Experiential Therapy

Experiential Therapy

Theory Foundation

■ Modern person has means to live but often has no meaning to live for- this is the malady of our times, meaninglessness or existential vacuum
■ Purpose of therapy is to challenge people to find meaning and purpose through suffering,
work and love

■ It takes courage to BE 
o Our choices determine the kind of person we are
o We are in constant struggle with
● Our want to grow toward maturity and independence
● Realizing expansion and growth is often a painful process
● Struggling between security and dependence and delights and pain of growth

■ Phenomenological approach
o People’s perceptions or subjective realities are considered to be valid data for investigation
o Phenomenological discrepancies
● Two people perceiving the same situation differently

■ Non-Deterministic approach
o Existentialist argue that it is an oversimplification to view people as controlled by fixed physical laws
o Encouragement of theories that consider individual initiative, creativity, and self fulfillment
o Focus on active, positive aspects of human growth

■ I-Though dialogue vs. I-It Dialogue

o I-though
● human confirms the other person as being of unique valued
● Direct mutual relationship

o I-it
● Person uses others but does not value them for themselves
● Utilitarian
o Self disclosing of therapist emotional response to client’s demonstration of valuing of client’s feelings and perspective.

Gestalt Therapy 4

Gestalt Therapy

Five Major Channels of Resistance

■ Introjection
o Tendency to uncritically accept other’s beliefs and standards without assimilating them to make them congruent with who one is
o Passively incorporate what the environment provides, spending little time on becoming clear about what we need or want.

■ Projection
o Disown aspects of self by assigning them o the environment
o Trouble distinguishing between inside and outside world
o Disown attributes of self that are inconsistent with self image and put onto other people
o Avoid taking responsibly of feelings and person one really is
o Keeps self powerless to initiate change

■ Deflection
o Process of distraction
o Keeps difficult to sustain sense of contact with reality
o Overuse of humor, abstract generalization, and questions rather than statements, resulting in emotional depletion
o Diminished emotional experience by seeking through and for others

■ Retroflection
o Do things to self rather than others

■ Confluence
o Blurring differentiation between self and environment
o Fitting in, absence of conflict, belief all people feel and think the same way
o High need for acceptance and approval
o Stay safe, never express own feelings
o Therapist uses W’s questions to get client to open up

Other Forms of Resistance

■ Control of environment o Resistance to contact
o Boundary disturbance

■ Blocks to energy manifested by
o Tension in part of body
o By posture
o Keeping body tight and closed
o Not breathing deeply
o Looking away from people when speaking
o Numbing feelings
o Speaking with restricted voice