Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt : A process of understanding the whole

Introduction

Gestalt is a psychological theory which believes that personality is a result of different interdependent traits that work together to form an integrated human being ( Koffka 1999 br

.677

The Meaning

Personality is made up of different traits of person like physical , mental , emotional and spiritual . Presence of one trait in the personality affects the functioning of the other trait Personality traits do not work independently in one system but they work in `synchronized ' way with each other to form a

one `whole ' personality ( Koffka 1999 ,

.677 . When one trait mixes with the other , it forms a different trait altogether . A certain personality trait has meaning and importance only when it comes together with other personality traits to form a behavior pattern . Hence , a personality trait has no meaning of its own if it is separated from the personality . The `whole ' personality is formed only when there is an integration of the different personality traits . If a person intends to honestly analyze his own personality and change himself , he has to study all the aspects of the personality rather than just one or two traits When the Gestalt theorists say `The whole is greater than the sum of its parts` what they mean is , it is the study of the `whole ' that shows a person the truth about his life and not the study of the parts . It is said that the `whole ' is always greater than the sum of its...