How to Understand Gestalt Theory

The Gestalt Theory of the Berlin School was one of the most significant advances in the history of psychology. By rethinking the mind as a holistic, interconnected entity, psychology was able to make significant steps in furthering understanding of the mind and treatment of psychological pathologies.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Understand the history and origins of Gestalt. Gestalt Theory has a long history in German literature and philosophy. Some scholars trace the theory as far back as Immanuel Kant and Goethe. Ernst Mach's "Contributions to the Analysis of the Sensations" is also a seminal text to refer to in order to understand Gestalt Theory and its origins.

2. Learn about Gestalt methodology and experiments. In keeping with the global view of the mind, Gestalt Theory calls for a change in how psychological experiments are undertaken. Instead of looking at elemental components, Gestalt studies phenomena as a whole, focusing on real situations rather than controlled laboratory experiments.

3. Get to know the Gestalt principles. Gestalt uses key principles to understand psychology and psychological phenomena. These key principles are emergence, reification, multistability and invariance. Most of these principles hold that human perception of objects occurs by perceiving objects as a whole and not by adding up their constituent parts to deduce the image or perceptual object. Gestalt Theory turns the old proverb "You can't see the forest for the trees" inside out: humans see the forest before they identify the trees.

4. Know what Gestalt Theory means for therapy. Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy that is based on the ideas of Gestalt Theory. Understanding the Gestalt Psychotherapy gives you further insights into Gestalt Theory by showing you what Gestalt means in the practical terms of psychology and therapy. Look at the work of Hans-Jürgen P. Walter to understand Gestalt Psychotherapy.