Case #86 - Why so fat?

Laila was fat. On the scale of obesity, she was somewhere in the middle. As is often the case, this was not something that she brought directly to therapy. It was something I observed, after getting to know her for some time.

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Case #87 - The Good Husband and the True Love

Chuan had never done therapy before. He was a businessman. His father made things out of wood, and had an small farm. Chuan had fond memories of his early years, being with his family; his father liked hunting, so they had big dogs. But during middle school he moved to another place than his father, and missed him.

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Case #88 - Strong symptoms, little information

John had attended a variety of personal growth groups. He had been wanting to come to a Gestalt group. So he was clearly keen to be here. He came up to work. I had been noticing him over several days, and now as he sat in front of me what struck me very strongly was his facial expressions. To look at him, I would think he was not simply nervous, but really distressed. He blinked rapidly, his mouth would twitch, his eyes narrowed as he talked. His eyes looked very frightened to me. My impression was of someone who was anticipating being hit.

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Case #89 - Opening up a very private realm

I could tell Lizzie was a bit tense, but didnt know what that was about. She seemed on edge, I imagined maybe angry. She talked about arguing with her father as a teenager about the topic at hand - spirituality. From both parents she experience a lack of support for her interest. Her mother undermined her, her father opposed and ridiculed her desire to understand more.

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Case #90 - When the client is more aware than the therapist

Martin had an acute sense of fairness. The context was that his parents asked a great deal of him, but offered him only criticism. This set the tone for our interaction. If I did anything in the therapy without being aware of it, whereby it was in some way for my own benefit, he would immediately notice it and remark on it. I was always happy to examine his criticisms and concerns.

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Case #91 - Talking with God, twice

Joanne had a very deep and significant spiritual experience as a teenager. It was ecstatic, and stemmed from an interest she had had in spirituality from childhood.

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Case #92 - The blissfulness of nothing

Zac talked about feeling depersonalised. As a kid he thought his mother was going to die (though she didnt). He did talk about his grandmother dying. He prayed to God as a child...but she still died. As a result, he because distrustful of religion - it seemed to him that God would do the opposite of what he asked for. For some reason, a bible story that he learnt had stayed with him - of someone who had prayed, and the the devil had come to tempt him.

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Case #93 - Depression is in the relationship

Terry was at a loss. He had been in a relationship with Dianne for several years. They clearly loved each other. They were both interested in the inner life, and had a strong bond.

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Case #94 - To be known, to know oneself

Louisa had been involved in personal growth work for over 10 years. She had not done a full professional training, but she had attended a lot of workshops, done her own study, and was committed to her own growth.

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Case #95 - Being intolerant to find spiritual tolerance

Sylvia brought a complex issue. She wanted to be able to take more responsibility for herself, as a kind of spiritual practice, but when faced with certain people, she would push them away, and create distance. Further, she would pressure herself, so taking more responsibility felt like choking herself. I asked what she was feeling in the present, and she reported turmoil.

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Case #96 - Spiritual work with aggression

Brenda raised the topic of authenticity. But she named it as a spiritual practice that she wanted to be able to achieve, rather than just a psychological method.

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Case #97 - The integration of spiritual experience

Victor wanted to understand more about what spirituality was, but he was unclear. Gestalt can be used with any figure of interest, and it does not require the therapist to be some kind of spiritual expert to be able to help someone clarify their awareness, or make sense of their experience.

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Case #98 - The unthawing of relationship

Katie spoke about her relationship with her husband. It had been very painful for a very long time. They had not had sex for 10 years. She felt towards him as sister and brother - 'a family' but with no sense of intimacy.

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Case #99 - Disrobing oneself

Jasmine responded to the topic of Religious Wounding. This describes emotional traumas experienced in the context of religious settings.

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Case #100 - What's the point?

Jill asked - what is the purpose of existence? This is a large spiritual question, and certainly one that is important at some point for most people.

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Case #101 - The compassionate no!

Wendy lived with her husband, and mother in law. Her children were grown, and her mother in law had Alzheimer's. Her issue was that she wanted to cultivate her spirituality by being more compassionate to her mother in law - Joan, but she couldn't stand the way that Joan bossed her around and tried to control things in the house.

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Case #102 - A pleasurable reward

Martha was depressed. The family business was not something she was very interested in; she didn't want to go to work, but felt guilty when she didn't. She went in and out of a dark depression, a general lack of motivation, and had considered going on medication. She had tried therapy, but the counselling was 'just chatting' and didn't help. She wanted help to get into doing a regular meditation practice, but she had no schedule, and could not get a regular rhythm going.

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Case #103 - Disciplining Ms Spontaneous

Molly wanted to establish a more regular meditation practice. She was very keen to do so, but, as with many people, found that she would do it for a while, then get out of the rhythm.

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Case #104 - A sensitive young woman

Lucy brought the issue of her sensitivity. What I noticed was her smiling a lot. I asked if she felt happy…and then, what kind of things gave her pleasure, and brought her happiness. Although this gave me some information, it didn't seem to connect up with the issue she brought, so I left it. Sometimes figures of interest such as these may be useful - later in the session, or at other times.

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Case #105 - Leaning and pushing

Patty brought the issue of 'stability', as in, she wanted more of it. In trying to understand what this meant for her, she mentioned that she often felt tired, but at the same time, she couldn't really rest well. As I talked about this with her, I not see much emotion going across her face. I asked about this, but she was not aware of her blankness.

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