What is gestalt and how to close it: expert opinion

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Let's figure out what an unfinished or unclosed gestalt is and how to get rid of it, with psychologist Yulia Nosova.

What lies behind the fashionable expression “unfinished gestalt” in psychology? Scientifically speaking, this is a broken contact cycle. Simply put, an unclosed gestalt is a situation that has not been brought to its logical conclusion, an unsatisfied need. A bummer, to put it simply. The human brain always strives to finish what it starts, and if it fails, that same unfinished gestalt arises. For some, this is a suddenly broken relationship. For some, it is a childish resentment that arose due to the refusal to buy a dog, a doll, or a car.

The human brain always strives to finish what it starts, and if it fails, that same unfinished gestalt arises.

It does not matter due to what need, material or emotional, this situation arose. Much more important is how it affects the quality of our lives. An unmet need is an express ticket to neurosis. It’s good if it’s just an everyday story that can be corrected. We bought it, repaired it, found it, moved on and moved on in stability and peace. It’s much more difficult when it comes to gestalts in relationships. Resentment, anger, sadness, grief - these are the components of an incomplete gestalt, necessarily seasoned with unspokenness, unlivedness.

At best, this leads to chronic discomfort that poisons our existence. Sometimes to us, sometimes to the entire immediate environment. Imagine an adventure lover who failed to find treasure on his trip to a wonderful island. He is so obsessed with the treasure that he now dreams about it day and night. If the family is “lucky”, every vacation he will go to this island until the end of his days or until the treasure is found (read, the gestalt is closed). If the family is not so lucky, all its members will travel to the ill-fated island. And it’s good if they have the opportunity to lie on the beach while this adventure lover is looking for the treasured chest.

Close the gestalt and don't return to it

Learn to leave the past in the past. Of course, memories are part of our life, part of us, and they should not be erased without a trace. But, also, they should not dominate your head and influence subsequent events. The past was in the past, and now is the present. Use your acquired experience, useful skills, and all your skills, but do not think that the past will always help you understand the present.

It is very important to close the gestalt in a relationship, because otherwise you will not be able to fully move on. To start a new relationship, you need to make room for it, and only in this case will the new relationship begin correctly and your previous life will not affect it.

Working methods

Of course, the first and easiest way is to get what you wanted from a certain object. But situations are different, people move, die and create obstacles due to which you cannot close the gestalt. What is this in simple words? By and large, this is a clash of scenarios and interests. But there are several ways to help you cope with the task:

• Modeling. Imagine how you could complete your gestalt. Live this situation so that its ending suits you. If the ending of the real situation was undesirable, now everything can be changed. Just don't do this all the time. If the changes suit you, then mentally you will not want to return to it.
• Transfer. Since it is not always possible to close the gestalt in a relationship that has already ended, do it in the current situation, in the present. But this must be done consciously and with the consent of the person who will help you. Instead of bullying your partner, ask him to shower you with care and attention. The open gestalt will gradually come to its logical conclusion. What it is and how it happens, you will understand and feel in the process.
• Expressing feelings and speaking words as it becomes necessary.
• Stop the fight. This is another important point. If you are looking for a way to close the gestalt in a relationship on your own, then... stop. Stop denying it, accept it and come to terms with its existence. Sometimes this is enough. A person stops feeding it with his emotions. Realize what process is unfinished and try to be completely indifferent to it.

How to complete a gestalt yourself

An unclosed, incomplete gestalt prevents you from living fully and enjoying life. A break in a relationship should always be closed, especially if there is a separation from a sexual partner. Esotericists have already buzzed everyone's ears about this, but few people listened to them. And now psychologists are talking about this, which calms me down a little.

Important! An unfinished gestalt with a former partner prevents the development of a full-fledged relationship with a new sexual partner.

Unfortunately, gestalts are not as easy to close as they seem. They usually arise outside the zone of mind control and are therefore difficult to control. You'll have to make an effort. The difficulty in ending a relationship arises from a lack of understanding of the situation. Just yesterday it seemed that a breakup would bring good, but today longing for a loved one begins: this is a trap of consciousness. It’s not clear what to do. But we need to act.

8 steps to close the gestalt:

1. rebuild the gestalt;
2. enable logic;
3. forgive;
4. go “into the sunset”;
5. invite an actor;
6. dream up;
7. let go of the situation;
8. accept the inevitable.

Rebuild the gestalt - find a replacement for your loved one. You need to choose a man and direct all thoughts in his direction, begin to be actively interested in him. This man will now be your gestalt (central figure), and the ex will fade into the background. This option often works. If you don’t want to meet a new man, you can simply throw yourself into a new activity/hobby/job. This also helps if the absorption in a new activity is real: it fills the void in the soul after separation.

Turning on logic and analyzing the situation is a great idea for a full end to the relationship. However, a person with a traumatized soul and heart cannot overcome introspection, so it is better to take the help of a specialist. Make an appointment with a gestaltist or psychotherapist to help you free yourself from the relationship.

Forgiveness is a powerful psychological technique that will allow you to close a gestalt of any complexity. Very often, relationships remain incomplete precisely because of strong resentment and unwillingness to forgive. If you manage to forgive the man who betrayed you, the gestalt will close.

“ Go into the sunset ” - what is it? This way to end a relationship is only suitable for those who have a very strong will. You need to completely ignore your ex, not be interested in his life and not engage in soul-searching. But a year later you need to call him under any pretext, even the most incredible. And then you can fully realize that this relationship was not so important to you. The gestalt will be completed. What if your ex suggests continuing the relationship? This option is not excluded, but the gestalt will still be closed.

Another way to close a gestalt consists of 4 steps:

1. Arrange with some man to play the role of your ex. Set up a trial scene and express everything that’s boiling in your soul. Try to do everything to put a final point and draw a line under the relationship.
2. After an impromptu theatrical performance, turn on your imagination and imagine your future life with your ex in the most terrible colors: lack of money, endless quarrels, infidelity and everyday routine. Try to present this as vividly and convincingly as possible, completely abandoning any prospects of renewing the relationship.
3. Next, you will need to retell your fantasies to someone, but present them as real events. Social networks and forums are ideal for this. If you share your fantasies of a terrible family life with someone 7 times, the issue of a relationship with your ex will lose its relevance.
4. After this, you need to realize that your “tragedy” on a global scale is simply nothing, and come to terms with it.

If this is not done, it will be impossible to build a happy new relationship.

What is Gestalt therapy

In modern psychology, the Gestalt approach is very popular among both specialists and clients. The direction is based on the belief that a person always strives to satisfy needs. If it is impossible to do this, the individual will not die, but he will not be able to live well either.

It is important to understand the features of gestalt formation, how to close it and what it means. The specialist helps the client work with personal feelings, become aware of them, and satisfy needs

The main task is to teach how to live here and now, in a specific moment, and not carry the burden of past mistakes with you.

Gestalt is a practical approach in psychology. The specialist knows various exercises that help rethink the situation. It is not enough for him to complete a bachelor’s degree in his field; he needs additional training in courses.

How does the session work?

Therapy can take place in two options. The first is a standard conversation. During it, the specialist asks questions, offers to discuss situations and emerging emotions. Many people do not understand the specifics of Gestalt, what it means, and how the work should proceed.

From the outside, such a conversation really looks like an ordinary conversation between friends. In fact, the psychologist asks special questions, notices features and helps the client look at the situation differently and understand his problems.

Important! The specialist does not act only as a listener, he is an active participant in the conversation. A session with a gestalt psychologist has a number of features that distinguish it from a traditional conversation with a friend

A session with a gestalt psychologist has a number of features that distinguish it from a traditional conversation with a friend.

The specialist does not do the following things:

1. Doesn't evaluate. Many people hide things because they are afraid of judgment or negativity.
2. Tells the truth. Friends and acquaintances may withhold information because they are afraid of offending the person.
3. Does not reveal everything that was voiced in the office.

A conversation with a psychologist should be honest, correct, and accessible. The specialist’s task is not to insult and humiliate, but to convey certain information to the person.

The duration of therapy is individual. The average consultation is 10 one-hour sessions. If necessary, the specialist recommends increasing their number. You can close the gestalt either in one meeting or in five meetings.

During therapy, the client also performs various exercises. For example, a psychologist can put an empty chair in front of a client and invite the person to imagine himself as an interlocutor and express everything. During execution, the specialist carefully monitors facial expressions, emotions, and behavior.

There is also a special exercise for anxious clients. It is aimed at identifying the causes of experiences. To do this, a person must ask himself brief questions:

1. Is it really worth the trouble?
2. What exactly makes you worry: delaying the moment of resolving the situation or exaggerating what is happening?
3. What can you do to distract yourself?

Every day a person at home must analyze his condition, emotions, feelings. He may not understand the term gestalt and what it means, but he should take care of his feelings. A simple technique helps to distract yourself from negative thoughts: when a bad image appears, you immediately need to think about something else, for example, about conjugating irregular English verbs. At such moments, negative words should not be used.

The “antipode” exercise is aimed at turning negative character traits into positive ones.

The success of therapy directly depends on the client’s honesty and how diligently he will follow the specialist’s recommendations.

Principle Here and Now in Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt is what needs to be closed in order to be happy. And the principle of “here and now” is an approach to thinking that takes its origins from the philosophy of Buddhism. By the way, Fritz Perls carefully studied Eastern culture.

The psychotherapist always asks how the patient is feeling at the moment, what emotions and feelings he has. If a person talks about the past, the psychologist tries to bring him back to the present with questions:

1. What is your relationship like now?
2. How do you feel when you say this?
3. How can this situation be corrected today?
4. How does this situation affect you now?

This creates confidence that the client has control over the problem here and now. Even if it happened several years ago.

Therefore, there are exercises on how to learn this. One of them can be done during breakfast, lunch and dinner. We need to focus on the cutlery that we bring to our mouth; during the process of chewing food; on the hand that reaches for salt. Here and now.

How to determine that the gestalt is not completed

It is difficult to track unfinished processes without experience. Especially those related to childhood. The psyche so masterfully muffles painful memories that an adult does not attach any importance to them. Or he remembers with some irony. This, for example, is the theme of “gifts for the Christmas tree,” played out in many films: a boy expects to see a toy railroad, but gets a set of socks or T-shirts. Grown men remember this with resentment, but the gestalt remains open.

Why is such an unfinished situation dangerous?

• At first, unconscious anxiety and worry appear.
• Then the symptoms intensify with insomnia, pressure surges, migraines, and decreased concentration.
• At the same time, problems may arise in communicating with relatives, colleagues, and friends.
• All this can result in a failure of the protective mechanisms of the psyche, depression, and chronic diseases.

In the case of an incomplete gestalt, the saying “time heals” does not work. Therefore, it is better to close situations at the first stage, so as not to take them to extremes. But mental traumas become so commonplace that identifying them becomes difficult. Over time, the pain dulls and the intensity of the memory decreases. But the subconscious regularly reminds itself of itself with familiar scenarios:

• Every time a childhood memory evokes a painful feeling of melancholy, dissatisfaction, sadness, and disappointment.
• You get upset when your mind returns to one situation.
• You have recurring dreams that vaguely resemble events in your life.
• You choose “unsuccessful” partners with similar appearance, manners, behavior, and income.
• Your relationship develops and ends according to one sad scenario.
• You take it out on your spouse and children in certain situations for no apparent reason.
• You experience an inexplicable antipathy towards a stranger or unfamiliar person.
• With amazing persistence, you continue to step on the same rake, even after experiencing pain or defeat.
• Unpleasant bodily sensations (nausea, migraine, pain in the eyes) suddenly appear when communicating with the same person, but also disappear abruptly.

How an incomplete gestalt interferes with life

All gestalts need to be closed. This is a prerequisite for maintaining psychological health. How they, being incomplete, are harmful, should be examined in more detail:

Constant stress

Gestalt without ending is constant tension, even if attention is switched to something else. A prolonged state of tension means stress.

Stressed man

1. Projection of the past. Constant returns to the past, its projection onto the present. This, in turn, negatively affects life and relationships today.
2. Increasing the scale of gestalt. The danger of unfinished business is that the tension not only persists, but also multiplies. In critical cases it comes to addiction - strong dependence.

Important! It is almost impossible to overcome a serious addiction (or larva) on your own. She won’t be able to close herself

This is a state of habit, abnormal fixation. In this case, it is highly recommended to visit a psychotherapist.

In addition, an unclosed gestalt takes an incredible amount of effort, time, and energy. It completely devastates a person. He has no strength left for anything. First, unfinished business takes up a lot of human resources. The further the problem shifts into the spotlight, the more forces are applied to it, the more it grows

It is extremely important to break this circle in time

How to build new relationships

Don't rush if it seems like the time hasn't come yet. There is no point in building a relationship with a new person just to prove something to your ex-partner. This only helps temporarily.

If we are talking about a full-fledged new relationship, then, first of all, you need to honestly admit to yourself that you are very worried. You shouldn't wear a mask of indifference when you want to cry.

It is important to be honest and open with yourself. It is important to build a model of future relationships and determine which mistakes should no longer be made. New relationships should be built only when there are no open gelstatts associated with another person.

Thus, an unclosed gestalt represents a rather serious psychological problem. This is the state that best suits the definition of “incompleteness.” The more such incompletenesses in a person’s life, the more difficult it is for him to build his happy future.

How to neutralize gestalt

In general, in Gestalt therapy there are several steps to neutralize the feeling of incompleteness:

• Awareness of the true causes of your anxiety. Here you can try to make a list of things that you still can’t finish.
• Next, you need to pull yourself together, set aside some time and complete all projects, tasks, and more.
• Now the gestalt is closed. But for prevention, you should not allow yourself to be overloaded with unfinished tasks or worries.

In other words, you first need to understand your feelings, realize what is really important and why. Don't keep your feelings to yourself

You can tell someone about this, experience the feelings, which will help you let them go later.

Then you need to “clean up” your life: get rid of unnecessary things, finish things, remove all the “stones” that get in the way. It happens that a person does not really understand what he needs to finish and what is bothering him. In such cases, it often happens that you literally need a general cleaning of your home, getting rid of trash and garbage, as well as “cleaning” your environment and streamlining your routine. For everyone, such big and small things accumulate throughout their lives. In order not to delay too much with them, it is advisable to clean them at least a couple of times a month.

In addition to small matters, the issue of unfinished gestalt often concerns more global things: dreams and life goals, for example. The problem is that our desires can be deceiving. Behind one dream lies a thirst for something completely different. And here self-analysis is important. Perhaps it is better to let go of an unfinished gestalt in some cases than to close it, to understand that it is not yours, than to worry about the lack of implementation.

But to achieve true goals you will need a push. For example, do you want to be a dancer all your life, but have you ever thought about it? You should get together and finally sign up for a dance course or take any other action that can begin the path to realizing your dream.

How to close a gestalt?

It is to address these issues that Gestalt therapy was invented. It helps the patient understand himself better. This therapy uses some techniques from Gestalt psychology, although it is not directly related to it. A special role is given to techniques and installations.

The therapist and the patient find out what unfinished business is bothering the person. And then options for closing the gestalt are thought through. This can be done, for example, by modeling situations. One technique is for the patient to talk to himself. Therapy will help you become more confident, increase your productivity, take responsibility for your life, and get rid of long-standing symptoms of depression and anxiety. But at the same time, you should choose a doctor carefully; he must have a certificate, he must be as tactful as possible, and communication with him must proceed in comfort.

But you can try to close your gestalts yourself. This is especially important in relationships where you don’t want to let a stranger, even a psychologist, in. There are three stages to solving the problem:

• Work through the situation, honestly writing down all the advantages and disadvantages of the relationship, not forgetting to highlight everything that causes indignation and irritation.
• Write your own script for the relationship, what and why it should be in your opinion. Try to experience this new picture, feel it with emotions, say the right things in it and do the right things. Such elaboration and awareness may not happen the first time.
• Reconsider your life from the point of view of new experiences. You will get rid of the feeling of worthlessness and helplessness, and increase your self-esteem. Working with Gestalt will change thinking and behavior, destroying automatic programmed actions.

♥ ON TOPIC: Don’t look for the perfect partner, or 7 signs of a strong relationship that doesn’t need to be broken.

When to contact a Gestalt psychologist

If a person is looking for a specialist, then he always understands what the word gestalt means

In this case, he needs to pay attention to what problems the psychologist is working with. The Gestalt approach helps with difficulties in communication, failures in personal life, and dissatisfaction with current events.

Feelings of sadness and sadness that do not go away may also be a reason to contact a specialist

The concept of an unfinished gestalt is closely related to psychosomatics. In case of such violations, doctors do not find the cause of physical ailments and refer them for consultation to a psychologist.

A practice-oriented approach to results is what Gestalt psychology is. This method is suitable for those who want to quickly solve their problems. Unlike psychoanalysis, where therapy takes 3-5 years, Gestalt psychology does not require such time.

How to determine gestalt

Before you begin to complete the gestatt, it is important to discover it in yourself. How to do it? You can understand that there are unfinished scenarios in life by the following signs:

How to do it? You can understand that there are unfinished scenarios in life by the following signs:

1. Certain work or information causes a person to experience an attack of unreasonable anxiety, panic, and worry.
2. An individual cannot complete some task or project for unknown reasons, as if someone is preventing him.
3. A girl or guy avoids new relationships after a painful breakup. This way they simply avoid possible pain.
4. Every new relationship follows the previous scenario. There may be a suspicion that a person simply chooses similar partners. However, it is the unfinished gestalts that prevent you from changing the scenario.
5. Parents force the child to follow the path they have outlined. It seems to them that this is the surest path. But in reality, they are simply trying to realize their unfulfilled dreams through their children.
6. An individual constantly “steps on the same rake,” that is, he ends up in the same unsightly situation. For example, he becomes a victim of scammers, crashes a car, quits his job in scandal.

The facts listed above indicate the presence of unfinished processes in the subconscious: attachments to people and places.

How do you know if there is an open gestalt?

Unclosed gestalt is a condition that is difficult to diagnose on your own.

But there are several signs that will help you understand whether you should worry about incompleteness:

• Childhood memories constantly appear in my head, which even after many years cause strong resentment.
• A person constantly complains that he has the same dreams. Moreover, their plot is very reminiscent of a situation that happened to him in the past.
• Any new relationship seems to begin to develop according to exactly the same scenario as the previous one.
• The people around you seem similar to each other. There is a feeling that everyone has a subtle similarity.
• Unreasonable anger at loved ones and friends constantly appears.
• A person experiences physiological manifestations, for example, nausea or pain, which are in no way amenable to conventional medical diagnosis. The most interesting thing is that physical pain occurs when communicating with specific people.

These are fairly general signs of an open gestalt, but there is also a more professional classification of signs of incompleteness:

• Panic attacks and anxiety. If a person constantly experiences psychosis, and he arrives in an anxious state for no apparent reason, then in this case we are clearly talking about an incomplete gestalt. Most often this manifests itself before doing something grandiose, serious or significant. At the same time, as a rule, anxiety is very noticeable to people around.
• Numerous unfinished business. Some people believe that this is a feature of the psychology of specific individuals who seem to be physically unable to bring things to their logical conclusion. However, this is often a clear sign of incompleteness. Does this apply to situations where a person is unable to complete this or that task and does not understand why this is happening? It begins to seem that there is an invisible, irresistible force that is preventing him from achieving success. This is how versions about karma, fate and other invisible things appear. People begin to think that someone has jinxed them or that there is a generational curse on them, because their grandmother or great-grandmother had the same problems. But most often the problem is that the gestalt was not closed correctly.

• Avoidance of new relationships. A person with an open gestalt no longer wants to experience the pain, suffering and negative emotions that he received from his last relationship. Moreover, very often such people can declare that they, on the contrary, strive to find a partner and try to build love with him. However, on a subconscious level, they do everything to never experience pain again. Therefore, despite all the claims, they avoid new relationships. For example, a man really likes a girl, but for some unknown reason, before he even starts communicating with her, he goes on vacation to another country. Upon arrival, he discovers that she has already lost interest in him. Thus, a man creates situations in which he will not be able to build a new relationship.

What is an incomplete gestalt

An unfinished gestalt is a concept in gestalt psychology that denotes an interrupted but vital event that requires elaboration and completion in the present tense. It's like a frozen computer program that spins around uselessly somewhere inside, draining energy, overloading memory. The program works even in a dream and replays events that a person has not remembered for years. Hundreds, thousands of unfinished gestalts first take away time and energy, then provoke psychosomatic illnesses. Therefore, for a person to be healthy, satisfied and happy, the gestalt must always close.

The phenomenon of unfinished gestalt was discovered by the founder of Soviet pathopsychology B.V. Zeigarnik. She herself explained the occurrence of the phenomenon by the property of our psyche to bring everything to its logical conclusion. That is, the need to complete what has been started literally takes over the consciousness. At the moment of an unplanned interruption, tension arises - after all, all the efforts made were in vain. Thus, the work started “hangs” in the memory in order to be finally realized in the future. Sometimes it waits until completion, exhausting a person throughout his life.

An unfinished gestalt is always generated by past (usually traumatic) experiences:

1. When we really wanted something, but we didn't get it.
2. When we ended a relationship in an ambiguous environment or at the peak of emotions.
3. When you didn’t finish the work you started, a book, a date, a conversation.
4. When you successfully completed a task, but did not give yourself the opportunity to enjoy the result.
5. When the internal balance between “who I am” and “who I want to be” is disrupted.

All these unfinished gestalts literally chain us to people, places, and events of the past. They do not allow us to move forward, forcing us to mentally return to the situation, to play out similar scenarios in already changed circumstances. Thus, the betrayal and departure of the father provokes a woman to control every step of her husband

It doesn’t matter that the husband does not give reasons for jealousy - control and scandals intensify. And all because it was necessary to express the grievance to the father - the person with whom the gestalt was open

The influence of gestalts on loved ones

It would seem, how can our unfinished situations affect other people? However, those closest to us – children and partners – suffer the most from this. For example, a person who at one time dreamed of becoming an artist, but, following the instructions of his parents, went to a law school, will, without realizing the unfinished aspiration, send his child to all kinds of creative clubs. At the same time, they usually forget to ask the child himself about what he really wants, how to realize himself. After all, it is much easier to make an artist out of your child than to close the gestalt yourself, to work through an unfinished situation yourself.

In relationships, incompleteness manifests itself in the form of whims, incomprehensible demands, hysterics and inappropriate behavior

And the reason for this is the lack of attention received from the previous partner. In order not to torment people dear to your heart, it is necessary to work through and complete all unfinished processes, strive to close the gestalt in past relationships

What is the danger?

Unclosed gestalt is a condition that can develop into serious psychological problems. People constantly accumulate a huge amount of unfinished gestalts and don’t even notice it. As a result, over the years, many people develop nervousness; it seems that everything is not going as it should.

When the gelstat in a relationship is not closed, first of all, the person begins to experience constant discomfort and dissatisfaction with life. This can even provoke suicidal thoughts.

Nervoses, psychoses and other pathologies may develop. A person begins to suffer from prolonged depression. The individual becomes very lazy, apathetic, it seems that the person is going with the flow and is no longer trying to change anything in his life.

The concept of closed gestalt

Zeigarnik's fundamental work, based on experiment, became one of the starting points in the formation of the basic Gestalt principle - completeness and integrity. Based on the concept of K. Lewin, Zeigarnik explained her results as follows: an interrupted task or action leads to the emergence of psychological stress in the subject. In order for discharge to occur, the subject strives to complete a particular task, that is, he tries to make the image or memory complete, complete, and come to its logical conclusion. The concept of an unfinished task has often been used by Gestalt psychologists as an analogue to the unfinished perceptual and cognitive task introduced by Perls and Shepard.

Based on developed theories and conducted research, psychologists increasingly began to use the Gestalt principle in relation to situations. The concept of “closed gestalt” has acquired the connotation of an incomplete emotional or behavioral reaction of a person in a certain situation. Suggestions began to emerge that people tend to get “stuck” in events or experiences precisely because of an open gestalt. For example, a situation that happened to a person had an unsatisfactory ending for him. The tension that arises as a result of this is permanent and is not relieved by emotional release, since a person cannot change existing circumstances. However, there is one of the paradoxical principles of Gestalt therapy, which states that a situation or event could be interrupted due to the mechanism of avoidance as a defensive reaction of consciousness. The event may have been traumatic, and the experience of it caused the person to “withdraw” from the actions necessary for completion and subsequent internalization. But the subject constantly resorts to the same actions, unfinished in the past, is prone to fantasies and thoughts about the past situation, repeats the same scenarios of actions in parallel situations in the present time.

Therefore, they resort to the method of playing out situations and possible options for events that will allow them to “let go” of the situation

The task of a psychotherapist is to increase the awareness of a person’s actions, to draw his attention to what he is doing and why. That is, to transfer the gestalt from the unconscious to the conscious state

It is completeness, satisfaction from the “necessary” completion that allows a person to close the gestalt and, thereby, relieve psychological stress.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that B.V. Zeigarnik herself never practiced Gestalt therapy and had nothing to do with it. However, her research is still actively used by psychotherapists and psychologists of various directions. After all, it was the results of her experiment that led to the conclusion that a person’s personality constantly strives to complete situations or tasks. Interruption of such actions can cause psychological tension and may well form neurosis.

Bibliography:

• 1. Zeigarnik B.V. Personality and pathology of activity. M., 1971.
• 2. Sokolova E. T. Motivation and perception in health and disease. M., 1976.
• 3. Birenbaum G. Das Fergessen einer Fornahme. - “Psych. Forschung", 1931.
• 4. Lewin K. Vorsatz, Wille und Bedurfnis Berlin, 1926.
• 5. Lewin K. A dynamic theory of personality. NY - London, 1935.
• 6. Lewin K. Principles of topological psychology. NY, 1936.
• 7. Lewin K. The conflict between Aristotelian and Galilean modes of thought in contemporary psychology. NY, 1927.
• 8. Lewin K. Die phychologische situation bei Zohn und Strafe. Leipzig, 1931.
• 9. Owsiankina M. Die Wiederaufnahme unterbrochenen Handlungen.—“Psych. Forsch.”, 1928, Bd 10.
• 10. Zeigarnik B. Uber das Behalten erledigter und unerlegiter Handlungen.— “Psych. Forsch.”, 1927, Bd 9.

Editor: Chekardina Elizaveta Yurievna

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Gestalt therapy

Therapy is one of the types of psychological influence that allows you to forget about things and life situations that slow down new events and personal development. The specialist may not give instructions, but only correctly pushes in the right direction. The main goal of therapy is to establish unfinished gestalts and close them, after which the person begins to recognize himself as a holistic person. Various techniques are used for these purposes.

Main directions:

Working with feelings and emotions that cause depression and apathy. A person feels that he didn’t finish something, didn’t do something, didn’t receive something. As part of the therapy, it is suggested to open up, demonstrate your experiences, and experience them until relief is found. Group therapy is widely practiced, within which the opportunity to recreate the situation is provided. Self-analysis - to understand the incomplete gestalt, you need to analyze yourself and find the cause of your experiences. Attention to your body - harmony with yourself is achieved only if there is a connection between the physical and spiritual sides

A conscious attitude towards your bodily shell plays an important role. Body-oriented practices help to free destructive beliefs hidden from consciousness. Separating the present and the past - it is important to learn to distinguish past experiences from real life. The main principle is to live your life “here and now”

It is important to be able not to float away from the present into the past or future. An important role is played not only by the image of a person, but also by the surrounding environment, music, and smells. Experts advise not to visit such places, which will allow you to forget about emotional reinforcement.

How to work through your childhood unfinished gestalts?

Unclosed gestalt is a very common problem. This is due to the fact that many people suffer from incompleteness that formed many years ago. If in adult life a person experiences difficulties due to childhood grievances, then in this case psychologists recommend several things.

How to close the gestalt in a relationship

Unfinished gestalt haunts romantic relationships too. Most often it looks like this: there were some conflicts and arguments with the previous partner, which left a feeling of unsaidness and dissatisfaction. In a new relationship, a person inevitably provokes the same quarrels. He replays the problems that were not resolved with the previous satellite.

Man and woman quarreling

It is not uncommon for an unfinished gestalt to be found in the very incompleteness of the relationship. For example, a woman fell in love with a man, but he decided not to reciprocate her feelings. In her mind lives the hope of a reunion, that the young man will inflame with passion for her, and everything will be fine with them. The girl clings to any little thing that promises her good luck in this endeavor.

What’s most difficult is that closing such gestalts can be quite difficult. The problem does not go away, leaving some chance for a successful resolution. People invest their energy and time into it, although in fact all their expectations are initially unsuccessful. Tension grows, and the psyche comes up with illusions, showing the brain what is not really there in order to reduce the load. A person’s efforts intensify, and the protective response of the psyche also increases... The circle closes, and the result is a gestalt trap.

Woman in a gestalt trap

That is why the problem should be taken seriously. It is necessary to complete the gestalt, no matter how difficult it may be. The best way here is to remove the “hooks” that hold it in place.

This can be done in different ways: experience the situation, express it, get an answer, or simply shift the focus of importance to another matter. The advice is slightly different for both men and women.

For women

Women more often than men suffer from unclosed gestalts in love. This is due to their greater emotionality and more frequent mood swings. It seems that the girl has already married someone else and loves him. But the thoughts “this is how I should have told the first one” remain, even if there are no such feelings and never have been. Problems from past relationships are resurrected this time.

Considering women's thinking, the best ways to close the gestalt would be:

Intimate talk. Even if you no longer have anything in common with that once significant person, you can still meet and talk. Express your guesses and assumptions. At least for the sake of laughing at them. After such a conversation, relief will inevitably come.

Man and woman talking

• Story. You should imagine the development of events that haunts you, and say it (necessarily out loud, phrase by phrase). It is advisable to focus not on sublimely romantic details, but, on the contrary, on gray everyday life. This is done in order not to give unnecessary “clues” to the consciousness. The best option is if they tell it to the audience.
• Playback. If the new guy, the husband, agrees, then together with him you need to act out situations from the past. He will play the past passion, apologize and accept apologies as necessary, allowing the gestalt to be completed.

For men

Men are not nearly as elevated as women, which is why they treat romantic experiences more down to earth. They prefer not to leave any misunderstandings, clearly stating the facts. However, this is not a defense against incomplete gestalts in general. At the same time, the stronger sex is more accustomed to keeping everything to itself and not sharing experiences with others. Considering this feature, we can say that this is what will help close the gestalt:

Comparison and improvement. This method means working on yourself. By becoming better, a man can claim more beautiful and intelligent women nearby. This detracts from the value of the old gestalt.

A man works on himself

Introspection. Not trusting to bring an internal problem to the surface, guys can easily help themselves

To do this, they need to rethink what caught their attention, why, and whether it is so important. Forgiveness, farewell, gratitude. You won't have to meet your ex-passion

You just need to write her a letter, which you don’t have to send. It should describe all your grievances and experiences. Then forgive the woman and be sure to say goodbye. This will put a logical gestalt point. In the end, so that only good aftertaste remains, it doesn’t hurt to express gratitude for all the good that this lady brought.

What does incompleteness look like?

An open gestalt is actually incompleteness. It can manifest itself in relationships, food, tasks completed, and much more. For example, you can draw a very simple analogy with a computer.

If the user starts to turn off the computer before he has closed unsaved programs, then in this case the equipment may malfunction and even freeze. That is, even for a computer, a technically advanced intelligence, it is required that all tasks be previously completed, and only in this case can the equipment go into sleep mode or turn off.

The same thing happens with the psyche of any person. If he has at least 1 unfinished gestalt, then this can lead to the fact that he will not be able to enjoy life, build a career and move forward in every possible way. Very often such people complain that they are actually walking in a circle and cannot get out of it.

This can happen in relationships. For example, if 2 people decide to break up, then it may happen that 1 of them will blame himself for a long time for the fact that this relationship did not work out.

He will replay in his head what it would be like if he behaved differently and so on. Because of such an open gestalt, it is very difficult to build new relationships. As a result, a person becomes fixated on incompleteness.

With normal mental development, the presence of an open gestalt very often provokes people to move forward. However, incompleteness often harms the psyche, changing a person’s personality.

In some situations it is impossible to close the gestalt. For example, if a loved one passed away or moved to another country forever. However, in many other situations, it is possible and even necessary to end a previous relationship or any other unfinished business in order to start living with a clean slate.

In psychology there is also such a concept as the memory effect on unfinished actions. This means that the human brain will always focus more on what is in progress than on new tasks. Therefore, it is very difficult to just quit your previous business and successfully develop in something else. This is why there are a huge number of people who literally cannot find themselves.

They start one thing, but do not complete it. They immediately become interested in a new project, but it does not bring satisfaction either. As a result, a person suffers from many unclosed gelstats and complains that he cannot achieve success. But, if he had correctly put an end to each of his hobbies, such problems would not have existed.

Very often people have unfinished gestalts in relationships. This is what most often explains why people feel like they are pathologically unlucky in any relationship. The fact is that as soon as a break occurs between partners, one of them begins to suffer from an unclosed gestalt (as a rule, this is the person with whom they broke up).

As a result, the individual who has been abandoned experiences dissatisfaction and anger. He blames not only himself, but also his environment for the breakup.

This provokes prolonged depression, psychosis, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. A person becomes apathetic and begins to suffer more often from psychosomatic diseases. In conversations, he constantly focuses on the past and talks about his previous relationships.

Unclosed Gestalt

The term unfinished gestalt means any task or process that has not been completed. This should include unfulfilled dreams, goals and desires. Relationships that ended abruptly also fall into this category. Any physically unfinished task that is constantly being thought about is considered an unfinished gestalt. Signs of an open process are considered to be repeated situations and relationships, grievances, and the incessant voice of conscience.

This condition prevents you from doing something new and seriously complicates your life. Fear of repeating the situation prevents success. Closing the gestalt will help make life harmonious and find balance. Some people will be able to start a new life. It is worth noting that not everyone can close the gestalt on their own. In such a situation, it is recommended to seek the help of a psychologist.

When is the help of a psychotherapist needed?

Often it is not possible to close the gestalt on your own. Even moving to another country, changing jobs and developing new hobbies does not change the situation much. A permanent nervous state gradually develops and panic attacks may begin.

The inability to build new relationships can begin to negatively impact work. The person becomes forgetful and cannot concentrate. In this case, you should talk to a psychologist.

You should definitely consult a psychotherapist if you experience suicidal thoughts or prolonged depression. Sometimes one conversation with a specialist is enough to solve the problem. In other cases, the doctor may prescribe medication.