Question

The major focus of Gestalt therapy is on

(a) understanding why we feel as we do.
(b) free associating to the client's dreams in order to find out the specific issues the client is experiencing.
(c) assisting the client to become aware of how behaviors that were once part of creatively adjusting to past environments may be interfering with effective functioning and living in the present.
(d) the relationship between client and counselor and how well they get along.

Answer 1

The main focus of Gestalt therapy is to assist the client in understanding current behaviors through the lens of past adaptive behaviors, according to Gestalt psychology's holistic perspective.

Step-by-step explanation:

The major focus of Gestalt therapy is not on free association or the client-counselor relationship in isolation, but rather on helping the client become aware of and understand their current behaviors in relation to their past environments. It emphasizes that behaviors which may have been adaptive in the past could be detrimental in the present.

This approach aligns with Gestalt principles, which focus on the idea that the whole of one's experiences and perceptions is more significant than the sum of individual sensory inputs or behaviors.

Gestalt psychology has a historical background in sensation and perception, offering foundational principles such as the figure-ground relationship, grouping by similarity, and others. These principles illustrate how we organize sensory information and form perceptions that go beyond the mere assembly of sensory data.

Understanding Gestalt principles form the basis of interpreting patterns within psychotherapy and relate directly to how therapists may guide clients in recognizing and altering unhelpful patterns from the past that affect their current lives.