Gestalt Therapy “Cycle of Experience”
October 20th, 2009 |
By William “Sandy” Pryor, MA, LPC, MT-BC, Gestalt Therapy Topic Expert Contributor
Click here to contact Sandy and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile
When I tell colleagues that I am a Gestalt therapist, I generally hear “so you hit pillows” or “so you just talk to an empty chair.” The general lack of understanding of basic underlying theory and guiding philosophy is surprising given the approach’s popularity and influence over that last 60 years. In this article I would like to describe and discuss a concept that is at the heart of Gestalt therapy. This concept is the Gestalt “cycle of experience.”
In Gestalt Therapy, the self is not seen as a static thing but rather as a continually evolving process that is defined and illuminated by how the organism (client/person) makes contact with his or her environment. This process, when completed in a healthy and unimpeded way, generally follows a process called the “cycle of experience.” This cycle is a basic map for how a person becomes aware of a need, mobilizes to meet that need, and achieves satisfaction. The key phases of the process are sensation, awareness, mobilization, action, contact, satisfaction, and withdrawal/rest. Read the rest of this entry








