Gestalt group work

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Gestalt group process model (Kepner, 1980; Zinker, 1977, 1980, Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, both in Feder & Ronall, Beyond the Hot Seat, 1980) as the organising frame, with the classical workshop procedures of Perls and the rules and games set out by Levitsky & Perls (1970) used inside it, and the relational emphasis of contemporary Gestalt group therapy (Cole & Reese, 2017) for stance. Most of the detail below comes from secondary accounts that summarise these primary texts closely (Boris, 2013; Peavy, 1973; SAGE Encyclopedia entry); the primary books themselves are not drawn on [uncertain].

Gestalt group work is not one manualised therapy but a family of practices that applies Gestalt therapy (Fritz and Laura Perls, Goodman) to groups. Three historical forms exist [source: SAGE Encyclopedia; Boris 2013]:

• Workshop / hot-seat model (Perls, 1960s, Esalen): the leader works with one volunteer at a time in front of the group; the others observe, identify and then give feedback. Peavy (1973) calls this individual therapy in front of a group rather than group therapy.
• Floating hot seat / interactive model (New York Institute, 1950s onward): members join spontaneously in each other's work; the leader adds contact-building experiments.
• Gestalt group process model (Cleveland; Kepner, Zinker): the leader attends at once to the individual, the interpersonal and the group-as-a-whole, uses group development, and builds experiments from what the group is living in the moment.

Core idea of change: people change by becoming aware of how they make (or avoid) contact, here and now, with themselves and with others. The group is a live field where members' usual ways of interrupting contact show up in front of witnesses, can be experimented with safely, and can be met with honest response. Groups are seen as small communities where the whole is more than its parts; the aim is self-support and real interdependence, not dependence on the leader [source: SAGE Encyclopedia; Boris 2013]. Contemporary relational authors add the paradoxical theory of change (change comes from becoming more fully what one is, not from trying to be different) and rupture and repair within the group [source: Cole & Reese 2017, table of contents only; content inferred from chapter titles, uncertain].

2. Framework

Three levels of attention (Kepner, 1980) [source: Boris 2013]

Everything that happens in the group happens at three levels at once, and the leader keeps a "bifocal" view:

• Intrapersonal: a member's relation to themselves (sensations, feelings, inner splits, unfinished business). Leader role: individual therapist.
• Interpersonal: what passes between members (contact, projection, conflict, attraction). Leader role: facilitator of interpersonal process.
• Group-as-a-whole: norms, roles, patterns of interaction, the climate that affects everyone. Leader role: consultant to the group as a system.

The task is not to choose one level permanently but to notice which is emerging and work there, while bridging between levels (e.g. turning one member's theme into a group theme). Tellegen (1984, via Boris) adds: be flexible across levels but clear which task is primary at each moment.

Developmental stages (Kepner's version, drawing on Schutz) [source: Boris 2013]

Zinker's alternative four-stage description (adapted from Yalom) [source: Boris 2013]: (1) superficial contact and exploration (disjointed talk, uncomfortable silences, eyes on the leader, implicit rules forming); (2) conflict and identity (testing rules and differences; worked-through conflict leads to cohesion); (3) confluence and isolation (rigid caricatured roles, indiscriminate support or attacks without warmth); (4) high cohesiveness (trust, both caring and confrontation, respect for difference).

Criteria for moving between stages. The sources give no formal criteria [uncertain]. Indicators described: whom members talk to (leader vs each other), whether norms are being questioned, whether conflict is being worked through or avoided via confluence, and whether members can both confront and care. Kepner notes stages overlap and do not always run in order, and that a sustained stage 3 typically needs one to two years together [source: Boris 2013]. Practical rule [synthesis]: do not push a group into confrontation before members can name what they want from the group and speak directly to each other; do not reduce your activity until members are initiating contact and challenging you without you prompting it.

The group contact cycle (Zinker, 1980) [source: Boris 2013]

Within any session or episode the group moves through: sensation → awareness → energy/mobilisation → action (experiment) → contact → resolution → withdrawal/rest, repeating as a rising spiral. Use it to read where the group is: a group that keeps talking without energy is stuck between awareness and mobilisation; one that acts without digesting is skipping resolution and withdrawal.

Format and session count

• Formats: ongoing therapy groups; time-limited or residential workshops (Ronall, 1980, on intensive workshops); training groups; demonstration groups [source: Boris 2013; SAGE].
• Duration: no standard session count exists in the sources [uncertain]. Kepner implies long-term groups (one to two years for full interdependence). Boris recommends reviewing members' commitment after about four meetings and reviewing expectations and autonomy at the end.
• Leadership: two facilitators recommended where possible, sharing a concept but keeping their differences; larger groups need two or three [source: Boris 2013, citing Fonseca].
• Typical arrangement [synthesis, not from the sources]: 6–10 members, weekly 90–120 minute sessions for open-ended groups; chairs in a circle with space to stand and move; one or two empty chairs available.

Session shape [synthesis, based on the cycle and stage tasks above]

1. Opening contact (brief awareness round or check-in: what is here for you now, with whom in the room).
2. Following the emerging figure: an individual piece of work, an interpersonal exchange or a group theme.
3. Experiment sized to the group's stage and support.
4. Group response: members say how the work touched them (sharing, not advice).
5. Closing round: what is unfinished, what each takes away.

3. Guiding principles

Cleveland's four principles (Zinker, 1977) [source: Boris 2013; SAGE]:

• Primacy of ongoing group experience: work with what is happening in the room now rather than reports about elsewhere.
• Development of group awareness: help the group notice its own process, not just individuals noticing theirs.
• Active contact between members: route communication member to member, not only through the leader.
• Experiments introduced by an actively involved leader: propose small, graded tries at new behaviour, shaped to the moment.

The rules described by Levitsky & Perls (1970) [source: Peavy 1973]:

• Principle of the now: keep returning to what is happening at this moment; ask what is happening now when the talk drifts.
• I and Thou: speak to a person, not to the air, the floor or "the group"; ask "Who are you talking to?".
• "It" language into "I" language: invite ownership ("it's cold in here" becomes "I am cold").
• Awareness continuum: move from labels to sensation ("nervous" to where and how it is felt in the body).
• No gossiping: if a member talks about someone present, invite them to say it to that person.
• Questions into statements: many questions hide a statement; ask the member to say the statement behind it; genuine "what" and "how" questions are fine.

Further principles from the group process and relational literature:

• Bifocal / three-level attention: always know which level you are working at and why [source: Boris 2013].
• Experiments arise from the group, not from a menu: design them for this group, now; avoid turning stage work into mechanical technology [source: Boris 2013].
• Trust before cooperation: build safety before asking for risk [source: Boris 2013, citing Flynn].
• Autonomy as aim ("autonomogenic" process): your interventions should leave the group more self-supporting [source: Boris 2013].
• Accept difference; conflict is not failure: let differences and conflict be voiced without being smoothed over; the group can be a nourishing medium that does not erase them [source: Boris 2013, citing Ronall].
• Use your power for the group: set aside institutional power, avoid over-responsibility that makes the group passive [source: Boris 2013, citing Fonseca and Shepherd].
• The group becomes, in a sense, the therapist: notice and support emergent helpers among members [source: Boris 2013, citing Wood].
• Balance support and frustration: decline to be manipulated into doing members' work for them, while staying alert that frustration can harm the relationship [source: Overholser 2023, quoting Perls].
• Holding, listening and resonating; dialogical stance: meet members as persons, show how you are affected, and attend to your own shadow as leader [source: Cole & Reese 2017, chapter titles; detail uncertain].
• Rupture and repair: treat breaks in contact (including with you) as material to be worked on, not as errors to hide [source: Cole & Reese 2017, chapter title; detail uncertain].
• Hold polarities: help members own both sides of a split rather than choosing one [source: Cole & Reese 2017 chapter title; srcaltufevo.ru secondary page, uncertain].

4. Intervention inventory

Gestalt group interventions are deliberately not a fixed menu: experiments are meant to be invented for the moment [source: Boris 2013; Peavy 1973]. Below are the recurring procedures the sources describe, grouped by level. All example wording is illustrative unless quoted.

A. Group-level and structural interventions

A1. Contracting and boundary-setting (stage 1)

• Purpose / when: at the start of a group and when new members join; Kepner's first-stage task is to define boundaries and the leader's function so members know what to expect [source: Boris 2013].
• Steps: (1) In a pre-group meeting, explain the format (here-and-now focus, experiments are invitations, members may decline) [synthesis]. (2) Agree confidentiality, attendance, lateness, contact outside the group, and how leaving is handled [synthesis]. (3) In session one, state your role openly: sometimes you will work with one person, sometimes between people, sometimes comment on the whole group [source: Boris 2013]. (4) Share a little of your method and your own impressions to model openness [source: Boris 2013].
• Example language (illustrative): "I'll sometimes work with one of you while others watch, sometimes with two of you, and sometimes I'll comment on what the group as a whole seems to be doing. Any experiment I suggest is an offer; 'no' is a useful answer too."
• Watch for: members asking the leader what to do (normal in stage 1); working when members begin to address each other.
• Screening [synthesis, not described in the sources]: assess for acute risk, active psychosis, severe dissociation, and capacity to tolerate being witnessed and receiving feedback; these clients may need individual work first or a more structured group.

A2. Opening awareness round

• Purpose / when: opening each session; brings members into the now and surfaces the figure for the session [source: Peavy 1973 (awareness continuum); Boris 2013 (sensory statements)].
• Steps: (1) Invite each member, in any order, to report what they are aware of now: body, feeling, what they notice in the room and in others. (2) Keep reports sensory and present ("your voice is shaking" rather than interpretation). (3) Note themes recurring across members. (4) Choose, or let the group choose, where to start.
• Example language (illustrative): "Rather than catching up on the week, start with now: what do you notice in your body, and who in the room are you aware of?"
• Watch for: story-telling about the week (redirect gently to now); one member taking the whole round; members who pass repeatedly (note it as information, do not force).

A3. Awareness continuum in pairs

• Purpose / when: early sessions or a tense opening; lowers anxiety, builds member-to-member contact and self-awareness [source: Boris 2013 (dyads); srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001, uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Pair members, ideally with someone they know least. (2) One speaks for a few minutes, starting sentences with "Now I am aware of..." covering inner and outer awareness; the other only listens. (3) Swap. (4) Return to the circle and share what it was like to speak and to be listened to.
• Example language (illustrative): "Just report, without explaining: now I'm aware of my hands, now I'm aware of your eyes on me..."
• Watch for: drifting into conversation (remind them to report, not discuss); relief and more energy in the room is a sign it worked.

A4. Observation versus imagining ("I see... I imagine...")

• Purpose / when: to separate what is perceived from what is projected; useful as a training exercise and whenever members are reading each other's minds [source: Peavy 1973].
• Steps: (1) In pairs, A states one observable fact about B, then what A imagines it means. (2) B says whether the imagining fits. (3) Swap, using different senses (sight, hearing). (4) In the circle, discuss how often imaginings were wrong.
• Example language (illustrative): "I see you rubbing your forehead, and I imagine you're bored with me." / "Check it with him rather than with me."
• Watch for: imaginings presented as facts; members discovering how much of their reaction to others is their own projection.

A5. Exploring the room and the present situation

• Purpose / when: first sessions, after a break, or when the group is "in their heads" [source: Boris 2013].
• Steps: (1) Invite members to move around the room, noticing the space, their sensations, the climate, the others. (2) Invite them to find a place in the room that fits how they feel about being in this group now. (3) Each says briefly what their position expresses. (4) Discuss.
• Example language (illustrative): "Find a spot that fits how close or far you want to be from the group today, and say something about it."
• Watch for: reluctance to move (respect it, name it); positions often reveal inclusion needs in stage 1.

A6. Leader sharing of impressions

• Purpose / when: throughout, especially stage 1; models I-language and makes the leader a person rather than an authority to please [source: Boris 2013; Cole & Reese 2017 dialogical stance, detail uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Notice your own reaction. (2) Say it briefly as your experience, not a verdict. (3) Return attention to the members.
• Example language (illustrative): "I notice I'm getting restless as we talk about people who aren't here. I wonder what others feel."
• Watch for: self-disclosure that takes the focus (keep it short); members imitating rather than finding their own voice.

A7. Bridging from individual to group

• Purpose / when: after an individual piece of work or disclosure; turns one person's figure into shared group material and prevents members from being only spectators [source: Boris 2013, Kepner].
• Steps: (1) After a member's work, ask others how it touched them, speaking directly to that person. (2) Look for a shared theme. (3) If several members resonate, name it as a group theme and consider a group-level experiment.
• Example language (illustrative): "Tell Ana directly, not me: what happened in you as she spoke?" / "It sounds as if several of us know this fear of being too much."
• Watch for: advice-giving or analysing (redirect to own experience); the problem becoming "ours" is a sign of the resolution phase of the cycle [source: Boris 2013].

A8. Making group norms explicit

• Purpose / when: stage 2, or whenever the group seems to follow unspoken rules (only positive feedback, no anger at the leader, someone always rescues silence) [source: Boris 2013, Kepner].
• Steps: (1) Observe a repeated pattern. (2) State it as a question or hypothesis about an unspoken rule. (3) Invite members to check whether they agree with the rule and whether they want to keep it. (4) Support anyone who wants to break it.
• Example language (illustrative): "It looks as if we have a rule here that nobody disagrees with Tom. Is that a rule we chose?"
• Watch for: defensiveness; when members start naming norms themselves, the group is taking over this function.

A9. Inviting challenge and open difference

• Purpose / when: stage 2 (influence and counterdependence); helps the group move through authority issues rather than suppressing them [source: Boris 2013, Kepner].
• Steps: (1) Explicitly invite disagreement and dissatisfaction, including with you. (2) When challenge comes, receive it non-defensively and ask for more. (3) Help the member say it directly and fully. (4) Afterwards, ask what it was like to challenge, and what others felt.
• Example language (illustrative): "You sound irritated with how I'm running this. I'd like to hear it straight."
• Watch for: counterattack or appeasing by the leader (both close the door); subgroups forming coalitions instead of speaking openly, which Boris treats as an opportunity to make interests explicit.

A10. Working with roles and scapegoating

• Purpose / when: when one member repeatedly carries a role (scapegoat, helper, clown, silent one), especially in stage 2 or when the group is stuck in Zinker's "confluence and isolation" stage [source: Boris 2013].
• Steps: (1) Comment on the role as a group pattern, not a personal trait. (2) Ask what the group gains or avoids by having one person carry it (Kepner reads the scapegoat as a carrier of disowned parts). (3) Invite members to own the part of themselves they see in that person. (4) Invite the role-carrier to say what it is like to be in that role and whether they want to stay in it.
• Example language (illustrative): "Every time things get tense, Paul ends up as the problem. What would we have to face if Paul weren't doing that job for us?"
• Watch for: the scapegoat being shamed further (protect them first); members recognising their own projection.

A11. Process comment to a low-energy (retroflected) group

• Purpose / when: when the whole group is flat, polite, or holding back [source: srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001, uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Describe what you see in the group as a whole. (2) Ask for responses. (3) If useful, propose an action that mobilises energy (standing, moving, a round in which each says what they are holding back).
• Example language (illustrative): "The room feels heavy and careful to me. What is each of us not saying right now?"
• Watch for: comments heard as criticism; a rise in energy and more direct statements means it is working.

A12. Enacting differences between members

• Purpose / when: when two or three members are in a power struggle or each holds a different "truth"; brings stage 2 conflict into the open and into contact [source: Boris 2013, case example of three members].
• Steps: (1) Name the competing positions. (2) Invite the members to stand and each try to persuade or prevail over the others, saying what they need. (3) After some rounds, invite them to say what they now notice. (4) Invite other members to join the position they feel closest to, or to speak from their own, so it becomes group work. (5) Debrief at all three levels.
• Example language (illustrative): "Each of you has a different version of what this group should be. Rather than talk about it, would you each try to convince the other two, out loud, now?"
• Watch for: escalation into humiliation (stop, slow down, return to awareness); the aim is contact with difference, not a winner.

A13. Closure, unfinished business and re-entry

• Purpose / when: end of each session, end of a workshop, a member leaving, or the group ending; stage 3 tasks are closure, re-entry and naming unfinished business [source: Boris 2013, Kepner].
• Steps: (1) Closing round: what is unfinished for you, and with whom. (2) Allow a short exchange where it can be finished now; otherwise name it for next time. (3) At the end of a group: compare initial expectations with what happened; say goodbyes directly to each member. (4) Ask how learning will be carried into daily life.
• Example language (illustrative): "Before we stop: is there anything you'd regret not saying to someone here today?"
• Watch for: rushed or avoided goodbyes; members leaving with large unfinished pieces (check in individually if needed) [synthesis].

B. Individual work within the group

B1. Hot seat (classical workshop format)

• Purpose / when: focused individual work on a member's figure, witnessed by the group; Perls's workshop method. Use when a member brings a strong, specific figure and the group has enough trust to witness [source: SAGE Encyclopedia; Peavy 1973; Boris 2013].
• Steps: (1) A volunteer takes a chair facing or beside the leader. Two arrangements are described: both chairs within the circle (keeps the leader in contact with the group; better for therapy groups) or both chairs in the centre (better for demonstrations) [source: srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001, uncertain]. (2) Start from present awareness, including awareness of the watching group, which reduces fear of the chair [same source, uncertain]. (3) Follow the emerging figure using the individual experiments below (two-chair, exaggeration, dreamwork). (4) Close the piece when there is a shift or a clear stopping point. (5) Then invite the group's response: identification and feeling first, then feedback.
• Example language (illustrative): "Before we start on the problem: what is it like to be sitting here with everyone looking?"
• Watch for: the group becoming passive spectators and dependent on the leader, the main criticism of this format (Yontef, via Boris 2013); balance hot-seat work with interactive work (B2, A7). Avoid pushing a volunteer past what they consented to in front of others [synthesis].

B2. Floating hot seat

• Purpose / when: a more interactive variant from the New York tradition: while one member works, others who are strongly touched join in with their own related work [source: SAGE Encyclopedia].
• Steps: (1) Begin individual work as in B1. (2) When another member is visibly affected, check with the working member, then invite the second member to say what is happening in them. (3) Either work briefly with them, or set up a direct exchange between the two. (4) Return to the first member or to the group theme. (5) Close with group sharing.
• Example language (illustrative): "Maria, I see you're moved. Would you tell Sam what's happening for you as you listen?"
• Watch for: the original worker being abandoned mid-piece; check they are finished or willing to pause.

B3. Contact-language redirections (the Levitsky & Perls rules in use)

• Purpose / when: moment-to-moment, whenever speech avoids contact or ownership [source: Peavy 1973, citing Levitsky & Perls 1970].
• Steps: apply the appropriate redirection, lightly and without lecturing: (1) talking to the air or about the group: ask whom they are speaking to and invite them to address that person; (2) gossiping about a present member: invite them to say it to that person; (3) "it", "you" or "one" for own experience: invite them to try "I"; (4) question that hides a statement: invite the statement; (5) abstract feeling-labels: ask where in the body it is felt; (6) drifting to past or future: ask what is happening now. Replacing "why" questions with "what" and "how" is also described [source: srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain].
• Example language (illustrative): "Can you say that to Bill rather than about him?" / "What's the statement behind your question?" / "Try 'I' instead of 'you' and see if it still fits."
• Watch for: rules used as a correction ritual, which feels shaming; use them as experiments, check what changes when the member tries the new form.

B4. Two-chair / inner dialogue (including top dog and underdog)

• Purpose / when: a member is caught between two parts of themselves (wanting and not wanting, demanding critic versus resisting part); also used with polarities [source: Peavy 1973; srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Identify the two sides. (2) Ask the member to speak as one side to the other (an empty chair can hold the other side, but the source describes it mainly as an imagined reply). (3) Switch and answer as the other side. (4) Continue, encouraging each side to speak directly and specifically, until something shifts and the stuck point loosens. (5) Optionally, invite group members to voice one side for the worker (see B9). (6) Group responds.
• Example language (illustrative): "Be the part that wants to go. Tell the part that wants to stay what you want." / "Now switch. What does this side say back?"
• Watch for: one side becoming flat or rehearsed; a softening or a new position emerging is a sign of progress.

B5. Unfinished business with someone present or absent

• Purpose / when: when a member is holding unspoken resentment, appreciation or grief towards someone, in or outside the room [source: Peavy 1973; srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Notice the hint of something unsaid. (2) If the person is in the group: invite the member to go to them and say it directly; then hear the other's response. (3) If the person is absent: invite the member to address them as if present (e.g. in an empty chair). (4) Support full expression, then invite the member to notice what is different. (5) Group shares.
• Example language (illustrative): "It sounds as if there's something you've not said to Jo since last week. Would you say it to her now?"
• Watch for: confrontations that land as attacks on the other member; ensure the recipient is supported and has a chance to respond.

B6. Making the rounds

• Purpose / when: when a member expresses a feeling or belief about the whole group ("nobody here likes me") or needs to test it with each person [source: Peavy 1973].
• Steps: (1) Invite the member to go to each person in turn and say the same sentence, adding what they feel, and to notice how it fits each person. (2) Optionally allow non-verbal forms (looking, touching with consent, gesture). (3) Afterwards, ask what they discovered, and invite brief responses from members.
• Example language (illustrative): "Go round and say to each person, 'I don't think you like me', and notice what happens as you say it to each one."
• Watch for: members who feel obliged to reassure; the discovery that the belief fits some people and not others is often the useful part.

B7. Exaggeration

• Purpose / when: a gesture, phrase or tone the member glosses over seems meaningful [source: Peavy 1973].
• Steps: (1) Point out the gesture or phrase. (2) Invite the member to repeat it, then repeat it more strongly or louder. (3) Ask what they notice or what the movement seems to say. (4) Let them put it into words if it emerges.
• Example language (illustrative): "You just brushed something off your knee. Do it again, bigger. What is the movement saying?"
• Watch for: self-consciousness in front of the group; a sudden emotional shift or recognition means it has landed.

B8. Identification ("I am that") and fantasy work

• Purpose / when: when a member cannot speak directly about something; identifying with an object or image lets them voice aspects of themselves [source: Peavy 1973; fantasy examples from srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Invite the member (or the whole group) to choose an object in the room, or an image in a short guided fantasy. (2) Explore it with the senses. (3) Speak as it, in the first person and present tense. (4) Ask whether any of what they said fits their own life. (5) In a group round, members share their identifications.
• Example language (illustrative): "Be that cracked cup. 'I am a cup, I have a crack...' Keep going."
• Watch for: members interpreting each other's fantasies (keep it to self-discovery).

B9. Dreamwork in the group

• Purpose / when: a member brings a dream; Gestalt treats dream elements as parts of the dreamer [source: srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001 and others, uncertain; Perls's dreamwork in workshops is widely described but primary not drawn on].
• Steps: (1) The member tells the dream in the present tense, as if happening now. (2) They choose elements (people, objects, places) and speak as each one. (3) Set up dialogues between elements that seem in conflict. (4) Optionally, group members take roles of dream elements so the dreamer can respond to them, or members say what the dream evoked in them [source: Gronsky via srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain]. (5) Ask the dreamer what the elements may say about their life now.
• Example language (illustrative): "Tell it as if it is happening now: 'I am walking down a corridor...'" / "Now be the locked door. What do you say to her?"
• Watch for: members offering interpretations; the dreamer staying in narration rather than identification.

B10. Group members as auxiliaries / role-play and rehearsal

• Purpose / when: to let a member try new behaviour, or to externalise an inner voice, using group members [source: srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001, uncertain; rehearsal as a concept in Levitsky & Perls 1970 via Overholser 2023].
• Steps: (1) Ask the member who in the group could play the role (e.g. their inner accusing voice or a person in their life). (2) Brief the auxiliary in a sentence or two. (3) Let the member respond to them, or rehearse a new way of speaking. (4) De-role the auxiliary explicitly afterwards and let them share what they experienced.
• Example language (illustrative): "Would you pick someone to be the voice that tells you you're stupid? ... Now answer it." / "Tom, you can step out of that role now. What was it like?"
• Watch for: auxiliaries left carrying the role; members playing roles too close to their own wounds [synthesis].

B11. Group questions and feedback to the working member

• Purpose / when: after individual work, or as part of it; feedback should be accurate, not wounding, and given with emotional acceptance [source: srcaltufevo.ru summarising Gronsky 2001, uncertain; Bernstädt & Hahn 2010 include a chapter on giving feedback, via Wedam 2011 review].
• Steps: (1) First invite sharing ("what this touched in me"). (2) Then, if the worker wants it, feedback in the form of observation plus own reaction. (3) Steer questions away from analysis back to feeling. (4) Ask the worker what they take in and what they leave.
• Example language (illustrative): "Speak from your own experience rather than advising: what did you see, and what did you feel?"
• Watch for: pile-ons; advice; the worker's ability to say what fits and what doesn't is itself the learning.

B12. Somatic and body-awareness experiments

• Purpose / when: grounding, tracking affect, noticing how feeling is held back in the body; named in the contemporary relational model [source: Cole & Reese 2017, chapter title only; detail uncertain; awareness continuum from Peavy 1973].
• Steps: (1) Invite attention to breath, posture, contact with the chair and floor. (2) Track a sensation as it changes. (3) If a held-back movement appears, invite it to complete slowly. (4) Return to contact with others.
• Example language (illustrative): "Notice your feet on the floor and your breath. What's happening in your chest as you look at the group?"
• Watch for: overwhelm or dissociation (see section 5).

C. Games reported in Levitsky & Perls (1970), primary text not drawn on

The following are widely reported as "games" in Levitsky & Perls (1970). They are not verified; Overholser (2023) confirms only that the chapter discusses games and rehearsal [uncertain for all items in C]. Descriptions and wording are my own.

C1. "I take responsibility"

• Purpose / when: a member describes feelings or actions as things that happen to them.
• Steps: invite them to add "...and I take responsibility for it" after statements of awareness; ask what it is like to say it.
• Example language (illustrative): "Try adding 'and I take responsibility for that' and see whether it fits."
• Watch for: guilt or self-blame, which is not the aim; it is about ownership.

C2. "I have a secret"

• Purpose / when: to explore shame and guilt without exposure.
• Steps: each member thinks of a secret without telling it, and imagines how others would react if it were known; members share the imagined reactions and feelings, not the secret.
• Watch for: pressure to disclose; reinforce that the secret stays private.

C3. Playing the projection

• Purpose / when: a member makes a strong judgment about another member.
• Steps: invite them to act out the trait they attribute to the other, and notice whether any of it fits themselves.
• Example language (illustrative): "You see him as arrogant. Would you play arrogant for a minute and see what it's like from inside?"

C4. Reversals

• Purpose / when: an extreme behaviour may hide its opposite (e.g. constant sweetness).
• Steps: invite the member to play the opposite for a short time in the group and notice what emerges.

C5. Rhythm of contact and withdrawal

• Purpose / when: a member wants to withdraw attention during group.
• Steps: accept withdrawal as natural; invite them to go briefly to a place in imagination where they feel safe, notice it, then return and report.

C6. Rehearsal

• Purpose / when: a member is preoccupied with how they will come across.
• Steps: invite them to share aloud their inner rehearsal; explore what role they are preparing to play [concept confirmed via Overholser 2023].

C7. "May I feed you a sentence?"

• Purpose / when: the leader senses an implicit message.
• Steps: ask permission, offer a short sentence for the member to say to someone in the group, ask them to try it and say whether it fits; they may change or reject it.
• Watch for: the leader putting words in mouths; the member's freedom to reject is essential.

C8. Homework

• Purpose / when: carry a specific experiment into daily life between sessions [source: srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain].
• Steps: agree one small experiment linked to the session's work; review it briefly at the next opening round.

5. Handling problems

Refusal of an experiment / "resistance". Treat a refusal as information about how the member interrupts contact and about the relationship with the leader, not as failure [source: srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain]. Response: thank them for the clear "no"; ask what they notice as they decline; offer a smaller version or invite them to simply watch; never repeat the request in front of the group more than once [synthesis].

Dependence on the leader (stage 1) and passive spectators. Expected early on [source: Boris 2013]. Response: route communication member to member (A7, B3); use pairs (A3); reduce hot-seat work and increase interactive work; name the pattern as a group theme once trust exists.

Challenge to the leader, power struggles, subgrouping (stage 2). Expected and necessary [source: Boris 2013, Kepner]. Response: invite the challenge (A9), do not defend or retaliate; make coalitions explicit and ask each subgroup to state its interest openly; use A12 for polarised positions.

Confluence: indiscriminate support, false harmony. Zinker's "confluence and isolation" stage [source: Boris 2013]. Response: name the norm (A8); invite members to say one thing they have held back; model honest difference through brief leader disclosure (A6).

Scapegoating and attacks. [source: Boris 2013] Response: protect the targeted member first (stop, slow down); then shift the work to the group level (A10) and invite members to own their projections (C3, marked uncertain).

The leader becoming over-responsible or over-active. Shepherd (1977, via Boris 2013) warns this creates passivity. Response: count how many interactions go through you; hand questions back to the group; in stage 3, move to a consultative role.

Overwhelm, flooding, dissociation during individual work [synthesis; not addressed in the sources]. Signs: glazed look, breath holding, sudden numbness, inability to hear you. Response: stop the experiment; bring attention to the present room (feet, breath, naming three things seen); invite a supportive member to sit nearby only if the person wants it; lower the intensity of future experiments (talk about rather than enact; shorter, slower). Never use exaggeration or provocation when a member is already flooded. Debrief privately after the session.

Shame in front of witnesses [synthesis]. Group exposure amplifies shame. Response: seek consent for each step of an individual piece, offer to pause, frame group responses as sharing not judgment, and check with the member at the end how it was to be seen.

Frustration tipping into harm. Perls deliberately frustrated manipulative attempts to get the therapist to do the work, and acknowledged this could damage rapport [source: Overholser 2023, quoting Perls]. Response [synthesis]: use frustration only within a supportive relationship, alternate support and challenge, and never with fragile members; if a member feels attacked by you, treat it as a rupture.

Ruptures with the leader or between members. Cole & Reese (2017) devote a chapter to rupture and repair [source: chapter title only; detail uncertain]. Response [synthesis]: name the break as soon as you notice it; acknowledge your part without over-apologising; ask what happened for the member; let the group witness the repair, which itself models contact after conflict.

Non-attendance, lateness, drop-out [synthesis; Boris 2013 suggests reviewing commitment after about four meetings]. Response: address it as group material (how does the group feel about absences?), contact absent members between sessions, hold a commitment review around session four, and plan goodbyes for those who leave.

Members who monopolise or never speak [synthesis]. Response: comment on the pattern at group level; invite the quiet member to say only what they notice, not to work; invite the talkative member to stop and notice the room; use rounds to give structure.

Advice-giving, analysing and interpreting others [source: srcaltufevo.ru, uncertain; synthesis]. Response: redirect to own experience ("what did that touch in you?").

Group ending and unfinished business [source: Boris 2013]. Response: plan endings in advance; use A13; allow time for each member to say goodbye to each other member.

Contraindications and risk [synthesis; not addressed in the sources]. Screen for current suicidal risk, active psychosis, severe dissociation, recent trauma with poor affect tolerance, and inability to tolerate feedback; such members usually need individual work or a more structured group first. If risk emerges in session, pause experiential work, follow standard risk assessment and safety-planning practice, and arrange individual follow-up the same day. Touch (in making the rounds or body work) only with explicit, revocable consent. In hot-seat and demonstration settings, check after the session with whoever worked, since intense public work without follow-up is a known risk of the workshop format.

Sources

Sources:

• Gestalt group therapy, SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy
• Boris, G. D. J. B. (2013). Grupos gestálticos: uma proposta fenomenológica de facilitação da cooperação. Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia (UERJ) (also via Redalyc PDF)
• Boris, G. D. J. B. (2014). Elementos para uma história da psicoterapia de grupo. Revista da Abordagem Gestáltica
• Peavy, R. V. (1973). Gestalt therapy and the counsellor. Canadian Counsellor, 7(2)
• Overholser, J. C. (2023). A simulated interview with Fritz Perls, Part 3. Irish Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Routledge: Cole & Reese, New Directions in Gestalt Group Therapy (description and contents)
• Feder, Gestalt Group Therapy: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed. (bookseller description)
• Wedam, U. (2011). Review of Bernstädt & Hahn, Gestalttherapie mit Gruppen. Gestalt Theory 33(1)
• Gestalt groups: how they work (Russian secondary web page, unattributed; summarises Gronsky 2001) [low-reliability secondary source]

Further reading (not drawn on; content via the secondary sources above):

• Feder, B., & Ronall, R. (Eds.) (1980). Beyond the Hot Seat: Gestalt Approaches to Group. Brunner/Mazel.
• Kepner, E. (1980). Gestalt group process. In Feder & Ronall (Eds.), Beyond the Hot Seat.
• Zinker, J. (1977). Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy. Brunner/Mazel.
• Zinker, J. (1980). The developmental process of a Gestalt therapy group. In Feder & Ronall (Eds.), Beyond the Hot Seat.
• Levitsky, A., & Perls, F. S. (1970). The rules and games of Gestalt therapy. In J. Fagan & I. L. Shepherd (Eds.), Gestalt Therapy Now. Science and Behavior Books.
• Perls, F. S. (1969). Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. Real People Press.
• Feder, B. (2013). Gestalt Group Therapy: A Practical Guide (2nd ed.). CreateSpace.
• Cole, P. H., & Reese, D. A. (2017). New Directions in Gestalt Group Therapy: Relational Ground, Authentic Self. Routledge.
• Bernstädt, J., & Hahn, S. (2010). Gestalttherapie mit Gruppen: Handbuch für Ausbildung und Praxis. EHP.
• Yalom, I. D. (1970). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Basic Books.