gestalt

The psychopathology of boredom

Bristol Therapist BlogApril 3, 20172Comments

Psychopathology is a great word. It has three parts: 'psyche' (the soul), 'pathos' (suffering), and the suffix 'ology' (the study of). If you're ever writing about something in the context of its impact on human suffering, you can't go far wrong by dropping in psychopathology (incidentally, given those meanings, that makes the meaning of 'psychopath'…

EU Referendum: 3 gestalt therapy exercises for undecided voters

Bristol Therapist BlogJune 22, 20160Comments

Tomorrow (Thursday 23rd June 2016), millions of us will go to a polling station, and decide the fate of our nation by putting a cross in one of two boxes in the much anticipated EU Referendum. Polling puts the result on a knife-edge, which means that the votes of undecided voters will decide the result. I've…

Simple questions, complex therapy

Bristol Therapist BlogFebruary 10, 20160Comments

The most elaborate of complexities can arise from the most elegant of simplicities. In gestalt, simplicity is achieved and maintained through a rigorous attention to the present moment, the legendary here and now. Gestalt therapy can be stripped back to three basic questions: 1. What are you aware of now? 2. What do you need now? 3. What does…

introjection visualised by jennydrewsomething

Shoulds: the internalised wants of other people

Bristol Therapist BlogJanuary 21, 20130Comments

One of the arch-villains of gestalt therapy is the word “should”. If you’re in therapy with a gestalt therapist, and you start talking about things you should be doing, chances are your therapist’s self-talk has started going, “holy shit! Introjection at twelve o’clock! Kill it! KILL IT WITH FIRE!”. This is because “should” is treated as…

Towards an evidence based gestalt therapy: the gestalt CORE project

Bristol Therapist BlogFebruary 5, 20120Comments

The latest issue of The British Gestalt Journal features an article writing up the findings of the gestalt CORE project (hereafter Stevens et al). In their own words: This is the account of a three-year research project within the Gestalt therapy community in the UK. It is an example of clinically-based, mostly quantitative research carried out…

Dream a little dream of me

Bristol Therapist BlogApril 15, 20110Comments

I’ve been quiet on the blogging front of late. This is because I’ve been directing most of my spare time and energy into a research project exploring the gestalt approach to working with dreams. Not only am I fascinated with the subject matter but I’ve also become somewhat entranced by the research process itself. Lots…