S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

Because psychology is a study of human behavior and cognition, people sometimes view it as a comprehensive theory of humanity. No single psychological theory, however, accounts for the sum of human...

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July 01 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

D W Supporter

"I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
If not, it can't be helped."
(Fritz Perls, "Gestalt Therapy Verbatim", 1969)

Perls saw everything as happening now. There is no past, no future, only "now." We encounter each other only in the "now." In doing so, we are not expected to change the other person. "You are you and I am I" was a constant. One did not explore the other person's "constant." Gestalt (a whole greater than the sum of its parts) existed. It existed now. Now is all that there is. Perls and the existentialists of his day encountered each other on a regular basis. No one asked, "Is Fritz wrong?" Perls didn't find fault with existentialists or anyone else. Life for Perls "just is." It is only IS, now. In the "now-moment" that one finds oneself in, according to Gestalt theory, one is not going to do anything to mess up his or her "now" and the "now" of "the other," while at the same time wrapped up in "whatever happens, happens." 

I studied and taught and bought Gestalt Therapy for a long time. Then Jesus came. and set this captive free.

September 13 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report