Gestalt is expressed as a whole formed by the parts coming together. This word, which is of German origin, has taken its place in the psychotherapy school by passing into the psychology literature in its original form. As it can be understood from its meaning, Gestalt Therapy school is based on looking at the person as a whole in terms of the environment they live in and the world they come into contact with. With a holistic approach, he says that people can neither live separately from their environment nor can they be divided into parts as mind and body. The individual is a whole with his past experiences, family, relationships, feelings, thoughts, behaviors and sensations. And these are all indivisible elements of our being. He says: The individual has "unfinished works" in all this unity, and the majority of the behaviors that the individual presents are the reflections of completing these unfinished works. As an example, I think that the term "unfinished business", which is the answer to the questions "I always experience the same thing or why am I always in the same cycle", explains what I mean to some extent. At this point, he also says that our choices are not coincidental. For example, the effects of experiences that cannot be resolved with the father or the mother in the choice of mate affect the choice of mate. If the daughter of a person whose father abuses alcohol and abuses her family and is living with such a person when she grows up, this is not a choice. And the opposite is not a coincidence if she is having a relationship with someone who is very true and acceptable. These examples are given in a simpler way to be understood, but most of the time, when I show the client the contact points and the past, I witness that they are very surprised and impressed and accept this sincerely. Gestalt therapy is an exploration in which a person embarks on a journey towards himself. If a person wants to receive gestalt therapy, they must be willing and open to go on their inner journey. In the first session, the therapist begins to inform and empower the client about this journey. In fact, the answer to the questions is in the person himself. The therapist encourages the person to find and realize these answers and make bold decisions in their life. Anyone who practices Gestalt therapy For the therapist, each client is unique and unique. Each client is a new mirror and a new self. When therapy ends, both the client and the therapist are no longer the same person. The Gestalt therapist is not a counselor who answers the question marks in the problem areas of the client or gives advice, but is the person who guides the client in the answers he finds to his questions. The answer to the question is in the client and he should make his own choices. He must be willing and willing to take responsibility for the path he has chosen. At this point, the client understands: “I need to start this path”. Clients who do not want to be on the path of self-actualization and who like to make excuses prefer to end the therapy, while clients who dare to make their own choices and decisions continue the therapy and embark on an authentic journey. Anyone who wants to progress on the Gestalt path should ask himself the question "What am I doing and how am I doing it?" There is no "WHY" in Gestalt. In Gestalt Therapy, it is essential to approach oneself with compassion and compassion, always with a child's curiosity. The therapist approaches the client in the same way and approaches what the client brings to the session as if they want to rediscover and learn with the curiosity of the child. As an example, I can give the following: For example, the client mentions that there is an important obstacle in front of him. It is essential for the client to have a functional definition of what the obstacle means from the client's eyes, as if encountering this word for the first time, from the client's point of view, sometimes to ask him to describe or express it with metaphors and to look at the world through his/her eyes. In Gestalt Therapy, the client is focused on the "here and now". I mentioned that Gestalt is to evaluate the parts as a whole formed by coming together. At this point, you can consider a piano for better understanding. And we, as living amateur pianists, only use certain keys of the piano when playing the piano. However, there are 88 keys on the piano, but we have always played the piano from the same place with the keys we have learned and taught since our childhood. Without using the other keys and as if the other keys are too far away from us... Most of the problems that the client brings to the session are the lack of contact with other keys. It is due to their nature and the anxiety of contacting them. Because the keys he used to use now became useless in the events he encountered. The client should be open to touching other keys and should be flexible in this regard. As therapists, we want the client to be aware of the existence of other keys that he or she does not use or avoid, and want the client to approach the problems he encounters in his own life like a professional pianist. In therapy, the client's problems are not approached pathologically. It is approached as a level of consciousness. For example, instead of saying that the incoming client has borderline symptoms, they are approached as the client in "Borderline Consciousness". Many techniques are also used in therapy. With techniques such as dance, movement, drama, music, art, etc., the client is confronted with the sides that he has not contacted, and it is tried to raise awareness in this direction. Some thematic experiments are carried out. For example; It is a thematic experiment to initiate and dramatize a dialogue between one's current position and one's idealized position. Dream and body studies are also thematic experiments. In Gestalt, the process, not the result, is important and very valuable. In therapy, the client and counselor are both active. The counselor does not enter the session with the idea that I will do this with my client today. Therapies proceed spontaneously. Gestalt Therapy is a therapy free from prejudices and stereotypes. In the mind of the therapist, the client is not qualified in any way. What I want to say here; For example, the therapist, who encounters a client with tattoos all over him, does not open the "tattooed person" file in his mind. Every client has a story and tries to discover the client in this story. In the session, there is a common life where both the client and the counselor go on a journey. It is a session in which both of them will stay in the 'moment' and move forward by touching each other's depths. If you are willing to explore your own touch points, understand and realize yourself, and take more courageous steps in life and touch the keys of your piano that you do not use, you can try to embark on a spontaneous and harmonic journey with a Gestalt therapist.
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