NICK WRIGHT
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Coaching with Gestalt

28/6/2012

32 Comments

 
​Coaching is often characterised as two people sitting down together, engaged in conversation, with one person helping the other to think things through. I ran a short workshop today that introduced insights and practises from Gestalt psychology and coaching characterised by a more experimental, experiential approach. Gestalt is a field of psychology that focuses on awareness in the here and now. Insight can emerge through pausing for a moment to notice what we are thinking, feeling or experiencing in our bodies. Gestalt views thoughts, feelings and somatic experience as interconnected.
 
We reflect this analogical experience in our language. For example, I may feel tightness in my throat when I approach a situation where I struggle to have a ‘voice’. I feel ‘gutted’ (accompanied by a stomach ache) or find this situation a ‘pain in the neck’ (accompanied by tension in my neck). Our minds filter our thoughts and feelings, partly to enable us to focus (rather than being aware of everything going on within and around us, all at the same time, which would be overwhelming) and partly if those thoughts and feelings are  unacceptable to ourselves or others, or cause discomfort.
 
What we experience in our bodies is unfiltered by the mind. Sometimes, what we experience in our bodies is analogous to what we are experiencing psychologically. Paying attention to what we are experiencing physically can raise unacknowledged or suppressed beliefs or issues into awareness. In Gestalt coaching, the coach may help the client explore issues or experiences by physical experimentation. This typically means doing something, rather than simply talking about it. As with all experimentation, there is an element of let’s try this and see what happens. Examples:
 
*Rather than telling me what you want to achieve, show me what you want to achieve by acting out what it would look and feel like if you were successful. 
 
*Rather than explaining to me what you would you like to say to a person, say it to me directly as if I were that person, or enact a conversation playing both
parts.
 
*Rather than tell me what obstacles you anticipate facing, create physical obstacles in the room that represent the obstacles, then experiment with tackling or moving them.

*Rather than describe the relationships between stakeholders, try using figures or objects to represent the people and experiment with placing yourself within the system too.
 
*Rather than outlining your key priorities as a list, draw them in proportion size-wise and try changing their relative sizes to see what new insights emerge.
 
The coach’s role is to help the client design a suitable experiment, stay attentive and observe what happens for the client in the here and now as they do it. Some coaches feed back their observations to the client, some encourage the client to reflect on their own observations. When a client acts out a posture or scenario, the coach may mirror the client’s posture or movement, inviting the client to notice what he or she sees and feels when the coach does it. Finally, the coach helps the client make sense of any insights that emerge and how to apply them to the client’s context.
32 Comments
Carey Little
29/6/2012 01:43:08 am

too easy to get caught up in the past - its the here and now that will make the future

Reply
Nick Wright
29/6/2012 01:47:07 am

Thanks Carey. Putting it another way, the past is the story of what led us to where we are now, the future is the story we create by the decisions we make in the present. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
business to business link
2/10/2012 06:45:05 am

feelings are unacceptable to ourselves or others, or cause discomfort.

Reply
Felicity O'Hanlon
29/6/2012 10:14:43 am

Hi Nick, great that you shared this experience as it reminds me so much of a similar therapy I once took part in, it's called Psychophonetics and is the creation of Yehuda Tagur. It is also quite experiential and gets you focused on the here and now by not just talking about things but acting them out. Not acting exactly, but rather dramatizing issues and thereby making them more real and immediate, perhaps by using symbols, metaphor or analogy.
So for example if you have a difficult decision to make or perhaps a choice that isn't clear because it brings up conflicting feelings, you could place two chairs on one side of the room and when sitting in one describe one issue or choice as if you have made it and then physically sit in the other chair and describe the benefits and results of making another choice.
I was drawn to it because it uses this creative approach which I find more powerful and enlightening with some issues because they might not be so accessible intellectually, for example when we face conflicting feelings about things. We can feel stuck and unable to articulate the choices because of the intricate mixture of facts and feelings. I would imagine this might be even more difficult in a work environment perhaps where someone would feel the weight of responsibility for a project, team or deadline and the need to be in control or decisive and moving forward, but I am only guessing and that might be an assumption.
The dramatizing approach, although it sounds a bit arty and airy fairy, can actually be less threatening because it gets the person doing something practical which quickly gets to the heart of the matter rather than just sitting face to face and trying to describe something, which might go on a bit. One can also feel a bit undone, unraveled or exposed by having to talk through lots of things just to get to the crux of the matter. Making it a practical exercise gets to the issue without having to go through the story and deals with the present straight away without having to go through the past first. Hope this is relevant to what you described. Best wishes Felicity

Reply
Nick Wright
30/6/2012 01:20:40 am

Hi Felicity and thanks for such a thoughtful response. I haven't heard of psychophonetics before. I liked your example of speaking in different chairs. There's something about the power of immediacy - doing it in the here and now without, as you say, having to go through the past first.

Your mention of dramatisting reminded me of an excellent example of Gestalt coaching/therapy on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbOAdMdMLdI. Scroll past the first couple of minutes intro to the therapy session itself. I love the way the therapist uses exaggeration to raise awareness.

With best wishes. Nick

Reply
  law education link
20/9/2012 07:02:57 am

the past is the story of what led us to where we are now, the future is the story we create by the decisions we make in the present. With best wishes. Nick

Funmi Johnson link
29/6/2012 02:21:23 pm

Hi Nick,

Another thoughtful and fascinating piece. I'm not familiar with Gestalt coaching, but I will definitely be looking it up after reading this.

Reply
Nick Wright
30/6/2012 01:10:03 am

Hi Funmi and thanks for such encouraging feedback. The Manchester Gestalt Centre has some interesting examples of Gestalt practice on its website: http://www.mgc.org.uk.

I like Zinker's 'Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy' (1977). Joyce & Sills' 'Skills in Gestalt' (2010), Clarkson's 'Gestalt Counselling in Action' (1999) and Mann's 'Gestalt Therapy' (2010) are worth a glance too.

I've posted a couple of Gestalt articles on this website: http://www.nick-wright.com/just-do-it.html and http://www.nick-wright.com/gestalt-meets-cognitive-coaching.html and a number of blogs, e.g. http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2012/04/glimpses-of-gestalt.html.

Let me know how you get on? With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Funmi Johnson link
5/7/2012 02:40:29 pm

Thanks for the tips Nick. I will look them up.

Felicity O'Hanlon
30/6/2012 05:41:05 pm

Hi Nick, I liked the Gestalt therapy clip, it was very interesting how the therapist just honed straight in on the current issue and brought the relevant bit of the past right up to date without retracing steps back. It seems more effective than going through the arduous process of psychoanalysis. Although I have nothing against psychoanalysis per se.
Psychophonetics is perhaps more relevant to therapy than coaching but some of the techniques are similar to the Gestalt approach you described. Yehuda Tagar who created the therapy is very influenced by Rudolf Steiner who amongst other things was influenced by phenomenology. He gave many lectures and talked about the soul and spirituality a lot and sought his inspiration from the Stoics, other philosophers but also Christianity.
There are countless Youtube videos on all these things but one interesting one is entitled Rudolf Steiner on Evil in which he addresses the nature of the soul as being capable of both good/constructive and evil/destructive but how we cannot develop good without the presence of evil.
I might be going a bit off topic here and heading off to my interests but from a general point of view it seems an obvious yet profound thought - we cannot develop more constructively without adversity, if that is what he is saying. In today's world of valuing comfort, ease, speed and convenience, this can seem unnecessary and undesirable. But if what he is saying has truth then there can be no apps or q codes for awareness, wisdom or enlightenment, they can only be achieved by difficulty, pain and adversity and a process of skilled intervention.
Perhaps this serves to root us in the vulnerability of our humanity and our need for meaningful contact and development with others.
best wishes Felicity

Reply
Nick Wright
30/6/2012 05:52:48 pm

Thanks again, Felicity, for such thoughtful comments. Interestingly, I was reading a book by Richard Rohr this morning where he said something very similar to what you mention from Steiner: 'The way through (...to spiritual growth and maturity...) is the wound, and it's the only way through.'

Your comments about growth in awareness, wisdom or enlightenment through difficulty, pain and adversity resonated with some thoughts I jotted down in a blog on resilience: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2012/03/when-disaster-strikes.html. Would be interested to hear your thoughts. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Subramanyam Jambunathan
30/6/2012 05:54:48 pm

ALMOST every Indian would agree to this as we have a classic example of Lord Krishna engaging in a conversation with Arjuna, a Price and finally transforms an unwilling Prince, to fight a war! This, according to our legend, occurred 5000 years ago! There is nothing new and this concept was in vogue in olden days in India! Elsewhere, people may be experimenting with it now and may even be thinking this is a brand new idea!!! It is an old wine in new 21st Century bottle!!

Reply
Nick Wright
30/6/2012 05:58:13 pm

Hi Subramanyam and thanks for the note. I'm unfamiliar with the account you mention between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna. Can you say something more about the similarities between the approach or techinques that feature in that conversation and those that feature in Gestalt? With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Alex Dail link
1/7/2012 12:43:05 am

Do you find that organizations, as a culture, can have a behavior too? What I'm getting at is can an organization be stymied by a corporate thought or empowered much like an individual?

Reply
Nick Wright
1/7/2012 01:50:44 am

Hi Alex and thanks for the note. What a great question! Yes, I believe organisations (and groups within organisations) can develop behavioural traits that enhance or hinder their performance. Such behaviours are often driven by subconscious or 'unspeakable' shared experiences, beliefs and values.

Gestalt perspectives and principles can be applied at group and organisational as well as at individual levels. This involves holding up a mirror, stimulating conversations and engaging groups in activities that help surface isuch ssues into awareness; thereby raising fresh energy and possibilities.

You may be interested in Michael Parlett's work on field theory, an aspect of Gestalt psychology that explores wider environmental, social and systemic issues, e.g. http://www.gisc.org/gestaltreview/documents/TheUnifiedFieldinPractice.pdf.

You may also be interested in Edwin Nevis' book, 'Organisational Consulting - A Gestalt Approach' (1997) and this blog post on culture: http://www.nick-wright.com/1/post/2011/11/what-is-culture.html. I would be interested to hear if you have any further thoughts, ideas or experiences in this area. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Alex Dail
4/7/2012 07:45:52 am

Thanks Nick I'll follow up on each of the references.

Juan Carlos de la Osa link
1/7/2012 04:22:28 am

Thanks a lot for your contribution. I will recomend it in our coaching group at linkedin (ICP Institute for Coaching Psychology)

Reply
Nick Wright
1/7/2012 05:00:46 am

Hi Juan and thanks for your encouraging feedback - appreciated. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Institute for Coaching Psychology
2/7/2012 05:13:57 am

Dear Nick,

We find very interesting your contribution. It would certainly be our pleasure to have you in our debate group. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1811307&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Kind regards

Reply
Nick Wright
4/7/2012 07:54:09 am

Dear ICP. Thanks for the kind invitation. I would like to join your group. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Ed Luttrell
4/7/2012 07:42:19 am

Hi Nick

I'm just concluding an essay on how behaviourism and gestalt have influenced coaching and supervision. Once done, do you want a copy?

Ed

Reply
Nick Wright
4/7/2012 07:43:16 am

Thanks for the generous offer, Ed. I would love to see a copy. My email address is info@nick-wright.com. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Dan Manolache
9/7/2012 03:20:43 am

I am grateful for this encounter with both this article and your offer, Ed. Seems I needed them both!:-)) I would very much enjoy to read your essay; please send it at danmnlch@gmail.com. Thank you very much, Ed!

Reply
Denise Wolf MA LMHCA
4/7/2012 07:47:05 am

Thanks Nick for sharing this information. I have used some of these approaches on a limited basis in my therapy practice but you have expended my thoughts and will certainly keep in mind as I see how it fits with the person who is with me.

Reply
Nick Wright
4/7/2012 07:49:00 am

Hi Denise. Thanks for the note. I would be very interested to hear of any examples, e.g. any methods or techniques, that you have used in therapeutic practice that may be transferable to a coaching context. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Denise Wolf MA LMHCA
4/7/2012 01:01:13 pm

There are a lot of transferable techniques that I'm sure you already use. It is really that fine line from when you pass over to being a therapist and stop being a coach. I use meditation and for those that need to move there is Tai Chi Chih which is a moving meditation. It can accomplish a number of things including creating new thought pathways.

  law education link
22/9/2012 06:33:18 am

Rather than explaining to me what you would you like to say to a person, say it to me directly as if I were that person, or enact a conversation playing both
parts.

Reply
Nick Wright
18/10/2012 12:00:18 am

Yes, role playing in order to directly experience saying something, rather than hypothesising or imagining saying it, can be a powerful experiential technique in Gestalt coaching. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
Business to Business
30/10/2012 04:09:54 am

Feelings are unacceptable to ourselves or others, or cause discomfort.

Reply
Nick Wright
30/10/2012 04:11:59 am

Yes, these are some of the reasons why people suppress what they are feeling. Enabling a person to express physically can help raise awareness of emotional experience that has been buried or suppressed. With best wishes. Nick

Reply
juegos friv link
22/4/2017 09:25:18 pm

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.

Reply
charliefarley
9/5/2021 10:11:09 am

I like how concise this article is with practical elements to take away so thank you!
From reading the comments there was mention of a You Tube clip but this is sadly no longer available - do you remember any other details about the clip for me to search for it or have any other suggestions on good clips to see this in action?

Reply



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    ​Nick Wright

    ​I'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? ​Get in touch!

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