The Psychology Book (36 page)

the myriad methods that the

that these can be explored

do. Lastly, the ego—like a decision-

mind uses to prevent anxiety from

through analysis.

making adult—controls impulses

becoming overwhelming. Freud

and forms judgments on how to act;

described the many and creative

1976
American psychologist

it is the moderator, suspended

defense mechanisms we employ,

Jane Loevinger says that

between the id and the superego.

from humor and sublimation to

the ego develops in stages

Austrian psychoanalyst Anna

denial and displacement. Her theory

throughout a person’s life,

Freud expanded upon her father’s

of ego defenses was to prove a rich

as a result of an interaction

ideas, drawing attention to the

seam of thought within the humanist

between the inner self and

formation of the superego and its

therapies of the 20th century. ■

the outer environment.

See also:
Sigmund Freud 92–99 ■ Melanie Klein 108–109 ■ Eric Berne 337

CAN BE TOLERATED

TRUTH

ONLY IF YOU DISCOVER IT

YO

FRITZ PE U

RLS ( R

1893 SEL

–1970)

F

114 FRITZ PERLS

IN CONTEXT

People believe that their viewpoint

of the world is the
objective
truth
.

APPROACH

Gestalt therapy

BEFORE

1920s
Carl Jung says that

But human experience is colored by the

personal “lenses”
through which we view it.

people need to connect with

their inner selves.

1943
Max Wertheimer explains

the Gestalt idea of “productive

Because it is our perception that

thinking,” which is distinctive

shapes our experience
…

for using personal insight.

1950
In
Neurosis and Human

Growth,
Karen Horney

identifies the need to reject the

…it is possible to
change

…we must
discard the

“shoulds” imposed by others.

our inner realities
,

“given” values
of society

and ultimately our

and family, and discover our

AFTER

external realities.

own, true values.

1961
Carl Rogers says that it

is the client, not the therapist,

who knows what form and

direction therapy should take.

We become aware that we are

1973
American self-help

building our own world
, or “truth.”

author Richard Bandler, one of

the founders of Neurolinguistic

Programming (NLP), uses

many of the Gestalt therapy

Truth can only be tolerated

techniques in his new therapy.

if you discover it yourself.

I
n the 18th century, the German range of possibilities—is coded rather than acknowledging the role philosopher Immanuel Kant

by the individual “lenses” through

of perception and its influence in

revolutionized our thinking

which we view it. We do not

creating our perspective, together

about the world by pointing out that

automatically absorb all the sounds,

with all the ideas, actions, and

we can never really know what

feelings, and pictures of the world;

beliefs that stem from it. For Perls,

is “out there” beyond ourselves,

we scan and select just a few.

the only truth one can ever have is

because our knowledge is limited

Fritz Perls, one of the founders

one’s own personal truth.

to the constraints of our minds and

of Gestalt therapy, pointed out that

senses. We don’t know how things

this means our personal sense

Accepting responsibility

are “in themselves,” but only as we

of reality is created through our

Perls developed his theories in

experience them. This view forms

perception; through the ways in

the 1940s, when the dominant

the basis of Gestalt therapy, which

which we view our experiences, not

psychoanalytical view was that the

says that it is vitally important to

the events themselves. However, it

human mind could be reduced to a

remember that the complexity of

is easy to forget this, or even fail to

series of biological drives seeking

the human experience—with its

recognize it. He says we tend to

fulfilment. This approach was far

tragedies and traumas, inspirations

mistake our viewpoint of the world

too rigid, structured, simplified,

and passions, and its nearly infinite

for the absolute, objective truth,

and generalized for Perls; it did not

PSYCHOTHERAPY 115

See also:
Søren Kierkegaard 26–27 ■ Carl Jung 102–107 ■ Karen Horney 110 ■ Erich Fromm 124–29 ■

Carl Rogers 130–37 ■ Abraham Maslow 138–39 ■ Roger Shepard 192 ■ Jon Kabat-Zinn 210 ■ Max Wertheimer 335

allow for individual experience,

The Gestalt prayer
was written by Fritz Perls

which Perls held paramount. Nor

to encapsulate Gestalt therapy. It emphasizes the

did its analysts enable their patients

importance of living according to our own needs,

and not seeking fulfilment through others.

to recognize and take responsibility

for the creation of their experience.

The psychoanalytical model operates

on the understanding that patients

are at the mercy of their unconscious

conflicts until an analyst enters to

save them from their unconscious

I do my thing and

drives. Perls, on the other hand,

you do your thing.

You are you, and I

feels it is essential for people to

I am not in this

am I, and if by

understand the power of their

world to live up to

chance we find each

own roles in creation. He wants

your expectations,

other, it’s beautiful.

to make us aware that we can

And you are not in

If not, it can’t

change our realities, and in fact

this world to live up

be helped.

are responsible for doing so. No

to mine.

one else can do it for us. Once

we realize that perception is the

backbone of reality, each of us

is forced to take responsibility

for the life we create and the way

we choose to view the world.

Acknowledging power

Gestalt theory uses the tenets of

our external environment. Once

to maintain emotional stability

individual experience, perception,

we understand that our perception

regardless of the environment as

and responsibility—both for one’s

shapes our experience, we can

“homeostasis,” using a biological

thoughts and feelings—to encourage

see how the roles we play and the

term normally used to describe the

personal growth by establishing

actions we take are tools, which

maintenance of a stable physical

a sense of internal control. Perls

we can then use consciously for

environment within the body. It

insists that we can learn to control

changing reality. Control of our own

implies a fine balancing of many

our inner experience, regardless of

inner psychic environment gives us

systems, and this is how Gestalt

power through two layers of choice:

therapy views the mind. It looks for

in how to interpret the environment,

ways of balancing the mind through

and how to react to it. The adage,

the many thoughts, feelings, and

“no one can make you angry other

perceptions that make up the whole

than yourself,” perfectly exemplifies

human experience. It views a person

this philosophy, and its truth can

holistically and places the focus

Learning is

be seen played out in the different

firmly on the whole, not the parts.

the discovery that

ways that people react to traffic

Perls saw his task as helping his

something is possible.

jams, bad news, or personal

patients to cultivate an awareness

Fritz Perls

criticism, for example.

of the power of their perceptions,

In Gestalt therapy, a person is

and how they shape reality (or what

forced to take direct responsibility

we describe as “reality”). In this

for how he or she acts and reacts,

way, his patients became able

regardless of what may seem to be

to take control of shaping their

happening. Perls refers to this ability

interior landscape. In taking ❯❯