GestaltUK

31/05/2025

18/05/2025

Anthony Jannetti, a leading clinician, supervisor and trainer of the Dr. Richard Erskine Developmentally Based and Relationally-Focused Integrative Psychotherapy. Learn more about his work and insights here: https://wix.to/0UZarX6

an international presenter and clinician of the Richard Erskine Developmentally Based Relationally Focused Integrative Psychotherapy.

08/01/2025

A Gestalt therapy orientation to the “what” and “how” of dependent behavior and
treatment.
Trauma affects the wholeness of the person... some traumas surpass the range of human capability to process and to assign meaning to the experiences.
classification, description, analysis of the structures of the self are the subject matter of phenomenology.
the experience of self deserves a phenomenological scaffold to hang the features of dependence, addictive and self-medicating process.

Check it out! https://wix.to/k0LK9pX

Combining two chapter quotes/notes with reference to the treatment of Trauma

12/10/2024

Check out my blog post, Touch in Therapy.
These are the workshop notes that accompanied a one day workshop for psychotherapists and counsellors. The workshop was to provide participants to explore the use of touch in a setting that was supportive and safe for explorationand experimentation.
The premise of of the workshop was the use of touch need not be considered a taboo in therapy; because for some individuals and in some training settings touch is considered a prohibition. The underlying philosophy is a humanistic, relational, experiential approach to working with the human condition.
Touch is about communication. Touch is one aspect of our actions and as part of a situation of activity is to be seen as one part of many in the whole. As such the absence of touch, and the resistance to touch, is also part of the situation and plays it part to form the whole action. In keeping with the Gestalt position an absence is as valuable as a presence; and a resistance is as valuable as an acceptance. As such each has a place in how the individual has adjusted to be in the world. An absence or resistance of touch, therefore, is not something to be changed; it is something to be aware about.

Read the full workshops notes here:
https://wix.to/TXNv1rF

Workshop: Touch in TherapyIn this workshop, my intention is to provide an opportunity to explore what touch evokes. As the starting point of our own experience and thoughts about touch there is some guided experiments for how touch may be described and utilised in the therapy room.Consider that touc...

05/10/2024

Check out my blog post of Book Notes:
Life scripts: a complex set of unconscious relational patterns.
Scripts are often developed by infants, young children, adolescents, and even adults as a means of coping with disruptions in significant dependent relationships that repeatedly failed to satisfy crucial developmentally based needs.
Life scripts are a result of the cumulative failures in significant, dependent relationships!
Reference: Erskine, Richard G.. Life Scripts: A Transactional Analysis of Unconscious Relational Patterns (p. 1). Karnac Books. Kindle Edition.

Read more here https://wix.to/uG2WtFG

Life scripts: a complex set of unconscious relational patterns. Scripts are often developed by infants, young children, adolescents ...

10/06/2024

Check out my blog post
I Want To Know Myself: The activity of our relationship with another
I want to know myself; I want to know who I am. I feel empty, like nothing. I don’t react to anything, or anyone. It’s like I am just existing, on autopilot.

https://wix.to/jwgSHqv

I want to know myself; I want to know who I am. I feel empty, like nothing. I don’t react to anything, or anyone. It’s like I am just existing, on autopilot.

03/06/2024

Check out my latest post addition to Book Notes
https://wix.to/epYHiBP

We define the function of the ego as identifying and alienating and determining the boundaries or context

22/05/2024

and ... ACTION!
How am I responding in this situation? Action
At some point you will act; you will have to take action. However doing nothing is itself and action. Whatever the situation, you will be involved in performing some form of action. Someone saying “i will not retaliate” or “I will not be intimidated”, or even “I’m just going to sit here and ignore you” is performing an act of resistance to the impulse being felt. With the examples given maybe the impulse was more along the lines of “I will fight you”, “I will leave this situation” and “let me tell you”
Key to appropriate action is ownership. To own your responsibilities in you actions. This is sometimes difficult as doing so is to acknowledge being wrong.
A particular way out of this is to deny responsibility, or to give excuses why it is like this; or you blame someone else. In this way you avoid taking ownership for your actions. Another difficulty is not wanting to draw attention to yourself, thus maybe you stay inconspicuous, hidden, even when, perhaps, there is praise to be received.
At the other end of the responding spectrum rather than owning their responsibilities the person takes on the responsibilities of everyone. At the extreme a person sees themselves responsibility for the woes of those around them. This can particularly show thinking they are responsible for others are feeling and leads to neglecting their own feelings. There is a pattern of thinking that they are responsible for solving all the world’s problems. In addressing everyone’s problems the person is seeking control; control of outcomes from being adverse, bad, tragic etc.
The ends of the Responding Spectrum are infused with false actions that do not address the action required to fully satisfy and resolve the unfolding situation. However these false action can convey to the person that something appropriate has taken place and therefore is complete, and they can move on. As an example
A child is playing, and a favourite toy gets broke. The appropriate action is to express disappointment, or dismay, or shock. However the parent intervenes saying you have many other toys, be happy you have these to play with. As a result instead of being disappointed, or expressing shock, or upset, the child replaces these expressions with thought process to be grateful and happy and over times never completes fully an expression of disappointment to appropriate situations and instead reflects something like “oh well at least there is something else to be happy for”
This examples also indicates how our actions are never solitary or independent from others; all is in relationship

19/05/2024

Shall I, Shan’t I? Do I do this , or do I not?
Do you recognise the times when you want to do something, and hesitate, or withdraw from taking action? Sometimes this is a necessity, like not interrupting quite yet, and waiting to go to the bathroom? Or, wanting to speak, or go somewhere, and feeling unsure about the reception you’ll get?
This hesitation is the avoidance of committing to act; instead, there is stalling. The stalling will range from inhibitions that are felt to be necessary.
‘I was told that it is not polite to do behave this way’; ‘doesn’t everyone remove their shoes?’; ‘ I know that will just lead to trouble’ ‘it’s dangerous’ ‘it’s silly’.
At the other end of the spectrum from inhibiting thoughts and behaviour there is over questioning; analysing and misdirecting interest. There is a pretence of commitment by ‘talking about’ and ‘not doing’. Curiosity can often be an avoidance from getting on with things.
‘How would you do it?’; ‘are there other ways to do this?’; ‘I think I need to know a lot more about this’ ‘have you always been like this?’ ‘tell me more’
Because we are talking about a spectrum there is the middle range that overlaps where over questioning and inhibition has a value. The distinguishing feature is how ready are you to view the present situation and make a present-moment analysis by chewing over the situation; and not be constrained by old patterns.

08/05/2024

mySELF - Consider how you behave when you are with different people, for example, with siblings, with parents, with work colleagues, with strangers, with friends, with partner …
Probably you will be able to describe different behaviours with different people.
So which of these describes your SELF?
The self that is my SELF is going to vary in behaviour and thought and emotion in differing situations and with different people. Therefore this leads to concluding that SELF is going to be dependent on who you are with and the situation you are in.
Consider, there is no single SELF. There is no object that you can call SELF, you cannot point to SELF.
"self is not a “thing” or a given, but an emergence in a given situation". (Philippson, P., 2009. The Emergent Self: An Existential-Gestalt Approach. London: Karnac Books, Kindle Edition Location 76)
In different situations, and with different people, you are different. Not completely maybe, perhaps more relaxed; maybe less talkative. In any given situation what emerges is your Self. Self emerges in each particular situation.
Self is the activity of our relationship with another.

02/05/2024

This came up on my Facebook memories prompt from a few years back ...
Sometimes loving yourself is so very hard to do in the face of that critical, hurtful other.

24/04/2024

just testing a 'share' button on my website 😊 and, obviously seems to work.
Why not check this out and share with your friends and colleagues - the button is in the website header under the search box 👍

Gestaltuk.com was created at the beginning of my journey as a psychotherapist. My approach for psychotherapy encompasses a wide range of issues of anxiety and difficulties, dilemmas and confusions; depression, loss, change and relationships. I am mainly based in Lichfield