Gestalt Therapy

Have you ever taken any kind of therapy or counseling? Do you know the difference between them? Here, I explain the Gestalt therapy and I will go over Jung and Freud in the next posts.

Gestalt believes in a more Holistic view of mankind. Therefore, you are a whole body full of emotions, thoughts, beliefs, dreams, aspirations, pain, etc. So, the Gestalt therapist is always checking up on the patients' emotions, dreams, situations, expectations, among others. Gestalt therapy started in the 1920s, but it is still used today in some places. The therapy focuses on how the past is affecting here and now (the present). Because we are still connected to the feelings about a situation, trauma from the past, our lives get stuck and we suffer. So, the therapist is observing not only what the patient says but their whole body movement trying to understand the whole, like finishing a puzzle, trying to make meaning of everything, about the patients' feelings, or where that memory comes from. Once the memories are healed, it is like cleaning the dishes. We feel free!

From my experience, I felt the Gestalt therapy went straight to the point faster, and I was released of therapy in some months because I was fine. Once the therapist understood me and why I was "complaining/suffering" about certain things, he told me to remember my childhood. The therapist told me in a couple of weeks to look for a picture of when I was younger. I could have chosen anything or any picture, but to be more certain, it had to be before I was five years old. I chose a picture of when I was one-two years old because in my mind, I thought I was "cute". The therapist told me to sit in front of the mirror looking at my own eyes for at least five minutes nonstop, in a quiet, private place where I was not going to be disturbed or interrupted. I did one night in my room and I don't know how long I stayed there looking into my own eyes, but I stayed for as long as I had to, no phone, no noise, just me with myself and my own eyes.

A conversation started within me there. I listened to myself, my own thoughts, I answered to some questions. I talked back to my inner voice, but I did not move my eyes away from ME. At one moment, I realized the pain, the loneliness, the rejection and the needs "my little girl" had. She had been neglected for as long as she remembered. I cried like a baby for a long time because of the "lack/scarcity/needs/loneliness/ abuse/rejection" this little girl had felt. I let that pain all get out of me and I kept telling my little girl we were okay now, I was there with "her", I was going to help her through life. When I felt my heart was calmer, I left the bathroom, got the picture I had chosen, and talked to that little girl. I told her I loved her. I told her I am here for her forever. I told her it doesn't matter the past or what happened, I would be here for her always, and we were going to think about our future together. I told her to let go of all the memories, energy, feelings of loneliness, rejection, sadness and pain that she felt because I was going to hold her hand throughout life from that day on. I am here for her and I love her still today.

I probably said a lot more, but I won't remember nowadays. I didn't know about Ho'oponopono back then, but just having a conversation and saying I love you to my picture helped so much. I cried some more with the picture and when I felt better, I got up, washed my face and went straight to bed. In the next couple of days, I felt relief! It was like hypnosis, the pain was gone. It was like nothing had happened.

Little by little everybody noticed a change in me and the therapist said I was done. I felt done, I was okay with that too. So, nowadays, whenever I feel that I can't get over a situation/person/job/ etc, I sit with myself in front of a mirror, look at my own eyes and talk to my little girl. I hold her hand and keep telling her that I am here and I love her. I invite her to come with me and to trust me because we can figure things out together and go through life in a calmer way, and it has worked a lot. I still look at myself in the mirror, tell myself I am beautiful, confident, smart, successful, etc. So, I invite you to do your research and see what works for you! Enjoy your readings.

I love you and thank you.

I am finishing with a poem to inspire you as always. #WhyMeAndWhyNotMe

What is there?

Sinélia Peixoto

What is there in your smile

That makes my head spin

And my body cry while

My soul laughs at my own sin?

What are there in your eyes

That makes me daydream

Whenever I see you?

You tell lies and makes me feel as though I want to scream.

What is there within me

That enables my body to flee from yours

And leaves me thinking of thee

When all I wanted was to close my mind's doors?

Will you ever see me?

I really don't want to say good bye

but I feel I should

Or else I might stay and die.

These feelings are killing me

My mind is broken

All I need now is peace

To let it all out to nothing.