Deck 9: Gestalt Therapy Gary Yontef and Lynne Jacobs

Question 1

The idea that individuals are growth-oriented, self-regulating, and only understandable within the context of their environment is known as

A) organismic self-regulation.
B) contact.
C) static awareness.
D) holism.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

While receiving constructive criticism, Sally is able to accept the opinions of her mother that are helpful and discard those that are not beneficial. Sally is demonstrating

A) introjection.
B) assimilation.
C) projection.
D) retroflection.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The Gestalt term describing an individual's ability to focus on the here and now is

A) contact.
B) organismic self-regulation.
C) conscious awareness.
D) experimentation.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Wilhelm Reich described how individuals often engage in repetitive experiences, behaviors, and body postures that keep them fixed in roles. He referred to this concept as

A) lack of self-awareness.
B) character armor.
C) holistic determination.
D) locked development.

Question 5

After receiving a pay raise, Danny wants to celebrate with others. Instead, he buys champagne and celebrates alone because he has no close friends. This reflects the boundary disturbance of

A) introjection.
B) assimilation.
C) projection.
D) retroflection.

Question 6

The phenomenological perspective asserts that all reality is

A) objectively defined.
B) subjectively interpreted.
C) descriptive behaviors.
D) causal of problems.

Question 7

A set of mutually interdependent elements is referred to as a

A) field.
B) Gestalt.
C) whole.
D) context.

Question 8

The word Gestalt is analogous with

A) perceptual whole.
B) creative indifference.
C) in the moment.
D) conscious awareness.

Question 9

The paradoxical theory of change states that individuals

A) who force themselves to act differently will create automatic changes.
B) will stay the same when attempting to become who they are not.
C) cannot change others but can change how they react to others.
D) who believe in change are creating a delusion to relieve their anxiety.

Question 10

Although similar in some ways to rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and cognitive therapy (CT), a Gestalt therapist

A) believes thoughts about the future are not relevant.
B) would not use changes in behavior to change thoughts.
C) disregards the idea of moralistic thoughts in relation to guilt.
D) does not imply that he or she knows the rational way to think.

Question 11

A parent and a child become so enmeshed that the child can no longer experience a sense of separate identity. This is known as

A) contact.
B) isolation.
C) confluence.
D) assimilation.

Question 12

Which of the following would be inconsistent with the dialogic relationship?

A) Conveyance of empathic understanding
B) Therapist display of authenticity
C) Mutual patient-therapist self-disclosure
D) Therapist control of the outcome

Question 13

In contrast to the theoretical foundations, changes in Gestalt therapy and psychoanalysis have occurred with both approaches now emphasizing

A) instinctual urges.
B) id, ego, and superego.
C) self in relation to others.
D) deterministic principles.

Question 14

Which of the following individuals and his collaborators founded Gestalt therapy?

A) Gary Yontef
B) Fritz Perls
C) Albert Einstein
D) Martin Buber

Question 15

In contrast to psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy emphasized the

A) rule of abstinence.
B) importance of therapist neutrality.
C) transference neurosis.
D) potential of the here and now.

Question 16

The purpose of a boundary is to

A) separate us from others.
B) connect us to others.
C) separate and connect us to others.
D) divide biological and psychological needs.

Question 17

Five years later, a patient remains negatively affected by the murder of a friend. A Gestalt therapist would say the patient's current field is being affected by the

A) actual murder itself.
B) guilt the patient can't resolve.
C) memory of the event.
D) repression of the event.

Question 18

According to Gestalt therapy, psychological adjustment requires

A) unconditional positive regard by others.
B) an awareness of our need states.
C) congruence between objective and subjective reality.
D) equality between actual and ideal self-concepts.

Question 19

Achieving a balance between individual needs and the environment reflects

A) creative adjustment.
B) introjection.
C) holism.
D) polarity.

Question 20

Objective reality, as defined by a Gestalt therapist, is

A) nonexistent.
B) patient-therapist congruence.
C) events on which observers agree.
D) events on which observers disagree.

Question 21

Circular causality refers to interactions that are

A) based on irrational beliefs.
B) self-enhancing.
C) linear but temporally unrelated.
D) reciprocating.

Question 22

Gestalt psychotherapy is focused on _______ rather than on _______.

Question 23

When the experience of coming together is blocked repetitively, one is left in a state of______________, which is a boundary disturbance.

Question 24

Gestalt therapy's empty-chair technique, in which a patient is encouraged to express feelings to others or themselves in a symbolic manner, would be an example of

A) enactment.
B) focusing.
C) guided imagery.
D) body awareness.

Question 25

In Gestalt therapy, the concept of unconscious is replaced by the concepts of _______ and _______.

Question 26

Gestalt therapy was developed by _______ and _______.

Question 27

In treating anxiety, a Gestalt therapist is most likely to

A) teach the patient to breathe more fully.
B) explore past events that led to the anxiety.
C) make a referral to a psychiatrist for medication.
D) discuss his or her own feelings of anxiety with the patient.

Question 28

When a patient remains stuck in nonfunctional ways of thinking and behaving, a Gestalt therapist would say the patient is experiencing

A) bad Gestalt.
B) too much support.
C) an impasse.
D) organismic self-regulation.

Question 29

Positive mental health is seen as the ability for an individual to shift between figure and ground; in other words, to be able to deal with competing concepts like life and death, which are considered _______.

Question 30

What results from the creative adjustment that occurs in a context of environmental possibility?

A) Resistance
B) Polarities
C) Health and maturity
D) Creative enlightenment

Question 31

If a psychoanalytic therapist observed a Gestalt therapist in action, he or she might be concerned about the therapist's

A) emphasis on the past.
B) attempts to force behavior change.
C) maintenance of a passive stance.
D) degree of self-disclosure.

Question 32

The primary emphasis of Gestalt therapy is on the

A) past.
B) present.
C) future.
D) unknown.

Question 33

In most types of therapy, the therapist may not reveal considerable amounts of information about themselves. In Gestalt therapy, therapist disclosure is considered _______ if done _______.

Question 34

Gestalt therapy focuses on the _________________, believing that to be consciously aware is to be engaged in the fully embodied human experience with another.

Question 35

Research inevitably finds that relational conditions such as acceptance, warmth, and genuineness on the part of the therapist are important predictors contributing to what successful therapeutic style?

A) Neurology
B) Therapeutic relationship
C) Dialogic relationship
D) Psychoanalytic development

Question 36

The word Gestalt comes from a German word meaning _______.

Question 37

A Gestalt therapist would view resistance as

A) intentional thwarting of the therapy process.
B) an attempt to maintain psychological integrity.
C) reflective of an underlying id-superego conflict.
D) created by the patient in response to transference.

Question 38

Gestalt therapists believe that it is important for human self-regulation to be _______ in order for the individual to become fully aware in a healthy manner.

Question 39

________________ is trying something new, an alternative to the purely verbal methods of psychoanalysis and the behavior control techniques of behavior therapy.

Question 40

The primary goal of Gestalt therapy is

A) elimination of psychopathology.
B) increased awareness.
C) insight regarding conflicts.
D) behavior change.

Question 41

Gestalt therapy started out as a revision of psychoanalysis and then evolved. Discuss how Gestalt therapy and psychoanalysis are similar and how they are different. Compare the Gestalt therapy view of insight with Freud's view.

Question 42

Gestalt theory states that people function according to an overarching principle called creative adjustment. What does this term mean?

Question 43

What is the goal of Gestalt therapy? What would indicate to a therapist that client is making progress in therapy?

Question 44

Describe the concepts of holism and field theory. How are they related to understanding humans?

Question 45

All techniques in Gestalt therapy are considered experiments. Choose three techniques a Gestalt therapist may use in the course of therapy and discuss when and why they might be chosen.