Figure-Ground-Form
Gestalt Psychology, also called “form,” is a theoretical system that has its antecedents in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, with the figures of Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. These psychologists with their research demonstrate the importance of perception, formulate the “laws of perception” and the dynamics between figure and ground, and show how a gestalt (form or configuration in Gestalt Psychology) is constructed according to the figure-ground-form visual perception.
According to Gestalt Psychology, if we consider the perceptual field as an interrelation of forces, we see how from the field, from the background, a force emerges that tends to stand out until it occupies the foreground: the figure. This figure and its background form a composition called gestalt.
The figure, separated from the background, loses its meaning because the human eye perceives both globally. “The whole is a reality different from the sum of the parts.”
Perls borrows from Gestalt Psychology the concepts of figure-ground and incomplete gestalt.
The figure, separated from the background, loses its meaning because the human eye perceives both globally.
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The influence of Gestalt Psychology can be recognized in Humanistic Psychology. Humanistic Psychology abandons dogmatic notions of health and illness, of “normal” and “pathological.” It is based on the assumption that all human behaviors are normal and the emphasis is on developing the potential of individuals. This current also does not believe in the separation of causes-consequences and does believe that man is a global and open system, a system in itself that is part of broader systems and organisms. From this current, the concept of therapy does not necessarily appear linked to that of disease. Therapy becomes a tool for personal development.
Fritz Perls starts from the theory of perception from which he deduces a basic premise: “human nature is organized in forms or totalities, it is experienced by the individual in these terms and can be understood only in terms of the forms or totalities of the which it is composed of.”
homeostasis
Homeostasis is the law that governs all life processes. Living organisms and other systems have the tendency to adapt to new conditions and maintain balance despite changes.
Psychological homeostasis is the general tendency of every organism to restore internal balance whenever it is altered. It is the search for a balance, which is called “health”, and the processes through which it is sought to maintain it, receiving information, processing it and making the necessary adjustments.
Homeostasis is the law that governs all life processes
If an organism remains out of balance for an extended time, it becomes exhausted and sick; If the process is not reversed, the organism inevitably dies.
All living beings seek this zero point of normality, from single-celled beings to humans; they put themselves in contact with the environment, excreting excess or incorporating what they need, always seeking optimal functioning. Perls calls it “Organismic Balance”.
Creative adjustment as self-regulation
Alterations in this balance constitute what is called “incomplete gestalt”, “unfinished situation”, which puts into operation known or creative mechanisms aimed at restoring the state of dynamic balance, a process that we will call “self-regulation”. For regulation to be effective, the organism must have the ability to get in touch with what are its internal, physical or psychological needs, in short, both biological.
Therefore, in Gestalt Therapy, depression, anxiety, stress, panic attacks, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep disorders, and any other pathology are considered as creative adjustments. That is, as the only most appropriate self-regulation response that the person can develop at a specific time and circumstances in accordance with their capabilities.
Clotilde Sarrió is a therapist specialized in Gestalt Therapy, you can continue reading her articles on her famous blog
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