Gestalt Therapy, which was founded in the 1940s, is making its headway to India thanks to Didem Atahan-Fabig. It helps you explore and analyse your reality rather than the therapist interpreting it for you.
CHENNAI: According to well-known psychotherapist couple Fritz and Laura Perls, people are not made of separate components like mind, body and soul. Instead, the human body functions as a whole, where a sense of self is attained through responses to environmental interactions.
This is the cornerstone of Gestalt Therapy (GT), a psychotherapeutic approach developed by the couple in the 1940s, as an alternative to traditional psychoanalysis. CE caught up with Didem Atahan-Fabig, a Turkey-based psychologist, who will be in the city to conduct a workshop on the theories of GT.
“Gestalt draws heavily on an area of philosophy called phenomenology. It is the study of experience. In GT, we are interested in the exploration of how you experience your reality as opposed to psychoanalytical approaches where the analyst interprets your experience,” she explains.
Although GT is becoming popular around the world, Didem says that India is yet to embrace it. “There are Gestalt institutes in eastern Europe, South America and other places. It is important to talk about it and I would want more people in India to know and understand it,” she adds. “It allows you to be fully aware of yourself while also helping to connect with your environment. It also ensures that it is respectful of cultural contexts. It doesn’t impose values and therefore is perfect in cross-cultural and multicultural settings.”
How does GT help in behavioural challenges and emotional breakdowns? “For change to happen organically, we need to acknowledge who we are first. We can affect even the slightest change only if we make full contact with ourselves. Also, as a therapist, I am not attached to the idea of making a change in my client by myself. My position is merely accepting my client as he/ she is in the moment,” she says adding that trusting clients’ pace and ability to grow organically makes GT different from other approaches.
Didem admits that she establishes close bonds with her clients. “There was a client whose profession revolved around documenting atrocities; he sought therapy after years of stress. It was a long journey…working through each sad memory while maintaining a job, family and all responsibilities. I felt very connected with this client, and this rapport strengthened my belief in therapist-client bond, and how it is the core of therapy,” she shares.
Didem believes that a therapist needs to be interested in their clients’ lives. “I look at every session as a journey where there is no room for boredom. If there’s a sense of boredom, feelings of frustration may arise. When boredom strikes, there is no genuine connection with the client and that needs to be worked on, before moving ahead. And that is also one challenge we have to tackle carefully,” she avers.
The workshop will be held today from 3 pm onwards at Nahar Hall, Deshbandhu Plaza, Whites Road. For details, call: 9841422739
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