Case #106 - The thin red line

Jillie started out talking about her marriage. There was very little sex, and there had been a number of years where her husband was away working for long periods. Now he had returned home. She had married him for security after some major upheavals in her world, but was not that attracted to him.

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Case #107 - Using authority to exit from violence

Kirstie was in a domestic violence relationship She grew up in a large family; even though her father was away working during part of her childhood, her memories were basically good.

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Case #108 - After abuse, the gift of pleasure

Elise plunged right in. She spoke about being molested as a 5 year old girl. This was the first time in her life she had shared this with anyone, and she was in her mid 40's.

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Case #109 - Removing the burden

Sally had reported a number of symptoms - a feeling of chaos, some pain in her upper back, and the experience of blushing, which she connected to fear of a lack of acceptance.

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Case #110 - Hidden aggression

Macy smiled a lot. She seemed a very genuinely warm and friendly person, hard to dislike on first appearance. She seemed to be there for others, and clearly liked to be helpful.

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Case #111 - Fear of fighting

Lucy was coughing. It wasn't a normal cough. It sounded like a mix between choking and a dry cough of something that couldn't come up. She was also breathing quite heavily. She was in distress, and whatever it was that was happening to her, wasn't moving. She said that she couldn't stand listening to any sounds at that moment.

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Case #112 - The devil says: let go

Serena brought the issue of her jaw. Several years previously she had an infection in it. She had it treated, and there was an 80% improvement. But it hadn't got better than that. It annoyed her - her jaw clicked, it didn't feel quite right, there was some uncomfortable feeling in the nerves. She wanted to see if it could get completely better

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Case #113 - Leadership into intimacy

Jeremy was a genuinely nice guy, sensitive, considerate, thoughtful. He brought up the issue of his speediness, as compared to his wife, who was slower. On the one hand he tried to be considerate of her, telling her that it was ok if she didn't finish some things around the house. On the other hand he was frustrated at how long it took for her to do things - he wanted to take over sometimes. He was also frustrated because there didn't seem to end up being much space for doing things together, as a result of her slowness.

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Case #114 - Brewing anger, releasing pain

Melanie was keen to work. However, before we jumped into her issue, I firstly shared something about where I was at in relation to her. This can be a component of the relational Gestalt approach - for the therapist to include their own experience and phenomenology, setting the ground in the therapeutic relationship.

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Case #115 - Redefining oppressive authority

Angelina reported feeling some feelings of sadness, and guilt, about her 'family'. At first this appeared to include her husband, who she was separated from. But then it became more clear this was about her children - young adults, who she had not seen much of in the last three years of separation.

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Case #116 - Bye priest, hello woman

Brad had been a catholic priest for 10 years. He had left the priesthood a year previously, and was not studying for a new profession. He felt good in his choices, but did not feel he could get close to women in an intimate way. He wanted to find a partner, and raise a family. But the leftover from his priest experience was an automatic distancing from closeness with women, or at least from their sexuality.

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Case #117 - A life map to follow your bliss

Carlita saw herself with two choices, and she was confused. On the one hand she was considering going into politics. On the other hand, she wanted to just 'follow her bliss', and see where life took her, without agendas.

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Case #118 - Aaaaaahhhhh. Oooooohhhh

Marlene came forward. This was my first encounter with her. I said - I am interested to get to know you, and this is a two way process, so I would also like to hear your curiosities about me. In Gestalt we are oriented towards a horizontal relationship, developing mutuality, and that includes the client knowing about me, as much as I know about them. This has to be done carefully of course, so that I am not inundating them with information about me, nor inappropriately disclosing more than they are comfortable with, nor doing so for my own needs. This is about enhancing contact and creating the grounds for deepening relationship.

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Case #119 - Cold jealousy, hot desert

Tilda had problems with jealousy. She did not appear to have a tragic childhood. Her parents were supportive, as were her grandparents. She was finding her way in life, she was creative and energetic.

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Case #120 - Lost in a story world

Numi had had what seemed to be very strong emotional reactions to others in the group - not negative, but very sensitive. She had also, in her feedback, tended to tell a large and very big story about herself. So when it came to working with her, I remarked on this. I remarked on her big stories, and the big emotions that she showed. She started talking about her history, which I was interested in. She had been on medication, so I asked her about what had happened so she had to go on medication. She started going into the story in very great details. The story was important and there were many big events that helped me understand what had led to her taking medication. However, the stories led, one to the other, and I we could have sat there all day while she told me stories all day about her distress, her life, what had happened, her difficulties.

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Case #121 - Partner blaming

Sally admitted to being a bitch. She would easily berate her husband. There were many things about him that infuriated her. His lack of responsibility with money and his lack of career drive was one of those things.

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Case #122 - A complicated relationship

I told Rosemary that I wanted to get to know her. She came with a very open and positive attitude towards me. She said she wanted to know something beautiful about me. This I found a difficult question - somehow easier to answer a question that requires me to be self critical. Nevertheless, this was her request, and so I looked into myself - and told her that I am an open person that people felt very comfortable around - which is true.

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Case #123 - In search of the elusive feelings

Lenny wanted to feel. He was not in touch with his feelings, at all. I asked at what point he had lost contact with his feelings. This is a field oriented question, paying attention to context. He said before the age of 30 he felt them more. I asked what happened when he was 30: he got married; for 3 years. We were now 13 years later, and he had not remarried.

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Case #124 - Meeting in spite, hate and acceptance

Abby spoke sharply. She was annoyed by another man in the group, and the way he expressed his feelings. She was critical, and somewhat condescending.

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Case #125 - Fear turns to excitement

Martin came with the issue that during the group meditation period, he had felt some tension in his stomach. I enquired whether this queasy feeling was familiar - it was not usual.

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