Dictionary

Deterministic analysis- (the theory of rules) is, on the one hand, the mathematical theory of determinations, and on the other hand, a practical method for analyzing the rules, which allows you to search and analyze the rules by processing the data of experience. The idea of deterministic analysis is ... Wikipedia

TRANSACT ANALYSIS- Creator of T. a. is an American psychiatrist Berne (Berne E.). According to his concept, a person is programmed with "early decisions" in relation to life position. He lives his life according to the "script" written with the most active ... ...

Transactional analysis- T. a. it is an interactional psychotherapist based on the assumption that people make current decisions based on past assumptions that may have helped to survive at one time, but often do not now. Although T. a ... Psychological Encyclopedia

SELF-ANALYSIS- Analysis by the individual of his own judgments, experiences, needs and actions. In contrast to the concept of reflection, which is close in meaning (from late Latin reilexio, turning back, reflection), self-observation, reflection on one's experiences and ... ... Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia

PSYCHOLOGY- the science of psychic reality, about how an individual feels, perceives, feels, thinks and acts. For a deeper understanding of the human psyche, psychologists are exploring the mental regulation of animal behavior and the functioning of such ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

Chesnokov, Sergei Valerianovich- This page needs a major overhaul. It may need to be wikified, expanded, or rewritten. Explanation of the reasons and discussion on the Wikipedia page: For improvement / May 12, 2012. Date of setting for improvement May 12, 2012 ... Wikipedia

Books

Now-for-later in Psychotherapy: Gestalt Therapy Told in Postmodern Society, Spaniolo, Margherita Lobb. The new book by Margherita Spaniolo Lobb is a real gift for psychologists and psychotherapists. The author offers a deep analysis of the current situation in society, new forms of psychological ... Buy for 632 rubles
Now-for-later in psychotherapy. Gestalt Therapy Told in a Postmodern Society, Spaniolo Lobb M. The new book by Margherita Spaniolo Lobb is a real gift for psychologists and psychotherapists. The author offers a deep analysis of the current situation in society, new forms of psychological ...

Gestalt - what is it? This question is asked by many modern people, but not everyone manages to find the right answer to it. The word "gestalt" itself is of German origin. Translated into Russian, it means "structure", "image", "form".

This concept was introduced into psychiatry by the psychoanalyst Frederick Perls. He is the founder of Gestalt Therapy.

Frederick Perls was a practicing psychiatrist, so all the methods he developed were primarily used to treat mental disorders, including psychoses, neuroses, etc. However, the Gestalt therapy method was very widespread. What it is, psychologists and psychiatrists working in various fields soon became interested. Such a wide popularity of Gestalt therapy is due to the presence of a reasonable and understandable theory, a wide choice of methods or a patient, as well as a high level of effectiveness.

Main advantage

The main and biggest advantage is a holistic approach to a person, which takes into account his mental, physical, spiritual and social aspects. Gestalt therapy instead of focusing on the question "Why is this happening to a person?" replaces it with the following: “What is the person feeling now and how can this be changed?”. Therapists working in this direction try to focus people's attention on the awareness of the processes that are happening to them "here and now". Thus, the client learns to be responsible for his life and for everything that happens in it, and, consequently, for making the desired changes.

Perls himself considered the gestalt as a whole, the destruction of which leads to the production of fragments. The form strives to be unified, and if this does not happen, the person finds himself in an incomplete situation that puts pressure on him. There are often many unfinished gestalts in people, which are not so difficult to get rid of, it is enough to see them. The great advantage is that to find them there is no need to delve into the bowels of the unconscious, but you just need to learn to notice the obvious.

The Gestalt approach is based on such principles and concepts as integrity, responsibility, the emergence and destruction of structures, incomplete forms, contact, awareness, "here and now".

The most important principle

Man is a holistic being, and he cannot be divided into any components, for example, into body and psyche or soul and body, since such artificial techniques cannot positively affect his understanding of his own inner world.

A holistic gestalt consists of a personality and the space surrounding it, while influencing each other. For a better understanding of this principle, one can turn to the psychology of interpersonal relationships. It makes it possible to clearly see how much influence society has on the individual. However, by changing himself, he affects other people, who, in turn, also become different.

The key concepts of the Moscow Gestalt Institute, like many others, include the concept of "contact". A person is constantly in contact with something or someone - with plants, the environment, other people, informational, bioenergetic and psychological fields.

The place where the individual comes into contact with the environment is called the contact boundary. The better a person feels and the more flexible he can regulate the contact difference, the more successful he is in meeting his own needs and achieving his goals. However, this process is characterized by characteristic features that lead to disruption of the individual's productive activity in various areas of interaction. Perls Gestalt therapy is aimed at overcoming such disorders.

The principle of the emergence and destruction of gestalt structures

Using the principle of the emergence and destruction of gestalt structures, one can easily explain the behavior of a person. Each person arranges his life depending on his own needs, to which he gives priority. His actions are aimed at meeting needs and achieving existing goals.

For a better understanding, consider a few examples. So, a person who wants to buy a house saves money to buy it, finds a suitable option and becomes the owner of his own home. And the one who wants to have a child, directs all his strength to achieve this goal. After the desired is achieved (the need is satisfied), the gestalt is completed and destroyed.

The concept of an incomplete gestalt

However, far from every gestalt reaches its completion (and further - destruction). What happens to some people and why do they constantly form the same type of unfinished situation? This question has been of interest to specialists in the field of psychology and psychiatry for many years. This phenomenon is called the incomplete gestalt.

Specialists who work in one Gestalt institution or another have recognized that the lives of many people are often filled with recurring typical negative situations. For example, a person, despite the fact that he does not like to be exploited, constantly finds himself in precisely such situations, and someone who does not have a personal life comes into contact with people he does not need again and again. Such "deviations" are associated precisely with incomplete "images", and the human psyche will not be able to find peace until they reach their logical end.

That is, a person who has an incomplete "structure", on a subconscious level, constantly strives to create a negative incomplete situation only in order to resolve it, and finally close this issue. The Gestalt therapist artificially creates a similar situation for his client and helps to find a way out of it.

Awareness

Another basic concept of Gestalt therapy is awareness. It is worth noting that the intellectual knowledge of a person about his external and internal world has nothing to do with him. Gestalt psychology associates awareness with being in the so-called "here and now" state. It is characterized by the fact that a person performs all actions guided by consciousness and being vigilant, and does not live a mechanical life, relying solely on the stimulus-reactive mechanism, as is characteristic of an animal.

Most problems (if not all) appear in a person's life for the reason that he is guided by the mind, not consciousness. But, unfortunately, the mind is a rather limited function, and people who live only by it do not even suspect that they are actually something more. This leads to the replacement of the true state of reality with an intellectual and false one, and also to the fact that the life of each person takes place in a separate illusory world.

Gestalt therapists around the world, including the Moscow Gestalt Institute, are confident that in order to solve most problems, misunderstandings, misunderstandings and difficulties, a person only needs to achieve awareness of his inner and outer reality. The state of awareness does not allow people to do bad things, succumbing to impulses of random emotions, since they are always able to see the world around them as it really is.

Responsibility

From the awareness of a person, another quality that is useful for him is born - responsibility. The level of responsibility for one's life directly depends on the level of clarity of the person's awareness of the surrounding reality. It is human nature to always shift the responsibility for one's failures and mistakes onto others or even higher powers, but everyone who manages to take responsibility for himself makes a big leap on the path of individual development.

Most people are not familiar with the concept of gestalt at all. What it is, they learn already at the reception of a psychologist or psychotherapist. The specialist identifies the problem and develops ways to eliminate it. It is for this purpose that Gestalt therapy has a wide variety of techniques, among which there are both its own and borrowed from such as transactional analysis, art therapy, psychodrama, etc. According to Gestaltists, within their approach, any methods that serve as natural continuation of the “therapist-client” dialogue and enhance the processes of awareness.

Principle of "here and now"

According to him, everything really important is happening at the moment. The mind takes a person to the past (memories, analysis of past situations) or to the future (dreams, fantasies, planning), but does not give the opportunity to live in the present, which leads to the fact that life passes by. Gestalt therapists encourage each of their clients to live "here and now", without looking into the illusory world. All the work of this approach is connected with the awareness of the present moment.

Types of gestalt techniques and contracting

All techniques of Gestalt therapy are conditionally divided into "projective" and "dialogue". The former are used to work with dreams, images, imaginary dialogues, etc.

The second is painstaking work that is carried out by the therapist at the border of contact with the client. The specialist, having tracked the interruption mechanisms of the person with whom he works, turns his emotions and experiences into a part of his environment, after which he brings them to the border of contact. It is worth noting that the Gestalt techniques of both types are intertwined in work, and their clear distinction is possible only in theory.

The Gestalt therapy procedure usually begins with such a technique as the conclusion of a contract. This direction is characterized by the fact that the specialist and the client are equal partners, and the latter bears no less responsibility for the results of the work performed than the former. This aspect is just stipulated at the stage of concluding a contract. At the same moment, the client forms his goals. It is very difficult for a person who constantly avoids responsibility to agree to such conditions, and already at this stage he needs elaboration. At the stage of concluding a contract, a person begins to learn to be responsible for himself and for what happens to him.

"Hot chair" and "empty chair"

The "hot chair" technique is one of the most famous among therapists, whose place of work is the Moscow Gestalt Institute and many other structures. This method is used in group work. A "hot chair" is a place where a person sits who intends to tell those present about their difficulties. During the work, only the client and the therapist interact with each other, the rest of the group listens silently, and only at the end of the session talk about what they felt.

The main Gestalt techniques also include the "empty chair". It is used to place a significant person for the client with whom he can have a dialogue, and it is not so important whether he is currently alive or has already died. Another purpose of the "empty chair" is the dialogue between different parts of the personality. This is necessary when the client has opposing attitudes that generate

Concentration and Experimental Amplification

The Gestalt Institute calls concentration (focused awareness) its original technique. There are three levels of awareness - inner worlds (emotions, bodily sensations), outer worlds (what I see, hear), and thoughts. Keeping in mind one of the main principles of Gestalt therapy "here and now", the client tells the specialist about his awareness at the moment. For example: “Now I am lying on the couch and looking at the ceiling. I can't relax at all. My heart is beating very hard. I know I have a therapist next to me.” This technique enhances the sense of the present, helps to understand the ways of detaching a person from reality, and is also valuable information for further work with him.

Another effective technique is experimental amplification. It consists in maximizing any verbal and non-verbal manifestations that are little conscious of him. For example, in the case when the client, without realizing it, often begins his conversation with the words “yes, but ...”, the therapist can suggest that he begin each phrase in this way, and then the person is aware of his rivalry with others and the desire to always have the last word .

Working with polarities

This is another method that Gestalt therapy often resorts to. Techniques in this branch are often aimed at identifying opposites in personality. Among them, a special place is occupied by work with polarities.

For example, a person who constantly complains that he doubts himself, the specialist suggests confident, and from this position, try to communicate with the people around him. It is equally useful to have a dialogue between your uncertainty and confidence.

For a client who does not know how to ask for help, the Gestalt therapist suggests contacting group members, sometimes even with very ridiculous requests. This technique makes it possible to expand the zone of awareness of the individual by including in it a previously inaccessible personal potential.

Dream work

This technique is used by psychotherapists of various directions, but the original Gestalt technique has its own characteristic features. Here, the specialist considers all the elements of sleep as parts of the human personality, with each of which the client must identify. This is done to assign their own projections or get rid of retroflections. In addition, in this technique, no one has canceled the use of the "here and now" principle.

Thus, the client should tell the therapist about his dream as if it were something happening in the present. For example: “I am running along a forest path. I am in a great mood and I enjoy every moment spent in this forest, etc.” It is necessary that the client describe his dream "here and now" not only on his own behalf, but also on behalf of other people and objects present in the vision. For example, “I am a winding forest path. A person is running over me now, etc.”

Thanks to its own and borrowed techniques, Gestalt therapy helps people to get rid of all kinds of masks, to establish trusting contact with others. The Gestalt approach takes into account heredity, the experience gained in the first years of life, the influence of society, but at the same time calls on each person to take responsibility for their own life and for everything that happens in it.

A healthy and harmonious person is able to satisfy his needs, but this is impossible without contact with the environment.
If a need is not being met, the task of the Gestalt therapist is to understand why and what to do about it.

As a child, I was attracted to books from the "Everything about everything" series. In them, the authors contained concentrates of knowledge about a variety of things. The simplified and superficial level of immersion in the topic did not bother me: even now I appreciate this format when getting acquainted with non-core, but areas of interest to me. This is a great opportunity to quickly navigate the issue, to understand what it is about in principle.

I will try to describe the key theses in the work of a Gestalt therapist as simply and clearly as possible, in a popular encyclopedic format.

Any psychotherapeutic approach is based on the idea of psychological health, the criteria for the healthy functioning of a person.

Health in Gestalt therapy is a harmonious and holistic functioning human life systems, the ability to self-regulate, both in the physical and psychological aspects.

If we are cold, the body increases muscle activity, trembling appears. It helps us keep warm.
If we are hot, the body sweats, cooling the body temperature.
If the body is tired, it requires rest, we want to sleep.

A self-regulating system is impossible without contact with the external environment.

When we are hungry, we cannot satisfy the need for food without interacting with the external environment.
The needs for love, recognition, respect, communication are also satisfied only through contact with the environment.

We live, we need something, we want something, we strive for something. Ideally we satisfy our needs, we close gestalts. If the need is not satisfied for a long time, we have an internal tension - what is known as "Unfinished Gestalts".

Each need goes through several stages of development:

Formation and awareness.

Contact of the organism with the environment in order to find an object and a way to satisfy the need.

Need satisfaction.

Reflection on the experience gained.

At any of these stages, our contact with the environment may be interrupted, which means that the need will remain unsatisfied. This happens as a result of the action of four mechanisms: projection, introjection, confluence and retroflection.

1. Projection

You are walking in a park at night and you see a noisy group of young people ahead. You get the idea to deviate from the route so as not to meet strangers. This is how the projection mechanism manifests itself.

Based on your experience, you are projecting that young people may be aggressive and the meeting may not be safe. The projective mechanism, like any other means of interrupting needs, is initially useful to us.

But here's another example. A young man wants to meet a girl on the street. He stops himself, assuming that she will refuse acquaintance: she will not like him, she does not meet on the street, she is married, and so on. In this case, instead of a useful protective function, the projection mechanism stops the satisfaction of the young person's real need: to get to know each other, to start a relationship.

The task of the Gestalt therapist is to help the client recognize the need, see how he interrupts its satisfaction, and help find appropriate ways to satisfy it.

When the client has realized the true needs, the Gestalt therapist helps him find ways to satisfy them.

One more example. A client approached a therapist with a request to help mend his relationship with his wife. A man is jealous of her with or without cause, which leads to family conflicts and scandals.

Jealousy in this case is a projective mechanism. The husband projects his suspicions of infidelity onto his wife, suggests that she is no longer interested in him. Claims lead to aggravation of the conflict and constant scandals. At the same time, the real need of the husband for intimacy, love is not satisfied.

When the client has realized the true needs, the Gestalt therapist helps him find ways to satisfy them. Instead of the usual accusations “Where have you been again? You don't need me!" husband tries to behave in a new way. For example, accusations can be replaced with such phrases: “I worry when you are late, I value our relationship, our closeness is important to me.”

2. Introjection

Once at a party, an acquaintance started a conversation about the fact that many people think that it is impossible to divide by zero. "Of course not!" – emotionally supported the majority of the participants in the discussion. We were taught this way at school, and if you try to divide by zero on a calculator, the display will show “E” - which means an error. We can't all be wrong.

However, the friend did not let up: “Why can’t you divide by zero?” None of those present had an answer to this question. More precisely, the answer was: “Because it is impossible. Dot". Here's an example of a classic introject.

Introjection is a mechanism by which we swallow, without chewing, new information, attitudes, ideas. We remember this information, we consider it obvious and correct, but it is not appropriated and not digested by us. That is why we cannot answer the question why it is impossible to divide by zero. We simply swallowed this knowledge and cannot substantiate our answer in any way.

If we are "introjected" by any attitudes, rules and knowledge, this does not mean that they are incorrect or true. It only means that we cannot consciously use them. Our behavior and reactions are rigid, and this can negatively affect the satisfaction of our needs.

After checking and “chewing”, attitudes are either appropriated and become learned, or rejected as false.

When raising children, we cannot do without the mechanism of introjection. We will not offer the child to "appropriate" the knowledge that you can not put your fingers in the socket. And it will be a useful introject. If the introjected knowledge for the child is not weighty enough to take the word, be sure - he will check.

After checking and “chewing”, the attitudes are either appropriated and become learned, or rejected as false. By the way, it turned out that it is theoretically possible to divide by zero. An operation that is considered impossible in algebra can be performed in other areas of mathematical knowledge.

The psychotherapist regularly encounters client attitudes: “you need to build a career”, “a man should earn more than a woman”, “a woman should not take the initiative when meeting men”, “I need to get married” and so on.

The Gestalt therapist checks how these attitudes relate to the real needs of the client, whether these are really his attitudes or whether they are introjects that block the development and satisfaction of true needs.

For example, a woman complains about unsuccessful attempts to build relationships with men. At the same time, she relies on some ideal idea of what a man should be: loving, faithful, with a higher education, a decent income ... The therapist helps her realize the “ideal man” introject and her true needs, which, most likely, do not correspond to him.

3. Confluence (fusion)

How do romantic relationships usually develop in a couple? At the first stage, a man and a woman seem to merge together, they say “we” instead of “I”. It is difficult for them to leave even for a moment.

Such compatibility brings both partners pleasure. In Gestalt therapy, this mechanism is called confluence (fusion). And in this example, the manifestation of confluence is appropriate and pleasant.

Another example is a newborn baby. In the first months of life, he is in maximum merger with his mother, and this is the only way to survive, because he still cannot independently realize and satisfy his needs. However, over time, the child learns to separate from the parents. He begins to realize his needs, learns to satisfy them on his own.

The Gestalt therapist helps the client learn to notice and build boundaries, recognize and satisfy needs, separate

Another example is co-dependent relationships in the family. A wife may not be aware of her personal needs and boundaries, merge with her husband, his desires, needs, feelings, live his life. At the same time, both partners feel unhappy.

When working with codependency, the Gestalt therapist helps the client learn to notice and build boundaries, to recognize and satisfy their own needs, to separate. The client learns that there are personal spaces and needs that confluence restricts, and there are shared territories and pastimes where fusion is appropriate and beneficial.

4. Retroflection

Imagine that your boss is chastising you. You are angry: your fists are clenched, your jaws are playing. You want to express aggression, but for one reason or another you hold yourself back. This is how the mechanism of retroflection manifests itself: you want to react, express feelings, perform some action, but as if you are closing the need for yourself.

Your impulse to express resentment to your boss remains within you. Feelings are not expressed, but they do not disappear either. Unexpressed emotions begin to "eat" you from the inside, aggression can turn into auto-aggression.

If you regularly restrain yourself, do not express dissatisfaction, emotions will accumulate, and sooner or later the cup will overflow

Retroflection, like all the mechanisms described above, also has a useful function. Expressing feelings and taking actions is not always and everywhere appropriate and safe. However, it is easy not to notice that retroflection has become a habit and has begun to carry a destructive function.

Let's continue with the example of the critical boss. If you regularly restrain yourself, do not express dissatisfaction, emotions will accumulate, and sooner or later the cup will overflow. Aggression will pour out at the wrong time, in the wrong place and in the wrong quantities, and your behavior will look inadequate to the situation. In addition, it can lead to the development of psychosomatic diseases.

The Gestalt therapist helps clients find ways to get out of the “autonomy mode” and satisfy their needs by contacting the environment, people, and not lock the development of the need within themselves.

***

The presence of all these interruption mechanisms is a necessary condition for the healthy functioning of the body. The Gestalt therapist does not struggle with them - he, together with the client, explores situations in which these mechanisms begin to fail, and restores the body's ability to function holistically and harmoniously, self-regulate, contact with the environment.

I hope, reading the article, you remembered and realized how your own interruption mechanisms manifest themselves, and you will be able to take a step towards liberation from their destructive manifestations.

About the expert

– psychologist, gestalt therapist, psychodrama therapist, organizational consultant, trainer, teacher Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis.

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Call me with you, and I will understand. Confucius (ancient thinker and philosopher of China).

Perhaps everyone knows psychology as a system of life phenomena, but few know it as a system of proven knowledge, and only those who specifically deal with it, solving all kinds of scientific and practical problems. The term "psychology" first appeared in scientific use in the 16th century, and denoted a special science that was engaged in the study of mental and mental phenomena. In the 17th - 19th centuries, the scope of research by psychologists expanded significantly and covered unconscious mental processes (the unconscious) and the detail of a person. And since the 19th century psychology is an independent (experimental) field of scientific knowledge. Studying the psychology and behavior of people, scientists continue to look for their explanations, both in the biological nature of man and in his individual experience.

What is Gestalt psychology?

Gestalt psychology(German gestalt - image, form; gestalten - configuration) is one of the most interesting and popular trends in Western psychology that arose during the open crisis of psychological science in the early 1920s. in Germany. The founder is a German psychologist Max Wertheimer. This trend was developed not only in the works of Max Wertheimer, but also in the works of Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Keller, Kurt Koffka and others. Gestalt psychology is a kind of protest against Wundt's molecular program for psychology. Based on studies of visual perception, the configurations " gestalts”(Gestalt - a holistic form), the essence of which is that a person tends to perceive the world around him in the form of ordered holistic configurations, and not separate fragments of the world.

Gestalt psychology opposed the principle of dismembering consciousness (structural psychology) into elements, and constructing from them, according to the laws of creative synthesis, complex mental phenomena. Even a peculiar law was formulated, which sounded as follows: "the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts." Initially subject Gestalt psychology was a phenomenal field, in the future there was a rather rapid expansion of this topic, and it began to include questions studying the problems of the development of the psyche, the founders of this direction were also concerned about the dynamics of the needs of the individual, memory and creative thinking of a person.

School of Gestalt Psychology

The school of Gestalt psychology traces its origin (pedigree) from the important experiment of the German psychologist Max Wertheimer - "fi - phenomena", the essence of which is as follows: M. Wertheimer, using special devices - a stroboscope and a tachiostoscope, studied two stimuli in test people (two straight lines) by transmitting them different speeds. And found out the following:

If the interval is large, the subject perceives the lines sequentially
Very short interval - lines are perceived simultaneously
Optimal interval (about 60 milliseconds) - the perception of movement is created (the subject's eyes observed the movement of the line "right" and "left", and not two data lines sequentially or simultaneously)
With the optimal time interval - the subject perceived only pure movement (he realized that there was movement, but without moving the line itself) - this phenomenon was called "phi-phenomenon".

Max Wertheimer stated his observation in the article "Experimental Studies of the Perception of Motion" - 1912.

Max Wertheimer - famous German psychologist, founder of Gestalt psychology, became widely known for his experimental work in the field of thinking and perception. M. Wertheimer (1880 -1943) - was born in Prague, where he received his primary education, studied at the universities - in Prague, in Berlin with K. Stumpf; O. Kulpe - in Würzburg (received in 1904 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy). In the summer of 1910 he moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he became interested in the perception of movement, thanks to which new principles of psychological explanation were subsequently discovered.

His work attracted the attention of many prominent scientists of the time, among them was Kurt Koffka, who participated in Wertheimer's experiments as a test subject. Together, based on the results, on the method of experimental research, they formulated a completely new approach to explaining the perception of movement.

And so Gestalt psychology was born. Gestalt psychology becomes popular in Berlin, where Werheimer returns in 1922. And in 1929 he was appointed professor at Frankfurt. 1933 - emigration to the USA (New York) - work at the New School for Social Research, here in October 1943 he dies. And in 1945 it comes out Book: "Productive Thinking", in which he experimentally explores the process of solving problems from the standpoint of Gestalt psychology (the process of finding out the functional significance of individual parts in the structure of a problem situation is described).

Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) is considered to be the founder of Gestalt psychology. K. Koffka was born and raised in Berlin, where he was educated at the local university. He was always especially interested in the natural sciences and philosophy, K. Koffka was always very inventive. In 1909 he received his doctorate. In 1910 he fruitfully collaborated with Max Wertheimer at the University of Frankfurt. In his article: "Perception: an introduction to Gestalt theory" he outlined the basics of Gestalt psychology, as well as the results of many studies.

In 1921 Koffka published book "Fundamentals of mental development" devoted to the formation of child psychology. The book was very popular not only in Germany, but also in the United States. He was invited to America to lecture at the Universities of Cornell and Wisconsin. In 1927, he received a professorship at Smith College in Northamptop, Massachusetts, where he worked until his death (until 1941). In 1933 Koffka publishes Book "Principles of Gestalt Psychology", which turned out to be too difficult to read, and therefore did not become the main and most complete guide to the study of the new theory, as its author expected.

His research on the development of perception in children revealed the following: the child, as it turned out, actually has a set of not very adequate, vague images of the outside world. This led him to the idea that the combination of the figure and the background against which the given object is shown plays an important role in the development of perception. He formulated one of the laws of perception, which was called "transduction". This law proved that children do not perceive the colors themselves, but their relationships.

Ideas, laws, principles

Key Ideas of Gestalt Psychology

The main thing that Gestalt psychology works with is consciousness. Consciousness is a dynamic whole where all elements interact with each other. A vivid analogue: the harmony of the whole organism - the human body works flawlessly and regularly for many years, consisting of a large number of organs and systems.

Gestalt is a unit of consciousness, an integral figurative structure.
Subject Gestalt psychology is consciousness, the understanding of which should be based on the principle of integrity.
Method Gestalt cognitions are observation and description of the contents of one's perception. Our perception does not come from sensations, since they do not exist in reality, but is a reflection of fluctuations in air pressure - the sensation of hearing.
visual perception - the leading mental process that determines the level of development of the psyche. And an example of this: a huge amount of information obtained by people through the organs of vision.
Thinking is not a set of skills formed through mistakes and trials, but a process of solving a problem, carried out through the structuring of the field, that is, through insight in the present.

Laws of Gestalt psychology

The law of figure and background: figures are perceived by a person as a closed whole, but the background, already as something continuously extending behind the figure.

Transposition law: the psyche does not react to individual stimuli, but to their ratio. The meaning here is this: elements can be combined if there are at least some similar features, such as proximity or symmetry.

law of pregnancy: there is a tendency to perceive the simplest and most stable figure of all possible perceptual alternatives.

The law of constancy: everything strives for permanence.

Law of Proximity: the tendency to combine into a holistic image of elements adjacent in time and space. We all, as we know, find it easiest to combine similar items.

Closure law(filling in the gaps in the perceived figure): when we observe something completely incomprehensible to us, our brain tries with all its might to transform, to translate what we see into an understanding that is accessible to us. Sometimes it even carries a danger, because we begin to see what is not in reality.

Gestalt principles

All the above properties of perception, whether it be a figure, a background, or constants, certainly interact with each other, thereby carrying new properties. This is the gestalt, the quality of the form. Integrity of perception, orderliness are achieved due to the following principles:

Proximity(everything that is nearby is perceived together);
Similarity ( anything that is similar in size, color, or shape tends to be perceived together);
Integrity(perception tends to simplify and integrity);
Closure(acquisition of a shape by a figure);
Adjacency ( proximity of stimuli in time and space. Adjacency can predetermine the perception when one event triggers another);
General area(Gestalt principles shape our daily perception along with learning and past experience).

Gestalt - quality

The term "Gestalt-quality" (German. Gestalt qualification) introduced into psychological science X. Ehrenfels to denote the integral "gestalt" properties of some formations of consciousness. The quality of "transpositivity": the image of the whole remains, even if all parts change in their material, and examples of this:

different tonalities of the same melody,
paintings by Picasso (for example, Picasso's drawing "Cat").

Perception constants

Size Constancy: the perceived size of an object remains constant, regardless of the size of its image on the retina.

Form constancy: the perceived shape of an object is constant, even as the shape changes on the retina. It is enough to look at the page you are reading, first directly, and then at an angle. Despite the change in the "picture" of the page, the perception of its form remains unchanged.

Brightness Constancy: The brightness of an object is constant, even under changing lighting conditions. Naturally, subject to the same illumination of the object and the background.

Figure and background

The simplest perception is formed by dividing visual sensations into an object - figure located on background. Brain cells, having received visual information (looking at the figure), give a more active reaction than when looking at the background. This happens for the reason that the figure is always pushed forward, and the background, on the contrary, is pushed back, and the figure is also richer and brighter than the background in content.

Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy - the direction of psychotherapy, which was formed in the middle of the last century. The term "gestalt" is a holistic image of a certain situation. The meaning of therapy: a person and everything around him is a single whole. The founder of Gestalt therapy is a psychologist Friedrich Perls. Contact and border are the two main concepts of this direction.

Contact - the process of interaction of human needs with the possibilities of his environment. This means that the needs of a person will be satisfied only in the case of his contact with the outside world. For example: to satisfy the feeling of hunger - we need food.

The life of absolutely any person is an endless gestalt, whether it be small or big events. A quarrel with a dear and close person, relationships with dad and mom, children, relatives, friendship, falling in love, talking with work colleagues - all these are gestalts. Gestalt can arise suddenly, at any time, whether we like it or not, but it arises as a result of the appearance of a need that requires immediate satisfaction. Gestalt tends to have a beginning and an end. It ends when satisfaction is reached.

Gestalt Therapy Technique

The techniques used in Gestalt therapy are principles and games.

The most famous are the three below presented games for understanding yourself and the people around you. Games are built on an internal dialogue, the dialogue is conducted between parts of one's own personality (with one's own emotions - with fear, anxiety). To understand this, remember yourself when you experienced a feeling of fear or doubt - what happened to you.

Game technique:

To play, you will need two chairs, they must be positioned opposite each other. One chair is for an imaginary “participant” (your interlocutor), and the other chair is for you, that is, a specific participant in the game. Task: to change chairs and at the same time play the internal dialogue - try to identify yourself as much as possible with different parts of your personality.
Making circles. A direct participant in the game, going in a circle, must turn to fictional characters with questions that excite his soul: how the participants in the game evaluate him and what he himself feels for an imaginary group of people, for each person individually.
Unfinished business. An unfinished gestalt, always needs completion. And how to achieve this, you can learn from the following sections of our article.

All Gestalt therapy is about finishing unfinished business. Most people have a lot of unresolved tasks, plans related to their relatives, parents or friends.

Unfinished Gestalt

It is a pity, of course, that not always the desires of a person come true, but speaking in the language of philosophy: the completion of the cycle can take almost a lifetime. The Gestalt cycle ideally looks like this:

The emergence of a need;
Search for the possibility of its satisfaction;
Satisfaction;
Exit contact.

But there are always some internal or external factors that impede the ideal process. As a result, the cycle remains unfinished. In the case of the complete completion of the process, the gestalt is deposited in consciousness. If the process remains incomplete, it continues to exhaust a person throughout his life, while also delaying the fulfillment of all other desires. Often, incomplete gestalts cause malfunctions in the mechanisms that protect the human psyche from unnecessary overloads.

To complete unfinished gestalts, you can use the advice given to the world a hundred years ago by the wonderful poet, playwright and writer Oscar Wilde:

"To overcome temptation, you need to ... give in to it."

A completed gestalt will certainly bear fruit - a person becomes pleasant, easy to communicate with and begins to be easy for other people. People with incomplete gestalts are always trying to complete them in other situations and with other people - forcibly imposing roles on them in their incomplete gestalt scripts!

A small, simple, effective rule: start by completing the simplest and most surface gestalt . Fulfill your cherished (preferably not serious) dream. Learn to dance the tango. Draw nature outside the window. Take a parachute jump.

Gestalt exercises

Gestalt therapy is a general therapeutic principles that helps to help "himself" learn to understand the mysterious labyrinths of his soul and recognize the sources of the causes of internal contradiction.

The following exercises are aimed: at the simultaneous awareness of oneself and the existence of another. In general, they urge us to step beyond the bounds of the possible. While doing the exercises, try to analyze what you are doing, why and how you are doing it. The main task of these exercises is to develop the ability to find your own estimates.

1. Exercise - "Presence"

Goal: Focus on the sense of presence.

close your eyes
Focus on bodily sensations. Correct posture if necessary
Be natural every moment
Open your eyes, relax them, remaining a frozen body and thoughts
Let your body relax
Concentrate on the feeling of "existence" (feel "I'm here")

After concentrating for some time on the feeling of I, relaxed at the same time and with your mind silent, bring your breath into awareness and shift your attention from “I” to “here”, and mentally repeat “I am here” simultaneously with inhalation, pause, exhalation .

2. Exercise - Feeling "You"

The purpose of the exercise: to be able to experience the state of presence "in another person", that is, to be able to feel the state of "You" in return - the state of "Ego". The exercise is performed in pairs.

Face each other
Close your eyes, take the most comfortable postures.
Wait for a state of complete peace.
open your eyes
Start a wordless dialogue with your partner
Forget about yourself, focus only on the person looking at you.

H. Exercise "I / You"

The exercise is also performed in pairs, you need to sit opposite each other.

Concentrate;
The eyes must be open;
Maintain mental silence, physical relaxation;
Concentrate on both the senses of "I" and "You";
Try to feel the "cosmic depth", infinity.

The purpose of the exercise is to reach the state: "I" - "YOU" - "Infinity".

Gestalt Pictures

Changeling drawings (visual illusions): What do you see? What emotions are conveyed on each side of the pictures? It is not recommended to allow preschool children to view such pictures, as they can cause mental disorders. Below are the famous "dual" images: people, animals, nature. What can you see in each of the pictures?

In addition, the idea of Gestalt psychology underlies such pictures, which are called "drudles". Read more about drudles on.

With this article, we wanted to awaken in each of you the desire to start taking care of yourself - to open up to the world. Gestalt, of course, cannot make you richer, but happier - no doubt.