GESTALT Play Therapy | FELICIA CARROLL, LMFT, RPT-S & VALENTE OROZCO, LCSW, PPS, RPT-S
with her students, including clay, puppets, sand tray, drawing, to support greater awareness and integration. One of many originators of Gestalt Therapy, Frederick Perls, MD (1975), wrote, “The criterion of a successful treatment is the achievement of that amount of integration that leads to its own development” (pp. 52-53). In healthy growth and development, the child’s behavior is purposeful, balanced, flowing from one experience to another. That is, it is integrated.
I
Oaklander, like many child therapists before her, applied theoretical and clinical concepts to the endeavor of therapy with children (Carroll, 2009a). In her book, Windows to our Children: A Gestalt Therapy Approach to Children and Adolescents, Oaklander (1978) presented the Gestalt approach to therapy with children and has inspired child therapists internationally.
From the Gestalt perspective, the symptoms that bring a child
into therapy are indications of the self- regulation and in being
supported in his worlds of family, school, and community.
Basic Tenets The principles of Gestalt play therapy are rooted in neuroscience, of human development. Two major tenets that inform the therapy process are elaborated. Others are discussed throughout this article.
36 | PLAYTHERAPY September 2019 |
www.a4pt.org
n the 1970s, Violet Oaklander, PhD, was a classroom teacher of emotionally disturbed children while she trained to become a Gestalt therapist. She used creative modalities
Organismic Regulation Humans are organisms that strive for life and connection. The organism, using the functions of contact (e.g., senses, movement, emotion, and problem solving), directs its awareness towards identifying a need/want. With adequate self-support and conditions. Yet, the child can interrupt this natural process to adapt to the demands of socialization, which can result
in symptoms.
The therapist attends to the child’s adaptations of somatic states, emotional expression, and problem-solving skills. She provides support for him to re-experience his process of organismic regulation. As the therapy progresses, the child becomes more integrated with a greater sense of well-being and aliveness (Oaklander, 1978, 2006).
Dialogic Process Gestalt play therapy is a mutually engaging relationship. The dialogic process (Carroll, 2009b; Oaklander, 1978, 2006) involves a relationship where child and therapist are impacted by each other. This relationship looks like an improvisational dance—spontaneous, interchanging roles, responsiveness. It requires the fully engaged presence of the therapist and the capacity to respond to her felt sense of the child’s experience as expressed in language, creative meaning of these experiences together, the therapy process deepens.
Psychopathology and Client Dysfunction The Gestalt play therapist observes and learns how the child attempts to get relational, emotional, physical, social, and intellectual needs/wants met. The child’s developmental history is needed to understand the context and progression of the child’s symptoms (Siegel, 1999, 2011). Current relational and self-supports are assessed. From the Gestalt perspective, the symptoms that bring a child into regulation and in being supported in his worlds of family, school, and community. The child’s process towards growth and development
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
