Gestalt Therapy Verbatim
Fritz Perls' 1969 talks and session transcripts, home of the "Gestalt prayer"
At a glance
Key ideas
Here and now, Living by your own needs, Mini-satori
See all 3Examples from the book
The Gestalt prayer, Dreamwork
See all 2Criticism and limits
Demonstrations, not therapy, A misleading picture, Independence or isolation?
See all 3Read next
In and Out the Garbage Pail, Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality
See all 2Connections
Fritz Perls and Gestalt therapy
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- A 1969 book of Fritz Perls talking and working.
- It opens with talks setting out the basic ideas, then prints transcripts of a dreamwork seminar and an intensive workshop.
- It appeared in 1969, the year Perls left the Esalen Institute, where he had run workshops since 1963.
- It is the source of the "Gestalt prayer", Perls' short statement of personal independence.
Why it matters
- The quickest way to see what Perls actually did in a session.
- Read it knowing that these were demonstrations for an audience, not full courses of therapy.
Key facts
- Author
- Frederick S. (Fritz) Perls1
- Published
- 19691
- Publisher
- Real People Press, Lafayette, California; later Bantam (1971) and Gestalt Journal Press (1992)1
- Pages
- 279 (Real People Press edition)1
- ISBN
- 0-911226-02-82
- Contents
- Talk; Introduction; Dreamwork seminar; Intensive workshop1
Key ideas
-
Here and now2
Gestalt work centers on heightened awareness of sensation, feeling and behavior in the present moment.
-
Living by your own needs3
The prayer's idea is to live in response to one's own needs, without projecting onto others or taking in their demands.
-
Mini-satori2
In this period Perls took up Zen and worked toward brief awakenings he called mini-satori.
Examples from the book
Criticism and limits
-
Demonstrations, not therapy4
Isadore From called some of Perls' brief workshops "hit-and-run" therapy; Perls saw them as demonstrations for professionals.
-
A misleading picture4
Films and tapes of these workshops were often all students saw, giving the false idea that they were the whole of Perls' work.
-
Independence or isolation?3
Critics of the prayer argue that relationships take real, hard work; it reflects Perls' attitude at Esalen more than gestalt therapy in general.
Read next
-
Perls' autobiography, from the same year.
-
Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality
The theory behind what you see in these transcripts.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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