301

EI t,,
patient, patient can learn to evaluate how effectively hc
is well versed, the
works. Thus seen, the therapeutic process is also aprocess of the patient's
becoming emancipated, at the end of which - but not at the beginning
ET 5. What is process diagnosis?

little character - one might thus summarise Perls'

T'he healthy person has
the relationship is symmetrical. However, this process of emancipatiorr
must be consciously supported. Thus, for example, the therapist must
be constantly aware of the risk (to which Staemmler is right to draw our
H and Goodman's ideas on the problem of character.

,Self-conquest is socially esteemed as >character<. A man of character

attention) that patients will almost inevitably tend to introject clinical
expressions and to link them to a negative self-concept. E:f does not succumb to )weaknessr (this >weakness< actually is the sponta-
neous eros that accomplishes all creation.) [...] The antisexual society
that bases its ethics on character - perhaps somewhat more in the im-

\irr:,:1l:l:i:l:1
Using the language with which the patient is familiar and then,
lEil mediately previous centuries than nowadays - attributes all achievement
to repression and self-control. And certain aspects of our civilization
are probably due to character: namely the vast empty faqade, the mere
from this starting point, cautiously expand her capacity to ex-
press herself in terms that she herself can understand, ril quantity, the imposing front; for these constitute the ever-needed proofs
of dominating men and nature, they are proofs of potency. But grace,
warmth, strength, good sense, gayety, tragedy: these are impossible to

always making sure by using self-discovery experiments that the

patient is also able to experience her reaction formations and
ft persons of character.( (PHG, Ch.IXl7, pp. 364-365)

These are potent words. For gestalt therapy, fixed character traits are
relationship strategies, interruptions to contact and difficulties
with the contact boundary through the senses and thus also
gain a deeper understanding of them and
H neurotic because they inhibit their creatiue adjustments to constantly
changing situations, interrupting the learning and deuelopment of new
skllls. They are the sum total of all of a person's reaction formations

providing the conditions for exploration of broader potentials for

H which inhibit their creative adjustments to constantly changing
situations, in other words, which prevent people from learning and
developing new skills. For Gestalt therapy, fixed character traits are the
growth, helping the patient to find her own paths and modes
of development.
T;I sum total of all a person's reaction formations. They are neurotic because
they inhibit their creative adjustments to constantly changing situations,
interrupting the learning and development of new skills.

Fig. 5: Factors that contribute to the patient's emancipation (@ Dreitzet/Stelzer2004) fil A person with a strong, flrm, even unbending characterwas an ideal of
the bourgeoisie in the 19th century. This was (in Germany, at least) part
The most important point both in everyday life and in the context ol'
psychotherapy, is that all judgements and appraisals must remain open
to change so that they do not become labels or self-fulfllling prophecies.
E;L of the bourgeoisie's attempt to immunise and stabilise itself against pres-
sure for social change in the burgeoning technological era. In the 20th
century this ideal degenerated into the fascist ideal of a self-dominating,
If you tell someone he is a narcissist, at the end of the therapyhe may say
>I am aware of my narcissistic tendencies< and resign himself to them, not
without a certain self-satisfaction. From a Gestalt point of view, therapy
ET steely and immovable man or the opinionated pighead. Now that the
speed of technical innovation has become almost accepted as normal
and we have the spheres, consumption and media, in addition to that
is a continuous process of co-constructing understandings or insights
that is never finished because the three sources of our own self-imagcs
and our images of others - perception, experience (which may inclurlc
ff,r
I
of work, different psychological structures have become socially desir-
able; the demand is for a new flexibility in addressing and confronting
the tasks.
more therapy) and communication - are constantly producing new datir
in new processes in our lives. ffir
I

I
321
I

But what does neurotic actually mean? This is how pHG deflne
Ef, If we take a closer lookwe find that most of the time it is not the contents,
I

133

it:
Tfl i.e. our frustrated needs and longings, that are repressed, but the way we
coped with our frustrations and anxieties, in other words, our survival
strategies. And this repression is not a passive process, but one of active

Efl suppression in the present. Thus, the central question in therapy is not,
>Ih4tathas the patient repressed?<, but > How is the patient now suppress-
ing his knowledge of the purpose that this behaviour once served?< The

Fig. 6: Neurotic behaviours (as defined in pHC 1951/1992) Efl answer to this question shows us howwe repeatedly succumb to neurotic
processes. Once again:

Every neurotic behaviour was once a creative act, a reaction

to difficult
circumstances that enabled the child or adult to survive psychologi-
cally and sometimes also physically. The problem is, however,
ri
situation has changed. The demands u." ,orr different and yet we
that the

- without realising it - react with our old strategies, which have now
still Iil
rfl
become ineffective and a hindrance. This is beciuse we have tbrgot-
ten or repressed all knowledge of the original
function of our creative
adjustments, i.e. of the strategies *" r."d-to survive and cope with
the
conditions in which we found ourselves.
rfl Fig. 8: The neurotic process - general definition (o Dreitzel/Stelzer2004)

#r1.',, (s. Freud, orthodox

rf, A diagnostic map should tell us which routes lead into neurotic quag-
mires and how we can flnd our way out of them again. We can impede
ourselves in different ways and these ways can be classifled. A classifica-
tion should be general and abstract enough to provide good orientation,
Tfl
(Perls/Coodman and
,ii ,i:'. ,i psychoanalysis): r..1r.1,,.., r'r'r'' I' feCgntfeSeafch): and speciflc and concrete enough not to be completely divorced from
riAn runpleasant or traumatic experience :i,Memories of unpleasant experiences
reality. Imagining it as a map is a good way to illustrate what is meant.
is automatically pushed into the un- aie'actively avoided. Resistance is a A map is highly abstract, i.e. it omits most of the concrete conditions of
conscious and remains inaccessible to
,allnormal efforts to recall it. lt can only
be made conscious again by means of
,,combination of deliberate suppression
and avoidance of the memory and
isimple forgetting and
IIfl reality in which it is intended to provide orientation. It shows only what
the map reader needs, e.g. the contour lines for hikers and the different
types ofroads for drivers.

Iri
spontaneous
special therapeutic methods such as rdirection of attention to
more current
,hypnosis, On the other hand in the life problems. These real conditions that are relevant for orientation are then represented

rt
unconscious it is never forgotten.
Thus there are two mechanisms of re- l by symbols, e.g. triangles for forests or double red lines for motorways or
(This formulation does not do justice to pression: freeways. \iVhile there are conventions for these symbols, they vary slightly
much of the less orthodox psychoana-
. direction of attention to more current from map to map and so each map has a,legend. to explain its symbols.
lysis and depth psychology practised
problems and

TP
I

today but was the view against which

o active avoidance of memories of Thus, the diagnostic map that we need to do effective therapy must be
the Cestalt Therapy approach original-
ly set itself apart.) being in a life-threatening situation. both as formal as possible and relatively rough. It needs to be as formal

Fig. 7: What does repression mean? (@ Dreitzet/Stetzer2004)

rln as possible so that it can be useful despite the irreducible complexity
of individual personal histories. It needs to be relatively rough because
it is only intended as a means of orientation and should not cramp the
 I

341 fjE I

ri
135
style of the individual therapist or detract from the uniqueness of each
therapeutic encounter. Many roads lead to Rome, but not all. l{owever, we should not conclude from the term >organism-environment
field< that the environment is always external. In this context the word
))organism( is taken to mean the subject of experiencing. For this subject
\Mhile the concepts used in diagnosis in Gestalt therapy should be
compatible with its theory, it should also be possible to link them to the
prevailing forms of clinical diagnosis so that we can communicate with rfl the body and even the mind can, at least partly, become the environ-
ment. We can have loving contact (masturbation) and aggressive contact
(self-mutilation) with our own bodies and in meditation it is possible
therapists of other schools and benefit from the existing clinical litera-
ture. In what follows I develop such a diagnostic map. However, to use it
one needs to use the methods of Gestalt therapy, i.e. conduct therapy as
a dialogical encounter between therapist and patient which focuses on
rfl to distance ourselves from our own thoughts and to enter into a non-
confluent contact with them. Also, many contact processes begin with
physical or emotional needs, so that the contact boundary is inside the
the patient's contacting process.
Eil body at the start of the contact process. Sometimes, for instance in the
case of physical pain, it remains there. The contact boundary has two
formal properties or qualities (see Fig. 10).
6. The contact boundary is
where Gestalt formatioh takes place E
\Mhatever we experience takes place at the contact boundary.
til relative
permeability

Fig. 10: The formal properties of the contact boundary (o Dreitzel/stetzer 2004)

lrfl These properties are dynamic qualities. During a contacting process they
change as if of their or.rm accord unless they are disturbed. The organism-

Fig. 9: Definition of the contact boundary (o Dreitzet/stetzer2OO4)

lril cnvironment fleld (ground) organises itself at the contact boundary into
a figure on the basis of our needs or intercsts. The relevant elements
the organism (skills, capacities, identiflcations) and of the environment
of

Thus, what happens at the contact boundary is not one-sided, but always H (what promises or prevents satisfaction) are combined then and there
into a holistic experience In this process of gestalt formation the contact
boundary is charged with energy up to a certain point, after which there

H
an interaction between the person and certain elements of his environ-
ment, so that the organism/environment fleld (as it is termed in pHG) is a somewhat more rapid discharge of energy. Fuelled by the person's
can also beviewed from the other side.we are elements of otherpeople's needs, the psychophysical organism mobilises its energy resources
environments and human beings in general are environmentai factors until the need is satisfled and the flgure dissolves again and there is the
for social systems.
Ell organism/environment fleld now left without much energy. However,
if the surging energy of the id functions in Fore-Contact is suppressed
out of fear unconsciously fuelled by repression, the resources required
However, for the purposes of diagnosis we usualry limit ourselves to
the patient's perspective, i.e. we look at the contact boundary from the
viewpoint of his experience. only occasionally do we consider the contact
boundary from the perspective of the therapist, for example, when we
rlI to discover and identi\r with environmental novelty will be weakened
at the contact boundary with the result that the flgure will remain pale
and the satisfaction incomplete.
are interested in the therapist's experiencing and how he might bring
himself into the process. IJI The second property of the contact boundary, in addition to its energy
charge, is its relative permeability. The contact boundary can be such
r-,.H
361
I itr I

137

that the organism and environment inter-penetrate each other in it, so

that we do not experience ourselves as clearly separate from our envi-
ronment. For example, when we snuggle into a blanket or up to another
rfl 7. The phase model of the contacting Process

we are in a constant process of exchange with our environments, in

rfl
So
person, we have the impression that our physical boundary is dissolved; which both we ourselves and our environments change. Everl'thing we
differentiation is not an issue. Conversely, the contact boundary can need for our physical, mental and psychological life and survival is out-
become highly impermeable. We experience such differentiation most side of us. We have to seek it out, render it accessible to us and assimilate
strongly in work situations when we struggle to get to process material
that offers resistance (e.g. when we chop wood) and in social situations
where we are asserting our position and draw our boundaries against
rfl it, both literally and metaphorically. Breathing, the most elementary
exchange p.o.e.t, plays an important role in Gestalt therapy' Simply, by
inhaln[ we extraci the oxygen that we need from the air and by exhal-
another person (e.g. in a dispute or quarrel).

However, this property of the contact boundary must also be understood

rfl ing we expel what we do not need. At this level the exchange process is a
homeostitic system of the organism/environment field. The ingestion
of food is somewhat more complicated, again we are concerned with
in terms of dynamics, i.e. it changes several times in the course of a
normal, uninterrupted contacting process. Initially it varies in perme-
ability: when the ego is identifzing the boundary is more permeable,
ffl maintaining or restoring a state of equilibrium. However, in order to feed
Ourselves, we mUSt proCeSS, restructure and modiff our envirOnment and
the character and quantity of the food we ingest, as it alters us as well.
when alienating less, (ego function: identifying and alienating), as we
approach what we need in the environment. rfl This applies particularly to >food< at the intellectual and psychological
levels.

However, at the moment when we identify and incorporate the novel, The homeostasis model is not suitable for describing more than our
the boundary is completely permeable; there is no awareness of separa- most elementary exchange processes. A cybernetic model can provide
tion (Full Contact). It must become permeable in order for us to be able us with better orientation. The exchange of energy, material and infor-
to take in what is new. Not until the satisfaction of the need is complete
or the encounter has been concluded does the contact boundary exist rfl mation constantly alters both the system of the human psychophysical
organism and the environment in which it lives. They are dependent on
eaih other, change, grow and decay together. In this process the energy,

rfl
again, although less energetically charged.
material and information that are taken in and released do not remain
Again, in this process we can interrupt for good reasons and for neurotic identical but their form and often also their substance are altered, leading
reasons. For example, we may wish to avoid a conflict due to a realistic to growth or shrinkage, enrichment or atrophy of individual elements
appraisal of the situation, moral reasons, or neurotic fears. Here we are and, {inally, of the whole.
interested only in the neurotic fears: falling back on early avoidance
strategies whose original meaning is no longer accessible to us, with the It is therefore misleading to describe this exchange process as circular
resulting lack of need or wish satisfaction in the present do not get what sequence, as a contact circle in which the waves keep returning to their
we need or would like. Either the contact would be completely avoided - staiting point, i.e. to a state of equilibrium. I prefer a linear model to in-
instead of >not taking place at all< or the contact boundarywould remain dicate ttrat tt e contact boundary is in a constant state of flux.The energy
relatively permeable. But we may also, out of fear of losing control, inter- experienced by the organism mounts anew in each contact process and
rupt the contact exactly at the point when satisfaction is within our reach. sutsides again once the goal has been attained, only to rise again. It is
In this case we have not avoided contact, but remain without satisfaction never the same flow into which we enter when we begin a new contact
because the contact has not been completed by Full Contact and Post- process, since it has been enriched by new experiences and skills, in
Contact. Thus the contact boundary this fleld in which organism and ither words, it has learned. Even the purely cyclical processes of the
environment are constantly meeting in the here and now is subject to a body never leave the body in the state in which they found it: it gradually
constant transformation of energy and relative permeability. grows, changes, grows older and dies. In the experience of the present
moment this process is, of course, usually indiscernible'
 I
I

381 l3e
flows into the figure formation, i.e. the >gestalt process(. pHG refer to
Gestalt therapy's conception of the contact process is a formal model of
tlris process as >identiflcation< and >alienation<, borrowing their termi-
human interaction. Its focus is not on the description of, for instance,
nology from German idealist philosophy, which in my opinion is rather
biographical details, but on the structural elembnts of the exchange
runlbrtunate.
between human beings and their different environments, thus making
it applicable to all sorts of human experiences. Its purpose is to find thc 'l'his process requires our senses and minds and our experience
when, where, and how of the ways in which *" and
-iy neurotically inter-
rupt the process of satisfuing of our physical, emotional, intellectual and
abilities, including the aggressive functions of initiative, manipulation,
iuralysis and distinction, removal and distancing. These are the ego func-
spiritual needs.
tions which PHG call >identiflcation< and >alienation<<. I am here with
rny skills and the other, what is foreign, novel, attractive and disturb-
Since I have disringuished and described in detail four phases (of this
ing is out there. In Full contact this encounter with novelty becomes a
model on the basis of the work of pHG elsewhere SDriitzel (2007, op.
touching and merging. The goal has been reached and all deliberate ego
cit), ch. II. The process of satisfaction), here it will sufflce to give a brief,
firnctions can and must be abandoned. All we need to do now is let go,
systematic recapitulation.
become involved, surrender and open up. The energy remains at a high
level, which is experienced as pleasure orpain, while at the same time the
contact boundary surprisingly becomes permeable. Graduallywe experi-
ence something like satiation, fullilment or satisfaction; the moment has
bcen savoured to the full, the opportunity grasped, the interest satisfied
and a gentle fatigue makes itself felt. This is where post contact begins.
'l'he encounter has not yet come to an end, but the energy
is diminished
and I once more become aware of myself and >the< environment. The
contact boundary becomes less permeable again.

I luwever, the real flow of life is usually more complex. It is only in the
intcrests of clarity that the model describes only a single, uninterrupted
Fig.11 The four phases of the contacting process
contact process as the Zen Buddhists recommend for the practice of
(cDreitzet/stetzcr2oo4)
rneditation. V\4ren you eat, then eat, when you love, then love, when
you chop wood, then chop the wood - do whatever you do without
In real contacting processes, these stages merge into each other and
rlistraction and with the whole force of your being. Usually it is not like
overlap, so that any line drawn between them is arbitrary and merely
tha(: we do not normally live like practising Zen Buddhists. contacting
helps to improve our orientation. In Fore-contact the organism is ex-
proc(r sses are often interrupted or broken off and nest within each other
cited by a stimulus and/or a need. A hungry person sees and smells thc
hot-dog stall and/or his appetite comes when he smells the sausages
likc llussian dolls. For example, I keep stopping writing this text to do
ot hcr things, either because they cannot wait, or I am tired, or I am inter-
being cooked. This begins the contact process. Energy is released ancl
nrptcd by unwelcome telephone calls. Each individual phase of writing
the figure starts to form.
t:an lrc described as a new contact process, but the writing of the whole
rrrirnuscript in itself can also be viewed as an over-arching, four-stage
In the second stage the sensorimotor functions are mobilised, i.e. we ori-
t:ontacting process, adding to the insight gained.
ent ourselves in our environment and organise and structure it in suclr
a way that a flgure of our interest becomes more sharply deflned. At
this
point we experience the relevant parts of the environment as resistarrt
and yet more and more interesting. They cannot be swallowed whol.
but first need to be disintegrated. Hence the contact boundary appeilrs
less permeable. This experience mobilises more and more energy thirl
 Eil
-h
lo,
'l'he emotions or affects that may arise spontaneously
during the con-
tacting process, which we shall refer to as contact feelings, are also

-F Iunctions of the self. vvhereas the above-mentioned ego functions play

a role in every contacting process, the contact feelings only arise when
something surprising or unexpected occurs. (For a detailed description
of the emotions see Dreitzel, op. cit. Ch. II.
Fig. 12: Definition: the ego functions of the self (o Dreitzel/stelzer 2004)
ril
-F
One advantage of this model is that we can now assign the individual
ego functions that enable the psycho-physical organism to satisfy its
deficits by taking in something new from its environment to the differ-
ent stages of contacting. This shows where they are located on the time
curve of the contact process and how they are related to the qualities of
the contact boundary. E+n
ET Fig. 14: Definition of contact emotions (@ Dreitzet/Stetzer 2004)

Er:I 'Io be sure, other emotions also guide or influence human behaviour:
1. needingy
2. wishing
3. wiling
perceiving
grasping
dismantling
surrendering
enjoying
feeling
1. allowing to
sink in
2. attending to
H we experience moods that may colour a whole day with all its different
contact processes in grey or pink and there are emotional attitudes such
as greed or jealousy, which are actually emotional reaction formations
(see IV 1, below), but these emotional phenomena are not what arise
removing satisfaction experiencing
once more C:il spontaneously at the contact boundary in contacting processes. How-
3. evaluating
and identifying
with r{ cver, we need to be very careful with our words here: different language
cultures have different concepts for emotional experiences. we must
also, for instance, distinguish between >pride< as an emotional attitude
and >pride< as the spontaneous feeling that a child experiences when

Fig. 13:The distribution of generalized types of ego functions in the contacting

rfl it rushes to its mother to show her a painting, and between gratitude
as tr socially valued emotional attitude towards, say one's parents and
,)gftrtitude( as a spontaneous feeling that brings tears to the eyes. For a

E:I
prOCeSs (O Dreitzel/Stelzer 2004)
cletailed discussion see my aboie-mentioned book >Emotional Aware-
ne.s.s(, which is based on the ground breaking research of Manfrect clynes
Numbers to 3 in the columns headed Fore-Contact and Post-Contact
1 which he describes in his books Sentics: The Tbuch of Emotions (lg7\,
indicate that this is a temporal order which cannot be altered without
detrimental effects. (See Chapters IV 5 and IV B for further details.) lrr
contrast, in the 2nd and 3rd phases, the ego functions are intertwinetl
or superimposed upon each other, depending on the situation here atttl
f:t New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday) and (with Jaak panksepp), Emotions
urtrl Psychopathology (1988, NewYork: Basic Books).

now in the organismi environment fleld.

f:il Likc the other ego functions, the contact emotions can be assigned to
the individual stages of contacting. Diagnostically the nature of the
interruption to contact or neurotic contact process becomes evident
 I

421 IJI when Perls and Goodman abandoned Freud's doctrine of the psychic
I

143

from the weakness, absence, inappropriateness or intensity of emotional

reactions.
tlI agencies (the id, the ego and the super-ego) and thus also his understand-
ing of the nature of the human being as an isolated individual, and tried
to explain the functioning of the human psyche in terms of exchange
orientation and
restructuring
fll ar-rd the encounter with the environment. It is, in fact, self-evident that
we always experience ourselues as in contact with something. A physi-
cian or sociologist will see this differently, but from the point of view of
curiosity
fear
sexual arousal
anger
Iove
grief
pride
gratltude
IJI psychotherapy even our physical attributes and states and social roles
are functions of the self, since in psychotherapy we are concerned with
the realities and possibilities of our subjectiue experience.
disgust
Ionging
destructive rage
annihilating rage
joy
awe
guilt
despair EII If these functions are disturbed, our self-esteem suffers and we will fre-

rfl
quently tend either to devalue or to over-
value ourselves. However, if these
Ego functions
Fig- 15 The distribution of the contact emotions in the contacting process functions are fully developed we
(ODreitzel/Stelzer 2004) are the abilities
feel appropriately sure of our-

Thus the contact emotions correspond to the system (or the wave) of the
contacting process and they are also processes which if not suppressed,
fil selves and our self-esteem is
not an issue. In addition to
the dynamic concept of the
with which we make
parts of the environment

intensi[rup to saturation level, then subside and disappear agiin. Their

strength depends on the conditions in the organism/environirent field,
mostly on how much novelty occurs and how much resistance against
H self, Perls and Goodman,
whose starting point was
psychoanalysis, also
the individuals will to appropriate parts of the environment exists.
H rather confusingly use
the terms ,egou, ,id<
Id functions
are our instincts,
needs and interests
Personality functions
are our identification
and experiences

8. The self and its functions

Since we have already mentioned the ego functions of the self several
rfl and ,personalityu.

Fig. 17 . The three types

of functions of the self
which drive the
contact process

times, it is now time to clarifir these concepts. In Gestalt therapy the

self is not a psychological entity, but the contact
boundary in motion.
E;il (ODreitzel/Stelzer 2004)

They abandoned only the >super-ego<, instead adopting >morality< as

The term is thus used to mean the to-

tality of how we experience ourselves
a\
H a personality function of the self, that is, as something that results from
contact, instead of being a predetermined introject. Isodore From was
the lirst to follow up the full implications out of Perls' and Goodman's
in and with the world. This dynamic
view of the self is an important point
in which Gestalt therapy differs from 1
Efl deliberations and arrive at a clelr formulation (cf. B. Milller: Isadore
From's contribution to gestalt therapy; in: The Gestalt Journal, Spring
1996,62 ff.). According to his account, the self has three kinds of func-
other schools of psychotherapy. It
was a radical step in the direction of a
new understanding of human beings
! tr;il tions: the ego functions, the id functions and the personality functions.
'I'hese are what the psychophysical organism must identifu with in the
contacting process, i.e. with what it needs (id functions), what it does or
./
does nof do (ego functions) and what it is (personality functions) . These
Fig. 16: Definition of the self
(ODreitzel/Stelzer 2004)
iD are the concepts to which I refer here, since they are compatible with
 I

441

what is meant by the theory of Perls and Goodman. It is quite possiblc:

Efl In addition to the ego functions mentioned above, the self also has other
I

145

that the authors of >Gestalt Therapy< as it was published in 1951 did nol
fully realise the theoretical implications of their radical conceptualisa-
tion of the dynamic self, since it runs counter to the lines of Western
Ifl functions. Among these, the id and personality functions are of particular
interest for psychotherapy. \.Mhile the id functions refer to the impetus
of the contacting processes, i.e. our drives, needs and interests, the
thought, which is still strongly influenced by plato, Aristotle, and thc
identity philosophy of German ldealism. It is not therefore surprising
that some leading Gestalt therapists have adopted revisionist positions
3:lI personality functions have to do with what we identi[r with as persons.
These identiflcations are the result of our contacting processes and at
the same time they are the ground against which each new flgure forms.
which abandon this dynamic conceptualisation of the self which was so
central for Perls and Goodman. The most well-known of these is probably Efl Thus they have a quite different temporal context from the contacting
processes, both lasting longer than and supporting them. However, their

H
that express ed in Eruing Polster's essay entitle d >The Sel.f in Action<, (in: capacity for support constantly needs to be re-established. Depending
E. u. M. Polster (1999) The Heart of Gestalt Therapy. Cambridge: MA: GIC on the demands of speciflc contacting processes, we even have to keep
Press), in which he talks of different >seluesu (similarly to the different re-identifying with our bodies as old or young, strong or weak, sick or
partsreferued to by psychoanalysis) which need to be integrated. This is healthy, severely or only slightly disabled, male or female. These identi-
closer to the conventional view of things in Western thought. However,
the difflculty with this view is that it brings us back to diagnoses oriented EF flcations have to be constantly rupdated< in each individual contacting
process. How important they are is revealed when they fail, e.g. when we
towards personality types with the associated labelling problems, even
if there is no risk of this in the practice of a Gestalt therapy virtuoso like
Erving Polster with his important emphasis on narration as an ego func- rP deny our disabilities or feel uncertain in our gender roles.

In therapeuticwork our concern is to restore onlythe ego functions. Talk

tion (cf. E. Polster (1987) Euery Person's Life isWorth a Nouel. Gouldsboro
ME: Gestalt Journal Press).
rif, about id and personality functions of the self merely serves to provide us
with diagnostic orientation. These functions also result from ego func-

rf,
tions, since we not only have needs, but must feel them and we not only
However, if the self is constantly in motion and sometimes stronger, I have a body, but must take care of it and use it. \Mhen we no longer feel
sometimes weaker, and is also sometimes not experienced at all, how is our needs they have (as id functions) not disappeared - but they cannot
it that as a rule we have a sense of self-identity? With such a malleable be satisfied and our organism will suffer from long-term deprivation. If
self, on what basis can we enter into lasting relationships and commit-
ments? These are important questions. In order to answer them I must
first remind the reader again that this model is intended exclusively for rfr we do not pay attention to our bodies (as a personality function) they
do not cease to have an effect - but we pay for this neglect with a lack of
vitality and pos-

-a
the use of psychotherapists in their work. However, in this work, at least in I sibly also with
Gestalt psychotherapy, the questions are not: >Who areyou andhow did illness. Thus the
you come to be who yotr Are?<,but >IA/hat do you want to tell me about? To ego functions of

-f,
what purpose and to whom are you addressingyour confession? How rlo sensing, paying
you liue your relationships? Tb what are you really committed? With what attention, taking
abilities and what disabilities of your body do you identifu in contact witlt care of and gen-
me?<These are questions as to the lived, responsible reality and the true
respons-ability of the person with whom we are doing psychotherapy.
Incidentally, our sense of identity derives both from the fact that we arc Etr erally concern-
ing ourselves

rh
with the existen-
re-cognised and held respons-able by others and from the intimacy ol' tial conditions of
the internal experience of the body and memories, which also includes life sustain the strengthen or weaken
the knowledge that we cannot escape, i.e. get outside of ourselves. In each other
id and personal-
addition, we repeatedly tellorrselves and others our life histories differ-
ently, depending on with whom we are in contact and what needs havc
motivated us to seek this contact. rF
I ity funtions. If in
therapy we find
that these func-
Fig. 18: The relationships between the three types of self
fU nCtiOn (oDreitzel/stelzer 2004)
 I

461
fEfi
rff
tions are disturbed, this is an indication that they are weakened and our
task is to work to restore them.

ril
Although the id functions provide the impetus for the entire contacting
process' at least up to the point where post-contact begins, they arc
mainly to be found in Fore-contacting, since when this diiving foice is
disturbed, the whole contact process will be slow-moving and lacking
in energy, if it gets off the ground at all.

In contrast, the personality functions are found mainly in the post-

rfi
contact stage, although they contribute to the ground on which thc
flgure forms and thus contribute in one way or inother to the whole
of the contacting process, because the identiflcations result from thc
Eil
retrospective feeling of the effects of the contact and the appraisal ol'
what one has experienced. Thus when certain personality functions are frt
ril
disturbed, the Gestalt therapist flrst needs to eitablish *ni.h ego func-
tions are weakened or have got lost at the post_Contact phase.

9. The seven diagnostic questions of a Gestalt therapist

rtr
ril
But how can all these considerations be of help to us when we are sitting
face to face with a real, live person who is telling us about his sufferings
and difflculties? Here we flnd ourselves right irthe middle of the fasCi-

ril
nating and complex, but also complicated and confusing landscape of'
lively contact. we can, of course, simply >follow the pro-cess( and sec
what happens.

one canalways suggest some experiment or fall back on tried and proven
Gestalt therapy techniques. But is that really helpful?v/hile it is true thar rir
ril
many roads lead to Rome, some are faster (which does not necessarily
mean shorter!) and easier than others. Some are also dangerous suci-
denlyone stumbles into the chasms of psychotic experienJng, becomes
-
Fig. 19 The seven diagnostic questions of a therapist (@ Dreitzet/stetzer 2004)
caught up in thickets of obsessive labouring or allows oneseflo be fasci-
nated by the bubbling stream of a hysterical process. In such situations
it would be helpful to have a map to show us the way. fil when and how the patient interrupts her process of contact with her
therapist (and, where applicable, with the group).
as

However, we must start by putting the questions that constantly g.

through our heads in the therapeutic situation into some kind of order. A
Gestalt therapist starts with what is obvious or can be directly observerl.
ftr Keeping these seven questions (seelig. 19, above) in mind, we now enter
the actual territory of Gestalt therapy. The diagnostic map I am propos-
She then checks how the patient is reacting to her relationil overtures
and work proposals and finally she focuses on the questions as to wherc, lrtt ing that therapists should use for orientation is based on these sevcrr
diagnostic questions of a Gestalt therapist and also on the thcoretir:irl
considerations in the previous sections. The map therefore lras scvr:rr
IE TT
 I

481 ld lo,
parts, each of which highlights a different aspect of neurotic experienc-
ing and behaviour. one could also say that these are seven perspectives,
rf social field unconsciously assumes a role in such a predetermihed
pattern of interaction and invests sufficient energy and tenacious-
ness in it, this pattern will exert a strong pull on all other actors

r*
each of which throws light on our observations of the patient and what
we experience with him from a different point of view. It is worth looking in the respective social field to fall into one of the complementary
at the same phenomenon from different viewpoints since psychological roles. And as we shall see, this ensures that the first role player
processes are multilayered and multidimensional. receives his neurotic PaYofl.

To start with, the diagnostic map contains the rt The third level of the diagnostic map shows the

r,ff
r#
f#
r,fi
td The fourth dimension of the diagnostic map shows the

[fl
frU
Secondly, the diagnostic map shows
ro
frU
f:ffi
If,U
I
 I

501 lu,
The fifth dimension covers the
rfl In the appendixof this bookyouwill find individual maps for each of the
seven dimensions of the diagnostic exploration, each of which is drawn
on a different scale and emphasises different aspects. Together, these
maps form a small pocket atlas of the disturbed modes of experiencing
dif,fiiiiiti6.(:lintolved.ti,1:]eiiin$lgi1;f::the,,:deiiberate ego functions
and to surrender and commit oneself completely to [he situation
at the phase of integration.
1rll and behaviour that prevent people from being able to make full use of
their potential in their exchanges with their environments. These maps

The sixth dimension covers the

flr can be used to provide orientation. They contain hints as to the direction
and the path that the therapist should best follow in therapeutic work
with a person in a given therapeutic situation and also warning signs
indicating which territories a therapist should best avoid.
ETT
ff,r
a personrs potentialities, wh,ich are, however, fiot automatically
instantiated, but need later to be endowed with specific content.
rfl
Whatever we have gained in further contact processes also has to
be integrated and to prove its worth in further contacting processes.
This becomes possible in the Post-Contact phase after numerous
rd!
contact situations. Now we assess the satisfactions gained, the goals
achieved, the longed-for encounters, the struggles and conflicts
and the creative solutions that we have found and evaluate them
CJI
in relation to our future actions and plans.
fll
Finally, the seventh dimension provides information about the
rfl
Efl
E:fl|
Ell
Fig. 20: The seven dimensions of the diagnostic map (@ Dreitzel/Stelzer 2OO4)
EJI