Philosophy
Gestalt Therapy In Comparison to Reality
Therapies are very important in treating or managing the body and mind functions so as to be able to carry out the daily activities. Basically, several therapies exists most of them being developed from the related theories concerning normal human function. This paper will address the comparison between Gestalt therapy and the Reality Therapy. Gestalt therapy incorporates the body and the mind aspects by emphasizing on the awareness and integration. Reality on the other hand helps the client to learn how to control or manage the world around them and the way to ensure they meet their individual needs.
The Philosophy
Phenomenological descriptions of the Gestalt therapy is that, it’s an existential therapy that was established in the 1940s by the Perls, Fredrick and Laura. This therapy is based on the Gestalt theory which was a result of a concrete study by some psychologists with great consideration for logic and epistemology. The underlying situation was that people shift from their daily lives to that science intense world and not unusually supposes that in during that transition there will be deeper understanding of the basics, that the transition marks advancement (Lamers & Roelofs 2007). The Gestalt theory does not take simplicity of science in finding solution rather it focuses on the basic and concrete process of research which does not just present an outcome but a device that leads to discoveries.
Gestalt therapy teaches both medical providers and patients the phenomenological process of creating or finding awareness through perceiving, acting and feelings that are differentiated from the interpretation and reshuffling the pre-existing mind-set (Wiederhold et al 1998). Reason, rationalization and interpretation are regarded as less dependable than the direct feelings and perceptions. Patients and service providers in this type of therapy often engage in dialogue, this means free communicating their phenomenological perspectives. Their differences in perception therefore becomes the focus of the experiment and continued discussion, the objective is for the client to become aware of what they do, how they do it and how change can come while at the same time find out how to accept and think of themselves as worthy (Lamers & Roelofs 2007). This therapy is more focused on the process than the content. The stress is what is happening, perceived and felt at that instance rather than what was, could have been, will be or should be.
Reality therapy is derived form the choice theory, previously called the control theory. Doctor Glasser has been encouraging people to learn and use this therapy since 1965. The successful application of the therapy is greatly reliant on a strong comprehension of the Choice Theory. Considering that there is an inadequate even a non-existent association between among individuals needed, a great amount of problems arises from this (Wiederhold et al 1998). Hence the objective of the reality therapy is to assist individuals to reconnect rather associate again. In order to be able to start off such association, that counselor offering the therapy often concentrates on the current issues rather that discussing what could have been or what happened in the past since most problems result form the current rambling relationships.
Basically from the way Glasser present the therapy, people with unbecoming or inappropriate behavior do not in fact need to be helped to get defense for their character, rather they need to be assisted to appreciate their behavior as being improper and then learning how to behave in a better way, a manner that is civilized and logical (Glasser 1994). Basically what Glasser means is that people need to live in world that is filled with other humans and that every one of them has to learn the way of satisfying his/her own needs without encroaching other people’s needs (Wiederhold et al 1998).Choice theory gives the basis of the therapy by insisting on the concept that the human brains are managed by a control mechanism. For that reason, when the brain is in control, then all the behavior is to fulfill the needs established in the genetic composition of the system (Glasser 1994). People are not entirely internally enthused in contrast to the idea of the majority of psychological systems which are a few of externally motivated behaviorism, but all the character is for the reason of satisfying need fabricated into the system.
Key Concepts and Principles
The Gestalt therapy incorporates the functioning of the body and the concept of thinking by emphasizing on association. Integrating the feelings, behaving and thinking is the rationale of the therapy (Glasser 1994). The client is perceived as having the ability to identify some aspects of his/her earlier life that have influenced the current character. The patient is made aware of individual accountability, and how to keep away from problems, to complete unfinished subjects, to experience issues in positive perceptions and the current awareness (Lamers & Roelofs 2007). It’s the duty of the care provider or counselor to assist and guide the patient to awareness of instant by instant getting the experience of life. Then brave the patient to accept taking the responsibility of managing themselves rather than relying on others to take care of them. The counselor may confront, carry out dream analysis, and carry out conversations (dialoguing) with polarities or initiates role playing to achieve the goals. This could include treating a crisis, marital intervention child behavior, training mental health experts (Sharps & Hess 2007).
This discipline helps individuals to view their lives from another point of view different from the usual way of thought so that they can be able to see the difference between the real thing being perceived and the feelings in the present state of affairs and what is residue from the past. Gestalt therapy is used for treating and managing problems that are subjective and also those perceived to be objective as actual and significant information (Lamers & Roelofs 2007). This is in contrast with methods that manages patients or use intervention for what the patients experience as simple appearances and then uses interpretation to find the actual sense.The core concept of the Gestalt intervention is individual self as a scheme of contacts. Perls emphasized on the individual autonomy, reaction, dialogue and freedom. The self is the middle concern acting both is active and passive. Essentially, creating awareness without necessarily developing the systematic exploration is not customarily adequate to build up an insight. Hence the therapy also relies on experimentation to develop that insight. Becoming aware in this case is critical (Sharps & Hess 2007).
Just as patients are taught to accept themselves, in Gestalt therapy, reality therapy encourages that the pastiest learn to control the world around them in order to be able to satisfy their needs. There is a common believe in this therapy that the patient can ands will mange to transform his/her life (Sharps & Hess 2007). The counselor focuses on questions like what and why concerning the character of the patient during the evaluation; this identifies what the patient is currently doing and assists them to find a way to assess it. A behavioral and emotional concern is a straight outcome of the patients believe and thoughts concerning themselves. Gestalt also seeks to get the patient to accept their current situation (Glasser 1994). Counselor in the case of reality therapy will evaluate the character of the patient and bring up a challenge to them to become more efficient in fulfilling their needs and act more responsibly (Brown2003). Glasser William insisted that the Reality therapy should be built on the following blocks;
- Concentrating on the current and avoiding discussion of the past
- Encouraging the individuals to be their own judges by looking at what or who they are and what they are doing as compared to what they need to do.
- The counselor plays the role of assisting the individuals to develop specific practicable plans to be successful in fulfilling their needs and then follow up by assisting the individual to evaluate their progress (Sharps & Hess 2007).
Glasser initially referred to his work as the Control Theory and the 1990s this had dramatically evolved to the Choice theory. The success of the therapy is dependent on the familiarity of the counselor with the therapy and knowledge of the Choice theory. The par of the patient is just a section of the Reality therapy (Brown2003). The core concept of this therapy is that the past event in term of character or event does not matter; people can still make right choices for the future. People take control of their character and accountability for what they do. Living now should determine the next choice.
Strategies and Goals
The basic objective of the two therapies is to the change the way the patient perceives some situations in life. This brings some realities to become more apparent to the client. Appropriate mechanisms are then put in place to ensure that the patient can understand the current situation (Brown2003). The major objective of the Gestalt therapy is creating the clients awareness concerning their behavior and the surrounding for instance their job, their families and school work. The therapy addresses the current situation that what happened in the past (Brown2003). The therapy aims to achieve the holism – this is where the whole personage is addressed; figure – creation process- this is when an individual organizes the surroundings at each instance; organismic self – regulation – this is the creative change that a person experiences; the now – this is the concept of dealing with current issues.
Reality therapy like the Gestalt assist people in transformation and changing the way of thinking and character is the central goal of this therapy. Achieving responsible character means that the behavior will not affect others capacity to accomplish their needs (Lamers & Roelofs 2007). There is focusing on the several aspects of character, things being done, thoughts, what is being said and internal feelings. Therapy is based on the fact that almost all types of character are from choice, the current notion affects current behavior and people generally desire love (Brown2003). The strategy of ensuring that the goals are met in this case include empowering the patient to develop better means of satisfying the basic needs and also to give confidence to the patient to develop satisfying relationships (Sharps & Hess 2007).
Conclusion
Behavioral Therapeutic management or treatment is very important since when a patient suffers behavioral problems. No drugs can get him/her to act correct. Slow transformation of behaviors becomes the best alternative of ensuring that the individual is healed there are several therapies origination from different theories. Gestalt and the reality therapies all focus on the current thoughts rather than a discussion of the past. This helps the client to determine the next action based on what he/she is experiencing, thinking or feeling at the movement. When this is achieved effectively, Behavior problems can be solved
Resources
Brown, J. (2003). Buber & Gestalt. The Gestalt Journal, Vol 3, No.2, p.45.
Glasser, W. (1994). Reality Therapy. A Realistic Approach to the youthful criminal. Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 10, No. 2, 134-146
Lamers M.J & Roelofs. (2007). Role of Gestalt Groups in Selective Attention. Perception and Psychophysics 69: 8 pp 1305
Sharps M.J & Hess A. B. (2007). Mindless Decision Making and Environmental Concerns. Gestalt process and Context reasoning. Psychology Journal 141; 5 pp 526 – 538
Wiederhold B.K Gevirtz R & Mark D. (1998). Psychology and Behavior. Summer. Vol: 1 Issue 2
