- a psychotherapeutic group focused on finding and solving personal problems using the Gestalt therapy method developed by F.S. Perls and his followers.

The external difference between the practice of Gestalt groups and T-groups and meeting groups lies in the fact that the head of the Gestalt group does not work simultaneously with all its participants, but one-on-one with any of its members who voluntarily agreed to become the main character for a while , i.e.

Sit on the so-called "hot seat". The remaining members of the group observe the process of interaction between the leader and the client, who is in the "hot chair". As a result of such observation, they begin to better understand and realize their own problems, identifying themselves with the person with whom the leader is working.

The main concepts used are: figure and background, awareness and focus on the present, maturity, polarities and protective functions. Figure and ground: what at the moment is of the greatest value to a person forms a figure that stands out in the mind against the background of all other circumstances. People organize the information they receive in such a way that its most significant components occupy a central place in their minds, and less significant ones recede into the background.

Polarity is a single evaluative construct or continuum. The poles of such a continuum can be, for example, “bad” and “good”. Through polarities we organize our perception of the external world. Each of us experiences opposite feelings: we love and hate our parents, we feel happy and sad at the same time ... It is important to understand that polarities are not incompatible opposites, but can act as an inseparable unity during the formation of a gestalt and at its completion. By accepting both poles, we become more aware of ourselves and our needs.

Protective functions, they distort or stop contact with a threatening situation. They help to adapt to a variety of situations - when it is impossible to satisfy a need or when there is a conflict between several needs. If a threatening situation persists for a long time, we become afraid to perform even ordinary actions without the use of protection. Then we begin to use protective mechanisms even when there is no real threat.

The procedures characteristic of the GG can, according to their functions, be divided into 6 categories: they are used for:

1. developing the ability of awareness.

2. integration of polarities.

3. facilitate access to feelings.

4. work with fantasies

5. developing a sense of responsibility

6. overcome resistance. The GT procedures are effective, they allow you to quickly identify the features of your Self. The leader of the GT must strike a balance between confrontation, frustration and support.

Development of awareness: awareness of the processes occurring in the inner and outer zones. These exercises focus on the present moment.

Integration of polarities: The formation and completion of gestalts depends on our ability to clearly identify our needs and make contact with our environment. Each contact has two aspects: 1) the ability to clearly distinguish between the environment and one's Self; 2) the ability to highlight different aspects of one's self.

Focusing on Feelings: One of the goals is to analyze your feelings. By denying pain, we bind ourselves with unfinished action. For the formation of the gestalt to complete, the old feelings must find their full expression.

Analysis of dreams and fantasies: Perls considered dreams to be the most spontaneous product of our existence. Theoretically, dream images are fragments of the personality that were rejected by it. HT does not attribute to dreams the same symbolic meaning as they do in psychoanalysis. Work with dreams and fantasies in GG includes two processes: transferring them to real ground and returning the personality of those fragments of it that were projected onto fictional images.

Acceptance of Responsibility: The mechanism of development of any neurotic state is associated with the inability of the individual to take full responsibility for himself.

Overcoming resistance: In GG, resistance is manifested in the refusal to perform the proposed exercises. This should be seen as a sign of a certain relationship between therapist and client. Resistance shows in what ways the participant interferes with himself.

Basic principles of gestalt correction

1. The principle of "here and now." It is a functional concept of what the individual is doing at the moment. For example, the act of remembering a distant past is part of the "now" and what happened a few minutes ago is not "now".

2. The principle of "I-you" expresses the desire for open and direct contact between people.

3. The principle of subjectivization of statements. The psychologist offers the client to replace the objectified forms of the type with subjective ones: "I ...". This helps the client to view himself as an active subject.

4. "Continuum of Consciousness" is a method of leading an individual to direct experience and rejection of verbalization and interpretation. Awareness of feelings, bodily sensations and observation of body movements contribute to the orientation of a person in himself and in his connections with the environment.

Types of work in a gestalt group

1. Dramatization. This group of procedures is based on the development in a dramatized form of a certain aspect of the client's existence, which he reveals in a corrective situation. The beginning of the action may be some statement or gesture of the client that attracted the attention of the psychologist. Subsequently, by analyzing the content contained in the initial statement or gesture, the client, in cooperation with the psychologist, is gradually brought to a complex action in the form of a verbal-motor monodrama aimed at fully revealing the meaning and emotional content. The psychologist helps the client to search for appropriate forms of expression, to take actions stimulated by subsequent experiences, to reveal the meaning and meaning of the whole scene and its individual elements. Dramatization can relate to various contents and aspects of the client's personality, for example, unfinished situations from the past, current situations, desires, attitudes, etc.

3. Work with imagination. There are a number of fantasy exercises in Gestalt therapy that illustrate the projection process and help clients identify and, in some cases, correct fragmentary aspects of their personality. The value of these exercises lies in the fact that patients can touch aspects of their personality that they never fully realized. For example, clients may imagine that they are walking around an old large house, and when they leave it they take something with them. Or imagine that they are flowers and describe their color, shape, inflorescences, the soil on which they grow, how they feel the sun, rain, wind. By identifying with objects, clients project some of their personal aspects onto them.

4. Work with dreams.

5. Homework. The client's homework should focus on a specific area of ​​conflict. The manager can, for example, suggest the following actions to the client.

Classic Gestalt Group
Gronsky Andrey

Gronsky A. Classical gestalt group. // Russian Gestalt (Issue 3) / Ed. N.B. Dolgopolova, R.P. Efimkina. - Novosibirsk: Scientific and Practical Center of Psychology of NSU, 2001. - P. 62-69.

Under the classical Gestalt group, we mean the model of group work developed by F. Perls and actively used by him in the 60s. in Esalen. With this model of work, the focus of the group is on a participant who has entered the “hot chair” and, with the help of a therapist, works with his personal problems, dreams, fantasies, or other psychological material. Despite its limitations, this model is still relevant today, especially in groups with didactic goals, and in groups focused on personal growth. Obviously, with this style of work, the facilitator must be fluent in the practice of conducting individual sessions. However, for group work to be successful, it is equally important for him to be sensitive to group processes, to be able to regulate them and use them for therapeutic purposes. Otherwise, even with the most favorable development of events, the group will turn into only a demonstration of the work of a therapist, a theater of one actor, and its own therapeutic potential. This article is devoted to these skills of the presenter. Dolgopolov with the participation of other trainers, including G. Platonov, as well as on the personal experience of conducting personal growth groups and gestalt groups as part of the first stage of gestalt therapy together with T.P. Pushkina.
To begin with, let us briefly recall the main group phenomena (such as ways of regulating the boundaries of contact and group needs) and analyze their impact on therapeutic work. The phenomena of group life can manifest themselves in any sequence, although, as we know from social psychology, their appearance more often has a certain phase. Let us dare to paraphrase in Gestalt language the well-known classification of the phases of the dynamics of small groups, including the stages of orientation and dependence, conflicts and protest, the development of relations and cooperation, and the stage of purposeful activity. Based on it, we can say that at the very beginning of the group, the phase of orientation and dependence, the introjective way of regulating the boundaries of contact (“Tell us what to do?”) And the projective-retroflexive mechanism (“Is it safe to express yourself here? What does he have (in their) mind? Can the manager and participants be trusted?"). At the same time, behind the defense mechanisms are the needs for security and acceptance. With the further development of the group, the projective way of regulating boundaries, the need to manifest and assert oneself (phase conflicts and protest) comes to the fore. At the third stage (the stage of cooperation), the confluent mechanism comes to the fore - the feeling of We is formed. Participants tend to avoid the manifestation of negative feelings, to avoid conflicts. However, if the confluence becomes excessive, it makes it difficult for the members to distinguish themselves from the group (“We are all together”, “We are all good”). High confluence leads to difficulty in individual self-expression. Further, the methods of border regulation used by the participants acquire a balanced character (the stage of purposeful activity), the expression of both warm and aggressive feelings is allowed in the group, conflicts are not hushed up, but discussed.
When the protective mechanisms are excessively expressed in the first two stages, therapeutic work in the group is blocked - no one wants to go to the “hot chair”, and if someone does, the therapeutic sessions turn out to be lethargic and do not evoke an emotional response from the group. Retroflection makes it impossible for spontaneous expression of feelings both from the side of the client working in the “hot chair” and from the side of the group. On the contrary, projective mechanisms lead to a large number of inadequate feedbacks - either in the form of direct aggression (resulting primarily from unmanifested intra-group relations), or in the form of instructions on how to live. Both the first and second situations are iatrogenic for the client, and although he went to the “hot place”, after him hardly anyone will dare to repeat this “feat” and “rush to the embrasure”. In other words, for this client the group did not fulfill its therapeutic role, but became an additional psychotraumatic agent. High confluence in the second phase makes it difficult to express negative feelings to each other. On the other hand, aggression will most likely be directed at those who are trying to defend their autonomy in the group - those who disagree with group norms risk becoming a "scapegoat". That. excessive expression of defense mechanisms and the leader's inability to cope with them gives the group an anti-therapeutic character.
It should be said about the features of the dynamics of the classical Gestalt group. Since it does not focus directly on the development of intra-group relationships, group needs are expressed indirectly in the course of individual sessions through the identification of participants with the hot seat and in the process of providing group feedback. The individual therapeutic dynamics of the participants is achieved not only through personal work in the "hot chair", but also in connection with the process of identification, and in connection with the acquisition of experience of expressing feelings in the intervals between individual sessions. An indicator of good group dynamics should be considered an increase in the openness of participants, both those who present their problems and those who give feedback. Increased openness is manifested in the presentation of more intimate problems, the expression of a wider range of feelings and with a greater intensity of their manifestation. Overcoming inadequate ways of regulating boundaries mobilizes the group's own therapeutic potential. In our opinion, the therapeutic role of the participants of the classical Gestalt group consists in the emotional acceptance of the one who proposed his problem and in providing him with adequate (accurate and not inflicting unjustified wounds) feedback. That. the facilitator's tasks include working with defense mechanisms that impede the therapeutic process and mobilizing the therapeutic potential of the group. In our opinion, the leader should ask himself the following methodological questions: What protective mechanisms operate in the group? What is the general emotional background in the group? What are the dominant group needs? What actions can be taken to overcome excessive resistance?

Let's consider examples of work with some group phenomena.

Group retroflection

The retroflexive position of the group is a common and normal phenomenon at the beginning of the lessons of a newly formed group or when an unfamiliar leader appears in an already formed, for example, study group, even if its participants as a whole are not characterized by retroflexive behavior. Retroflexive phenomena can persist in a group for a long time in cases where if the facilitator did not work to create an atmosphere of safety or ignored the unmanifested relationship between the participants. Such retroflection can be called situational. The retroflexive way in which boundaries are regulated by a group can persist for a long time if retroflexive behavior is a characteristic feature of a large number of group members. Summing up from individual vectors, it creates a retroflexive character of the whole group.
Situational retroflection at the beginning of group sessions is due to the action of the projective mechanism, and the leader's task is to "expose" negative projections. The main strategy is to help increase the number of contacts within the group, as a result of which negative projections are destroyed. Specific techniques may include encouraging participants to engage in free discussion, group interaction exercises, and pair interaction exercises. In our experience, a good effect for relieving tension at the beginning of the group is the implementation of the “continuum of awareness” exercise in pairs of participants, in addition, it has an important didactic role and sets up participants for self-awareness. Along with this, the fulfillment of the continuum of awareness in the “hot chair” with the help of the facilitator plays a useful function. This procedure helps to reduce the fear of going to the "hot place", in front of the leader and the group, to stimulate the process of awareness of projections. To achieve the latter goal, the facilitator should focus the attention of the working participant not only on internal sensations, but also on the group and its individual members. It also encourages participant feedback. With retroflection associated with unmanifested intra-group relationships, the facilitator can devote part of the time to clarifying them. Its action in this case is described in detail by us in the article "Didactic model of working with a group process".

Retroflection and work in the mode of individual sessions

When working in the mode of individual sessions, the effect of retroflection is two-way. The retroflection of the working participant leads to insufficient expression of feelings, which can cause the group participants to react with boredom and irritation behind it. The retroflexive position of the group prevents the participant who has worked with his problem from receiving sufficient feedback, which may be experienced by him as an emotional rejection. The actions of the facilitator in this case are that he sets an example of emotional expression, actively addresses the participants with a request for feedback (including a structured procedure is possible when participants are invited to speak in a circle), with the help of questions focuses the attention of group members on emotional experiences. The facilitator can encourage the group to ask questions to the working participant (“Did you understand what his problem is? Anyone want to clarify?”). If the questions being asked lead away from the core of the matter (for example, they are addressed exclusively to the intellect and interrupt emotional experiences), then the therapist can comment on this and suggest reformulating them (for example, replacing “why” with “what”). In order to activate the retroflexive participant, the facilitator can ask for feedback from the group during the individual session or draw his attention to the behavior of the group ("Do you notice what is happening with the group? It seems that everyone will soon fall asleep"). To activate the retroflexive group, the facilitator can involve it in action, for example, by encouraging the working member to try out new ways of behavior in interaction with the group (circle technique), involving group members in the performance of roles. Not only individual participants, but the whole group can play any part of the client (for example, his internal accusing voice).
In general, with situational retroflection, the actions of the leader are aimed primarily at understanding and changing the situation that caused it. When working with the characterological retroflection of an individual participant or group, the facilitator uses the tactics of intermittent support and provocation, which causes emotional reactions.

Working with the projective group

The situation in the projective group is opposite to the situation in the retroflexive group. If in a retroflexive group the leader needs to “melt the ice” in order for the group to come to life, then in a projective group he needs to be able to cope with activity that becomes iatrogenic for its members.

Individual work in a projective group

Facilitator's tactics in relation to the introjective group

The group's introjective stance is normal at the beginning of a group exercise cycle. The facilitator uses an introjective mechanism to introduce therapeutic norms into group work. Premature frustration of the introjective mechanism can provoke excessive anxiety and aggression, therefore, at the first stages, the facilitator actively directs the work of the group, providing information, suggesting exercises and forms of work. However, if he performs this role for too long, then this negatively affects the development of the group - the participants do not form a sense of responsibility for their life in the group. If the introjective mechanism manifests itself through the expression of irrational beliefs by the participants (“You must lead us”, “No one can be completely trusted”), the facilitator may confront these beliefs personally or involve the group in the discussion.

Confluent group

It is the facilitator's job to maintain the emphasis on participant autonomy, as well as to protect participants who interrupt the confluence from group aggression. Confluence can appear very early in the development of a group and is a useful phenomenon because provides cohesive forces ("We have common problems. We are similar"). However, if it is excessive, then it blocks the participants from highlighting their individual problems and working with them, the manifestation of authentic feelings. Behind the confluence is anxiety and insecurity, which is most acute at the beginning of the group. Therefore, the facilitator should handle this phenomenon carefully so as not to exceed the group's tolerable threshold of anxiety and, accordingly, not cause an increase in centrifugal forces. At a later stage, when a stable sense of We is formed, an attempt by one of the participants to get out of the habitual merger (for example, disagreement with the norm to speak the language accepted in the group, or a desire to leave the group), leads to the activation of group aggression directed at him. In this case, the facilitator should support his right to autonomy, unless his behavior threatens to disrupt group work. At the same time, it is useful to help the participant become aware of the group's reaction to the violation of conventional norms. The phenomenon of confluence also makes it difficult for participants to understand personal problems, leading to an inability to formulate the dominant problem. In this case, exercises that activate contact with feelings can be useful, whether it be role-playing or meditation exercises that help participants become aware of their problem areas.

Setting value

The interaction in the group is influenced by the spatial arrangement of the participants and the therapist. Placing a hot chair next to the therapist's chair, in contrast to the setting in the "wandering hot spot" type of work method, allows for additional energy mobilization of the client who decides to go to the "hot chair", and also provides more intense contact with the therapist. In particular, the therapist is more able to provide support to the working client.
We are aware of two main options for the setting in the classical Gestalt group (we do not consider the option when the chairs of the therapist and the client stand on the stage in the form of an elevation). In one version, the chairs of the therapist and the client are in a common circle, in the other, the chair of the therapist and the "hot chair" are located in the center of the circle. In our opinion, the first option has the advantages that it is easier for the facilitator to observe the reactions of the participants and maintain contact with the group. In addition, being in a circle, the participant feels more support from the members of the group. When positioned in the center of the circle, the leading and working participant find themselves in a dedicated position, as if in the center of an amphitheater with spectators. This makes it difficult for the leader to contact the group, at least this requires additional bodily movements. In our opinion, this position is more justified in the demonstration group than in the therapeutic group.

Summary

In this article, we have tried to briefly analyze, in terms of the Gestalt approach, the phenomena of group dynamics that can significantly affect the nature of individual therapeutic work in a Gestalt group and the personal therapeutic dynamics of participants. It is obvious that the scheme of analysis of group-dynamic factors proposed in the article and the leader's arsenal of possible tactics are not complete. It would be interesting for us to meet publications touching on this issue.

LITERATURE

1. Gronsky A., Pushkina T. Didactic model of work with a group process. // Russian Gestalt / Ed. N.B. Dolgopolova, R.P. Efimkina. - Novosibirsk: Scientific and Practical Center of Psychology of NSU, 2001. - P. 57-79.

2. Ginger S., Ginger A. Gestalt - contact therapy. - St. Petersburg, 1999.

3. Perls F. Gestalt approach and Witness therapy. - M., 1996.

4. Perls F. Gestalt seminars. Gestalt therapy literally. - M., 1998.
5. Polster I., Polster M. Integrated gestalt therapy. Contours of theory and practice. - M., 1997.6. Spivakovskaya A.S. Prevention of childhood neuroses (complex psychological correction). - M., 1988.7. Enright J. Gestalt leading to enlightenment. - St. Petersburg, 1994.

© Novosibirsk Gestalt Center

VYATKA SOCIO-ECONOMIC INSTITUTE

Department of General Psychology

TEST

ON THE DISCIPLINE "FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY"

GESTALT THERAPY. GESTALT GROUPS

Performed:

Student of the 5th year, group PS - 31

Faculty of Psychology and Law

Perminova N.A.

Checked:

Teacher:

1. History of Gestalt Therapy

2. The main provisions of the theory of F. Perls

3. Gestalt groups in group therapy

Bibliography

1. History of Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt psychology (from German Gestalt - image, structure) is one of the most influential and interesting areas of psychology. It appeared as the opposite of atomism and the mechanism of psychology, as an overcoming of the idea that the images of consciousness are built from the bricks of sensations.

The idea that the whole is not reducible to its constituent parts turned out to be very ancient. It can be traced in the works of many scientists, for example, experimental psychologists.

So the concept of "gestalt" was introduced by H. Ehrenfels in the article "On the quality of form" in 1890 in the study of perceptions, based on the experiments of E. Mach, who studies the perception of sounds and melodies. Ehrenfels singled out a specific sign of Gestalt - the property of transposition (transfer): the melody remains the same when it is translated from one key to another; the gestalt of the square is preserved regardless of the size, position, color of its constituent elements, etc. However, Ehrenfels did not develop the Gestalt theory and remained on the positions of associationism.

In 1912, in Frankfurt am Main, under the leadership of M. Wertheimer (1880-1943), a new psychological school emerged - Gestalt psychology. It included well-known psychologists W. Koehler (1887-1967) and K. Koffka (1886-1941).

An experimental laboratory was created at the school, where experiments were carried out on animals. The processes of perception and sensation were studied.

In the experiments of M. Wertheimer on perception, it was found that in the composition of consciousness there are integral formations (gestalts) that cannot be decomposed into sensory primary elements, i.e. mental images are not complexes of sensations. M. Wertheimer became an adherent of the active essence of consciousness: consciousness is active, through certain actions it builds its images of the external world, based on the initially existing structures - gestalts.

Gestalt psychologists came up with a new understanding of the subject and method of psychology: it is important to start with a naive picture of the world, to study experiences, phenomena as they are, to study experience that has not been analyzed, retaining its integrity. In this structure, individual elements stand out, they really exist. But they are secondary and stand out on the basis of their complex functional significance in this whole, Koffka wrote that one of the main mistakes of traditional psychology is that it divided the structure into elements, thereby depriving it of essential properties.

The whole cannot be decomposed into elements, because then it ceases to exist. It cannot be described by enumeration of elements, it must be treated as such. Direct naive experience does not give individual colors, colorful dots, individual sounds, individual smells, but represents objects, things that have colors, shapes, they sound, emit smells.

The main principles on which the methodological approach of Gestalt psychology was based - the concept of mental field, isomorphism and phenomenology .

The concept of mental field was taken from physics, in which the most important discoveries were made in those years. This idea became the leading one for Gestalt psychologists, who came to the conclusion that mental structures are located in the form of various schemes in the mental field.

Isomorphism of mental gestalts- the processes that occur in the cerebral cortex are similar to those that occur in the outside world and are recognized by us in our thoughts and experiences as one-to-one systems. Therefore, the scheme of the problem, which is given in the external field, can help the subject solve it faster or slower, depending on whether it facilitates or hinders its restructuring.

The Gestaltists proposed phenomenological method, aimed at a direct and natural description by the observer of the content of his perception, his experience. From the very beginning, Gestalt psychologists rejected the thesis about the origin of perception from sensations, declaring sensation "a fiction created in psychological writings and laboratories."

Gestaltists did not take into account the fact that the subject can become aware of his experiences, the process of solving the problem, but for this he needs to renounce past experience, clear his mind of all layers associated with cultural and personal traditions. This was connected with the underestimation of personal experience by Gestaltists, the assertion of the priority of the momentary situation, the principle of "here and now" in any intellectual processes. The exception was the personality studies conducted by K. Levin, in which the concept of a time perspective was introduced, however, taking into account mainly the future, the purpose of the activity, and not past experience.

The theory of K. Levin was formed under the influence of the successes of the exact sciences, in particular, the discoveries of the field in physics and personal acquaintance with the school of Gestalt psychology and its founders. The closeness of their positions is connected both with general views on the nature of the mental and with attempts to choose physical science as the objective basis of experimental psychology. However, unlike his colleagues, Levin focuses not on the study of cognitive features, but on the study of human personality.

Within the framework of Gestalt psychology, K. Levin developed the “psychological field theory”. Its meaning lies in the fact that the "field of behavior" is determined by the stresses that arise when the balance between a person and the environment is disturbed. These relationships give rise to physical and mental changes that are aimed at getting rid of stress. As part of his theory, K. Levin pointed out the following points:

1. the organism and the environment are one;

2. each of the objects surrounding a person has a certain charge - valence;

3. for each person, this valency has its own sign;

4. By influencing a person, objects cause needs in him - energy charges that cause tension in a person;

5. a person strives for relaxation, therefore, unfinished and unfinished actions are stored in memory for a long time, completed ones are forgotten faster;

6. motivation is created not only by biological, but also by social needs;

Also, for the first time, K. Levin pointed to the concept of “level of claims”. According to K. Levin, the group is one whole and there are certain laws of group dynamics, as well as the phenomena of leadership and leadership.

K. Levin's approach was distinguished by two main points:

1. the transition from the idea that the energy of the motive is closed within the body, to the idea of ​​the "organism-environment" system Man and his environment acted as an inseparable dynamic whole.

2. in contrast to the previously existing interpretation of motivation as a biological stimulus, Levin showed that motivational tension can be created both by the individual himself and by other people. Thus, motivation received a psychological status.

Gestalt psychology was the most productive solution to the problem integrity in German and Austrian psychology, as well as philosophy of the late XIX - early XX century. She proposed a new understanding of the mental in a person, it consisted in the fact that there is some initial ordering of sensory-intellectual structures.

Basic Laws of Gestalt Psychology

In the studies of Gestalt psychologists, 114 psychological laws of perception were discovered, which have a physiological basis, i.e. due to congenital features of the central nervous system:

apperception (dependence of perception on past experience, on the general content of a person's mental activity);

Interaction between figure and background

Integrity and structure of perception;

pregnancy (the desire for simplicity and orderliness of perception);

Constancy of perception (the constancy of the image of an object, despite the change in the conditions of its perception);

The phenomenon of "proximity" (the tendency to combine elements that are adjacent in time and space);

The phenomenon of "closing" (tendencies to fill in the gaps between the elements of the perceived figure);

The ideas of Gestalt psychology affected perception, memory, personality and interpersonal relationships. They combined psychology and natural science research. The 1920s were marked by serious experimental achievements in Gestalt psychology. They concerned mainly the processes of perception.

One of the basic laws of Gestalt psychology is the LAW OF FIGURE AND BACKGROUND. . In the process of self-regulation, a healthy person from the entire abundance of information chooses exactly the one that is most significant for him at the moment. This information Gestalt psychologists called a figure. The rest of the information is temporarily relegated to the background and forms the background.

As a figure, there may be some desire, feeling or thought that at the moment prevails over all others. As soon as the need is satisfied, the gestalt ends, loses its significance and recedes into the background, giving way to a new gestalt. This, in the understanding of the Gestaltists, is the natural rhythm of the formation and completion of Gestalts.

The next basic law of Gestalt psychology is the wholeness of perception - this is a property of perception, consisting in the fact that any object, and even more so a spatial object situation, is perceived as a stable systemic whole, even if some parts of this whole are not currently can be observed (for example, the back of an object).

The external difference between the practice of Gestalt groups and T-groups and meeting groups lies in the fact that the head of the Gestalt group does not work simultaneously with all its participants, but one-on-one with any of its members who voluntarily agreed to become the main character for a while , i.e. sit on the so-called "hot seat". The remaining members of the group observe the process of interaction between the leader and the client, who is in the "hot chair". As a result of such observation, they begin to better understand and realize their own problems, identifying themselves with the person with whom the leader is working.

The key concepts of Gestalt therapy are awareness and focus on the present. Self-regulation depends on a person's awareness of what is happening to him now, and on the ability to live with current worries. Participants in Gestalt groups are required not to refer to past experiences and not to think about the future.

The main forms of work of Gestalt groups:

1. Client-centered therapy.

2. Group-centered therapy.

3. "Workshop".

The principles and technical procedures used in Gestalt Correction are related to the present.

Basic principles of gestalt correction

1. The principle of "here and now." It is a functional concept of what the individual is doing at the moment. "Here and now" is the most essential moment of the psychological process, when the psychologist encourages the client to stay in the stream of actual experiences, without leaving it, and thereby learning to correlate his experience of the situation with the situation itself.

2 . Principle "I-you" expresses the desire for open and direct contact between people. Often members of the correctional group send their statements not to the address, not to a specific participant, but to the side or into the air, which reveals their fear and unwillingness to speak directly and unambiguously.

3. The principle of subjectivization of statements.

4. "Continuum of consciousness" is an integral part of all technical procedures, but can be used as a separate method. This is a concentration on the spontaneous flow of the content of experiences, a method of leading the individual to direct experience and the rejection of verbalization and interpretation. Awareness of feelings, bodily sensations and observation of body movements contribute to the orientation of a person in himself and in his connections with the environment.

Types of work in a gestalt group

1. Dramatization. This group of procedures is based on the development in a dramatized form of a certain aspect of the client's existence, which he reveals in a corrective situation.

2. Direction of behavior. In some situations, the psychologist suggests performing certain actions, gives instructions and directions on what can be done at the moment.

3. Fantasy work. In Gestalt therapy, there are a number of fantasy exercises that illustrate the projection process and help clients identify and, in some cases, correct fragmentary aspects of their personality. The value of these exercises lies in the fact that patients can touch aspects of their personality that they never fully realized.

4. Working with dreams . Gestalt therapists pay great attention to work on dreams. With the help of "working through" the individual elements of the dream by identifying with them and uttering monologues on their behalf, the hidden content of the dream is revealed through its experience.

5. Homework. The actions of the participants and the leader during the next sessions do not create the conditions necessary for profound changes. They are a source of important experiences that mobilize the process of change, but they require continuation and development in the normal conditions of everyday life. Therefore, cooperation with the client continues outside the group.

The main techniques used in the work of Gestalt groups.

1. Expansion of awareness. Involves a better understanding of a person of what is happening in him and around him. To do this, group members are usually divided into pairs and describe the state of their consciousness to a partner during communication with him.

2. Integration of opposites. Understanding and recognition of the fact that each person combines various, complementary individual qualities of a positive and negative nature, such as, for example, honesty - dishonesty; adherence to principles - unscrupulousness, etc. The definition of the dominant need depends on the ability to come into contact with the environment, which makes it possible to satisfy it.

3. Increasing attention to feelings. Increasing attention to feelings helps participants become more aware and understand their own experiences.

4. Working with dreams, fantasies, dreams. Working with dreams is an opportunity to better appreciate yourself as a person.

5. Acceptance of responsibility. Exercises aimed at acceptance of responsibility themselves, help group members gain confidence, believe in themselves and their abilities.