WEEK 6: Gestalt Perspective

Question 1

‘Resistances to contact’ refers to coping processes we develop that often end up preventing us from experiencing the present in a full and real way.

True
False

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Blocked energy can be considered a form of defensive behaviour.

True
False

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The basic goal of Gestalt therapy is adjustment to society.
True
False

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Recent trends in Gestalt practice include more emphasis on confrontation, more anonymity of the therapist, and increased reliance on techniques.

True
False

Answer 4

False

Question 5

Dreams contain existential messages, and each piece of dream work leads to assimilation of missing parts of the self.

True
False

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Gestalt therapy is well suited for group counseling, especially when there is a here-and-now emphasis within the group.

True
False

Answer 6

True

Question 7

One of the functions of the therapist is to pay attention to the client’s body language.

True
False

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Gestalt techniques are primarily aimed at teaching clients to think rationally.

True
False

Answer 8

False

Question 9

A major function of the therapist is to make interpretations of clients’ behaviour so that they can begin to think about their patterns.

True
False

Answer 9

False

Question 10

The founder of Gestalt therapy contends that a frequent source of unfinished business is resentment.

True
False

Answer 10

True

Question 11

The main founder of Gestalt therapy is:

Albert Ellis
Carl Rogers
Fritz Perls
William Glasser

Answer 11

Fritz Perls

Question 12

Which is not true of Gestalt therapy?

1. The focus is on integrating fragmented parts of the personality.
2. The focus is on the here and now.
3. The focus is on the “what” and “how” of behaviour.
4. The focus is on the “why” of behavior.

Answer 12

4. The focus is on the “why” of behavior.

Question 13

Which of the following is not a key concept of Gestalt therapy?

Unfinished business.
Awareness of the present moment.
Intellectual understanding of one’s problems.
Acceptance of personal responsibility.

Answer 13

Intellectual understanding of one’s problems.

Question 14

According to the Gestalt view, awareness:

1. without specific behavioral change is useless.
2. consists of understanding the causes of one’s problems.
3. is by itself therapeutic.
4. is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for change.

Answer 14

3. is by itself therapeutic.

Question 15

The basic goal of Gestalt therapy is to help clients:

1. recognise which ego state they are functioning in.
2. move from environmental support to self-support.
3. work through the transference relationship with the therapist.
4. uncover unconscious motivations.

Answer 15

2. move from environmental support to self-support.

Question 16

The impasse is the point in therapy at which clients:

1. are expected to accept their frustrations.
2. experience a sense of becoming “unstuck.”
3. have external support available to them.
4. experience a sense of “being stuck.”

Answer 16

4. experience a sense of “being stuck.”

Question 17

Gestalt therapy can best be characterised as:

1. an empirically-validated treatment.
2. an action-oriented therapy.
3. an experiential therapy.
4. an insight therapy.

Answer 17

3. an experiential therapy.

Question 18

Gestalt therapy encourages clients to do all of the following except:

1. Not pay attention to their own nonverbal messages.
2. Work through the impasse.
3. Resolve inconsistencies and dichotomies
4. Experience internal conflicts.

Answer 18

1. Not pay attention to their own nonverbal messages.

Question 19

The major focus of Gestalt therapy is on:

1. the relationship between client and counselor and how well they get along.
2. free associating to the client’s dreams in order to find out the specific issues the client is experiencing.
3. understanding why we feel as we do.
4. assisting the client to become aware of how behaviours that were once part of creatively adjusting to past environments may be interfering with effective functioning and living in the present.

Answer 19

4. assisting the client to become aware of how behaviours that were once part of creatively adjusting to past environments may be interfering with effective functioning and living in the present.

Question 20

A contribution of the Gestalt approach is that it:

1. is primarily a cognitive perspective.
2. deals with the past in a lively manner by bringing relevant aspects into the present.
3. stresses talking about problems.
4. sheds light on transference.

Answer 20

2. deals with the past in a lively manner by bringing relevant aspects into the present.

Question 21

The process of distraction, which makes it difficult to maintain sustained contact, is:

retroflection.
deflection.
projection.
introjection.

Answer 21

deflection.

Question 22

The process of turning back to ourselves what we would like to do to someone else is:

introjection.
retroflection.
projection.
confluence.

Answer 22

Retroflection

Question 23

The tendency to uncritically accept others’ beliefs and standards without assimilating them to make them congruent with who we are is:

introjection.
retroflection.
projection.
confluence.

Answer 23

introjection.

Question 24

The process of blurring the differentiation between the self and the environment is

introjection.
retroflection.
projection.
confluence.

Answer 24

confluence.

Question 25

Which of the following is a shortcoming of Gestalt therapy as it is applied to working with culturally diverse populations?

1. Focusing on gestures, facial expressions and experiences within the body helps clients whose cultural norm is indirect and limited speech.
2. Gestalt methods can lead to a high level of intense feelings, and some clients may have been culturally conditioned to be emotionally reserved and to avoid openly expressing feelings.
3. Gestalt therapists remain receptive to how clients’ realities differ from their own.
4. Drawing on Gestalt experiments they can be tailored to fit the unique way in which an individual perceives and interpret his or her culture.

Answer 25

Gestalt methods can lead to a high level of intense feelings, and some clients may have been culturally conditioned to be emotionally reserved and to avoid openly expressing feelings.