Gestalt therapy involves focusing on one’s beliefs and thoughts instead of only discussing those feelings. During Gestalt therapy a mental health patient gets to learn through experimentation, which makes the therapy extremely effective. The primary duty of the Gestalt therapists is making the client fully aware of the situation they are in. The techniques used during this psychological therapy concentrate mainly on what is happening in the present instead of things that have already taken place. During a Gestalt therapy that client gets placed in his present state of mind. Below, we have discussed about the main techniques that are used during a Gestalt therapy.
- Chair technique: A client treated with this technique needs to sit on the chair located across another empty chair. The therapist will ask the client to imagine that a person who has caused conflicts in his life is sitting in the empty chair. The counselor will encourage his client to speak to the individual sitting in the other chair and inform him about the feelings he had when being wronged. Next, the client will be asked to switch chairs and respond on behalf of the other person i.e. the person responsible for creating conflicts in his life. This will help in developing emotional interactions between the two of them. Chair technique helps in clarifying personal feelings and thoughts and allows the client to understand the motives of the other individual.
- Exaggeration: During this technique, the client will be asked to exaggerate some specific movements; this will help him in identifying his actual feelings. For example: if the client is speaking about his wife, the therapist will ask him to move and speak exactly the way his wife does. The exaggeration technique will help in intensifying the awareness and feeling of the client regarding the individual he is imitating.
- Guided fantasy: Visualizing an experience might help in allowing a person to identify the exact cause of his conflict. During this procedure, the client will have to close the eyes and fantasize that he is experiencing a triggering event. He will be asked to share all his feelings while experiencing that moment. This sharing with make him aware of the factors leading to the conflicts in his life.
These therapies are effective and have a great contribution to the healing process of the patient.
