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Chapter 8- Gestalt Therapy
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MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS
1. Who among the following is not considered a relational Gestalt therapist?
a. Fritz Perls
b. Laura Perls
c. Miriam Polster
d. Erv Polster
2. Gestalt therapy is a form of:
a. Freudian psychoanalytic therapy.
b. neo-Freudian analytic therapy.
c. behavior therapy.
d. existential therapy.
3. Field theory suggests that:
a. the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
b. human beings have a innate capacity to self regulate.
c. everything in human experience is relational and in constant flux.
d. phenomenological inquiry is the key to behavior change.
e. the “how” of behavior is more important than the “why” of behavior.
4. A healthy contact experience involves all of the following except:
a. interacting with others while maintaining a sense of self.
b. creativity.
c. maintaining balance between the figure and the ground.
d. projection.
5. Erv Polster believes that storytelling:
a. is always a form of resistance.
b. can be the heart of the therapeutic process since people are storytelling beings.
c. is acceptable only if one’s client is a writer.
d. is an indication that one’s client is a pathological liar.
e. is a sign of high verbal abilities, and thus, high intelligence.
f.
6. Which of the following is not considered one of the six methodological components of Gestalt therapy?
a. assessment
b. the here and now
c. the authentic encounter
d. process-oriented diagnosis
e. the paradoxical theory of change
7. A critical difference between early Gestalt therapy and relational Gestalt therapy is:
a. the emphasis on contact.
b. the approach to confrontation.
c. the use of techniques.
d. the focus on the figure formation process.
8. The Gestalt therapist:
a. freely makes interpretations for the client.
b. pays attention to the client’s nonverbal language.
c. is mainly nondirective.
d. helps the client understand why he or she is behaving in self-defeating ways.
e. assigns homework to bring about specific cognitive and behavior changes.
9. In Gestalt theory, the experiment is considered:
a. a specific technique of therapy.
b. a theoretical proposition crafted to fit the client’s unique needs.
c. a ready-made exercise used to achieve a behavioral goal.
d. a scientific procedure to assess the effectiveness of therapy.
10. When a person experiences an internal conflict (namely a conflict between top dog and underdog),
which of the following techniques would be most appropriate?
a. making the rounds
b. the reversal technique
c. the internal dialogue exercise
d. the rehearsal exercise
e. the exaggeration exercise
11. Often Greta, who struggles to feel good about herself, comes to sessions with slouched
posture. In order to help Greta gain a clearer understanding of the inner meaning of her slouched
posture, a Gestalt therapist might:
a. ask Greta to exaggerate her poor posture, which is likely to intensify her feelings attached
to it.
b. have Greta undergo hypnosis.
c. ask Greta to free associate to the words “slouched posture.”
d. refer her to an orthopedic surgeon to rule out scoliosis.
12. A Gestalt technique that is most useful when a person attempts to deny an aspect of his or her
personality (such as tenderness) is:
a. making the rounds.
b. the reversal exercise.
c. the rehearsal exercise.
d. the empty chair technique.
13.Mariah tells her therapist, a Gestaltist, that she dreamt she got married to a pit bull and felt
uneasy about telling her parents that she married a dog. When her parents discovered their son-in-
law was a pit bull, they disowned her and suddenly became dogs themselves. In response to this
dream, Mariah’s therapist:
a. may need to contact a psychiatric hospital (and possibly an animal shelter) since it is likely
Mariah unconsciously desires to marry a dog.
b. should interpret the dream for her client.
c. should assist her client in reliving the dream as though it was happening in the now and
have her become each part of the dream.
d. should encourage her client to forget the dream since it was meaningless.
14. The paradoxical theory of behavior change suggests:
a. we change by setting future-oriented goals.
b. clients should pay particular attention to becoming the person they wish to be.
c. careful attention should devoted to changing behavior in the moment it is happening.
d. we change through becoming aware of who we currently are.
e. change is facilitated when we accept our mortality.
15. The basic goal of Gestalt therapy is:
a. attaining awareness, and with it greater choice.
b. to understand why we feel as we do.
c. to uncover repressed material.
d. to help clients develop better social skills.
16. According to the Gestalt perspective, if people do not remember their dreams:
a. they may be refusing to face what is wrong with their lives.
b. that suggests they have no internal conflicts.
c. they are sound sleepers.
d. they lack creativity.
e. they should be referred to a therapist with a different theoretical orientation.
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17. A contribution of this therapeutic approach is that:
a. it enables intense experiencing to occur quickly.
b. it can be a relatively brief therapy.
c. it stresses doing and experiencing, as opposed to talking about problems.
d. all of these.
e. none of these.
18. According to Gestalt theory, people use avoidance in order to:
a. keep themselves from facing unfinished business.
b. keep from feeling uncomfortable emotions.
c. keep from having to change.
d. all of these
19. Empirical support for Gestalt therapy is:
a. weak.
b. well-developed.
c. becoming stronger.
d. unavailable.
20. According to Gestalt theory, all of the following are true about contact except:
a. contact is necessary for change and growth to occur.
b. one maintains a sense of individuality as a result of good contact.
c. withdrawal after a good contact experience indicates neurosis.
d. contact is made by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and moving.
e. we often tend to resist contact with others.
21. In Gestalt therapy, the relationship between client and counselor is seen as:
a. a joint venture.
b. an existential encounter.
c. an I/Thou interaction.
d. all of these
22. Which of the following is not true about Gestalt techniques?
a. “Exercises” are ready-made techniques.
b. “Experiments” grow out of the interaction between therapist and client.
c. Clients need to be prepared for their involvement in Gestalt techniques.
d. Experiments are always carried out during the therapy session, rather than outside it.
e. Techniques are used for the purpose of increasing the client’s awareness.
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23. Which of the following is not true about Fritz Perls?
a. He developed Gestalt therapy.
b. During his childhood, he was a model student.
c. He was trained in psychoanalysis.
d. He gave workshops and seminars at the Esalen Institute.
e. He aroused various reactions in the people he met.
24. Gestalt therapists say that clients resist contact by means of:
a. retroflection.
b. projection.
c. introjection.
d. all of these
25. Which of the following aspects of a client’s use of language would a Gestalt therapist not focus on?
a. “it” talk
b. “you” talk
c. questions
d. language that denies power
e. semantics
26. Which of the following is not true about the Gestalt view of the role of confrontation in therapy?
a. It is not possible to be both confrontational and gentle with clients.
b. It is important to confront clients with the ways they are avoiding being fully alive.
c. Confrontation does not have to be aimed at negative traits.
d. Confrontation should be a genuine expression of caring.
27. Which of the following Gestalt techniques involves asking one person in a group to speak to each of
the other group members?
a. the rehearsal exercise
b. the reversal technique
c. making the rounds
d. the exaggeration technique
28. The empty chair technique:
a. assists clients in reowning parts of their personality.
b. balances internal polarities.
c. allows clients to externalize an introject.
d. helps to resolve unfinished business.
e. all of these.
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29. Which of the following is not one of Miriam Polster’s three stages in her integration sequence?
a. reunification
b. discovery
c. assimilation
d. accommodation
30. A teenage girl is angry with her parents and cuts on her arm. In Gestalt terms, she is most likely
engaging in:
a. introjection.
b. projection.
c. retroflection.
d. confluence.
31. Because of his need to be liked, Jose makes careful efforts to get along with everyone and minimize
interpersonal conflicts. Which boundary disturbance is Jose exhibiting?
a. introjection.
b. projection.
c. retroflection.
d. confluence.
32. Which of the following is not one of the Gestalt group leader’s roles?
a. designing experiments for group members
b. evoking group catharsis.
c. engaging in self-disclosure
d. facilitating contact in the group setting
33. Without proper training, Gestalt therapists may:
a. evoke catharsis without having the ability to work it through with their client.
b. design faulty experiments.
c. may use ready-made techniques inappropriately.
d. may damage the therapeutic relationship with the client.
e. all of these.
34. Contemporary Gestalt therapists view client resistance as:
a. a way that clients avoid confrontation.
b. a sign of poor motivation for therapeutic work.
c. a therapy interfering force that needs to be overcome.
d. an element of therapy that needs to be respected.
35. Which of the statements below regarding emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is not true?
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a. EFT methodology is similar to Gestalt therapy but emphasizes empirically supported
treatments.
b. EFT was developed by Fritz Perls’ wife, Laura.
c. EFT blends the relational aspects of the person-centered approach with the active
phenomenological awareness experiments of Gestalt therapy.
d. EFT entails the practice of therapy being informed by understanding the role of emotion in
psychotherapeutic change.
e. All are true.
TRUE/FALSE TEST ITEMS
Decide if each of the following statements is “more true” or “more false” from the perspective of Gestalt
therapy.
1. Gestalt theory is best considered as a form of psychoanalytic therapy.
2. The Gestalt therapist typically uses diagnosis and interpretation as a basic part of the therapeutic
process.
3. In the Gestaltist view, unfinished business is best explored in the present.
4. A Gestalt therapist pays attention to ways the client uses language.
5. Therapy is based upon the successful resolution of the transference relationship.
6. Both contact and withdrawal are necessary and important to healthy functioning.
7. Gestalt therapy makes use of a wide variety of techniques that are designed to increase the
client’s awareness of his or her present experiencing.
8. According to Perls, awareness of and by itself is not sufficient to lead to change; clients must
also put their experiences into some type of cognitive framework if change is to happen.
9. The Gestalt approach to dream work consists of the therapist interpreting the meaning of the
symbols in the dream.
10. Since Gestalt therapists believe that questions have a tendency to keep the questioner
hidden, safe, and unknown, they often ask clients to change their questions into
statements.
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11. Gestalt therapy is designed for individual counseling, and it typically does not work well in
groups.
12. One of the contributions of Gestalt therapy is the vast empirical research that has been done to
validate the specific techniques used.
13. The goal of Gestalt therapy is to solve basic problems, to resolve one’s polarities, and to help
the individual to adjust to his or her environment.
14. Gestaltists typically ask why questions in the attempt to get clients to think about the source of
their problems.
15. Gestalt therapy focuses on the cognitive aspects of therapy.
16. Gestalt techniques can be considered experiments.
17. Part of success in using Gestalt techniques is contingent upon preparing clients for these techniques.
18. Most of the Gestalt techniques are designed to intensify one’s experiencing.
19. Gestalt therapies view a client’s avoidance behavior as related to unfinished business.
20. Blocked energy is a form of defensive behavior.
21. Retroflection involves doing to others what we would like them to do to us.
22. In Gestalt therapy, a client’s resistance is welcomed and used to deepen their therapeutic work.
23. People who rely on retroflection tend to inhibit themselves from taking action out of fear
of embarrassment, guilt, and resentment.
24. A current trend in Gestalt therapy is toward greater emphasis on the client/therapist relationship
rather than on techniques.
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25. Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is synonymous with Gestalt therapy.
26. Since Gestalt therapy focuses on the here-and-now, the past is neither explored nor given
emphasis.
27. In Gestalt terms, awareness refers to our connectedness to our external and internal worlds.
28. Fritz Perls’ wife Laura stated, “Without the constant support from his friends, and from
me, without the constant encouragement and collaboration, Fritz would never have written
a line, nor founded anything.”
29. Although Perls used a highly confrontational approach in dealing with client avoidance and
resistance, the confrontational model is not representative of contemporary Gestalt therapy.
30. Gestalt group therapists use experiments to encourage clients to move from talking about action to
taking action.