Gestalt Therapy
Discuss your understanding of Gestalt counseling. Include a specific population that you desire to work with in the future. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Gestalt counseling with the chosen population. Focus on the following as it relates to the specific populations: (a) culture, (b) ethnicity, (c) sexual identity and/or orientation, (d) belief system, (e) potential of diagnosis if applicable, and (f) any potential ethical concerns.
Hispanic population
ANSWER
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt counseling or therapy is psychotherapy designed as a modern technique towards mental health examination. The process concentrates on the personal responsibility of a person, self-awareness, and acknowledging how their perceptions of the past affect how they react to the existing situation. Attaining the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in a specific population continues to be an urgent concern of clinical research and clinicians alike. As outlined by Kelly, T., & Howie, L. (2011), this therapy is holistic and humanistic; therefore, it aligns effectively with the humanistic values. Gestalt therapy is meant to help people with diverse health problems ranging from physical to behavioral. Anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues are among the other things this process can help accomplish. In this paper, the Hispanic population is the preferred choice of discussion, where the article will focus on the pros and cons of using this therapy process on this population.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Gestalt Counseling on the Hispanic Population
Culture- several Hispanics are bicultural; for instance, they combine cultural attitudes and customs of two nations, ethnic groups, or people. Therefore, this therapy has been of great significance to the group in becoming aware of the cultural practices and freedom associated with becoming a Hispanic. Gestalt therapy is based on the notion that individuals are affected by their surroundings (Brownell, 2010). Therefore, everyone will strive to accomplish personal balance and growth. The therapy concentrates on empathy to accept the people and everything associated with Hispanic culture. On the other hand, the process has been criticized for lacking cultural competency. It creates some biasness where cultures are restricted to communicating freely.
Ethnicity – Several techniques such as empty-chair and reversal are linked with the process, and they help a client enhance his ethnic or cross-cultural understanding of the counselor. The counselors are trained to be aware of themselves, their assumptions, and biases, and all clients must be understood within their social and ethnic background. The disadvantage of ethnicity is that the process only accentuates a personal responsibility for one’s happiness and approves for expression of emotion (Spagnuolo Lobb, 2013). Hispanics from other groups fail typically to embrace expressions and might find the therapy harmful and inapplicable.
Orientation – the therapy has no sexual discrimination because gestalt therapy concentrates on everyone. People should not be separated from their environment, whether male or female. On the other hand, in the Hispanic population, most counselors are men, which can be described as an orientation limitation of the process.
Other Barriers
Other criticisms of the process are contributed by the counselors who intentionally apply the therapy procedures and other mechanisms into a hybrid form of counseling that does not fall under the gestalt theoretical sphere. In many cases, these other processes do not function together with the therapy. Several practitioners previews that a client’s cognitive process is significant in counseling procedures, yet Gestaltists tend to deemphasize cognitive through focusing more on feelings. These problems can be solved by creating a solid link with the patients and forming an active, firm therapist-patient bond.
References
Brownell, P. (2010). Gestalt therapy: A guide to contemporary practice. Springer Publishing Company.
Kelly, T., & Howie, L. (2011). Exploring the influence of gestalt therapy training on psychiatric nursing practice: Stories from the field. International Journal of mental health nursing, 20(4), 296-304.
Spagnuolo Lobb, M. (2013). The now-for-next in psychotherapy: Gestalt therapy recounted in post-modern society.
