Gestalt and EFT

A “gestalt” is a perceptual pattern or structure possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts. For example, in the picture on the left, do you see a man with his hand by his chest? Or is his hand a dog, his ear a woman? How do you play with parts to find the whole?
What if something is bothering you, and you don’t know what it is? You don’t know how to verbalize “it.” You have an uneasy feeling that you can’t quite grasp. One way to dis-cover core issues or things to do EFT with is by using some of the methods of Gestalt Therapy. Gestalt brings you into present moment awareness, particularly about feelings in your body and giving expression to non-verbal movements.
In this short video, you’ll learn some basic ideas about Gestalt therapy.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbOAdMdMLdI
Here’s how you might use Gestalt therapy to create EFT setup statements. If you’ll slide the video time control to around 3:40, the client, Rob, who is on the right, says when he’s exaggerating his hand movements, “it” feels silly.” In Gestalt therapy, you embrace “it.” and say “I.” For example an EFT setup statement here might be:
“Even though I’m feeling silly, and I’m supposed to be serious, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway.”
As you watch the video further, here are examples of other potential EFT setup statements:
“Even though I’m feeling that I don’t have any control, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though I’m feeling that I don’t want to be here, I choose to stay and fully experience the present moment.”
“Even though I want to hide from [say whatever you want to hide from here], I deeply and completely accept myself.”
The beauty of Gestalt therapy is that you can discover what you might want to tap on by simply becoming more aware of the present moment. What are you feeling in your body right now? What is your body trying to express? What are your hands and feet doing? Trust in the process that you’ll uncover the gestalt to tap on using EFT.
You’ll find several sites that cover Gestalt therapy via Google, Bing and other search engines. Many of the books on Gestalt therapy are difficult to find because they were published in the seventies. If you want to read an autobiography about the person who is most well known for Gestalt therapy, get In and Out the Garbage Pail which is the story of Frederick “Fritz” Perls.