Gestalt therapy emphasizes the significance of restoring the wholeness of a person’s disembodied parts to create integration and balance.  These “disembodied parts” are the source of a person’s difficulties in life, and bringing awareness to this imbalance supports change.  Perls is quoted by Seligman (2010) describing the human organism, “We have not a liver or heart.  We are liver and heart and brain yet, even this is wrong – we are not a summation of parts but a coordination of the whole.  We do not have a body, we are a body, we are somebody.”  In Gestalt theory and practice, the body is a huge predictor of what is happening in the here and now and how the experience in counseling may translate into their behaviors in their everyday lives.  Gestalt techniques use observable behaviors in the here and now to bring awareness to the client of their emotions and thoughts so that they can reconnect with their body.  Gestalt theorists believe that all the qualities that a client  needs to be successful are within, but they sometimes may need help.  Through awareness and reconnecting with oneself in the here and now growth can occur. Continue reading →