Spirituality as Part of the Whole: Gestalt Therapy’s View of Spirituality

Author/s: Cem Boyalı

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.37898/spc.2022.7.2.173 

Year: 2022 Vol: 7 Number: 2

Abstract

In contrast to the positivist perspective, which disregards the individual’s spiritual beliefs and needs, many contemporary psychological counseling approaches view spirituality as an essential part of the individual. Rather than ignoring these religious and spiritual dimensions, psychological counseling approaches now include them as part of the integrity of the individual and therapeutic processes. Gestalt therapy, whose development was pioneered by figures like Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman, aims to help clients achieve wholeness by gaining awareness of the here and now. Influenced by psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, existential philosophy, phenomenology, field theory, psychodrama, Eastern religions, and spirituality, Gestalt therapy evaluates the client as a whole on the premise that the whole is not the sum of its parts, but rather the fine coordination of all of them. This study assesses Gestalt therapy’s perspective on spirituality, the relationship between the basic concepts of Gestalt therapy and spirituality, and the application of spirituality in Gestalt therapy within this holistic framework.

Keywords
Gestalt • Holism • Spirituality • Counselling • Psychotherapy

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