Case #46 - Fun with maggots

Felicity talked about having nightmares. We don’t apply pre-set interpretations to dreams in Gestalt, but nightmares are often about aggression; we see all aspects of a dream are about the dreamer, so nightmares are related to one’s own aggression.

Read More >>

Case #47 - The end of a relationship is a new beginning

This couple had been struggling for some time. The first thing Rhonda said in the session was - ‘my parents divorced, and I promised myself I would never ever do that to a family I created’. She was extremely distressed. Brian put his arm around her, but she pulled away.

Read More >>

Case #48 - The witch, the money, and the sickness

Song-li had serious health issues over the last year. After several operations, nothing physical had helped much, and things had both got better, then worse. So the psychological was the next explanation. She had done various therapy pieces on the matter...so I was wary about not repeating them, and asked her directly what she had already addressed. Its not good to load too many different approaches onto the same problem, and this requires some careful professional judgement.

Read More >>

Case #49 - The stiff doll, and the soft hands

Annabelle was distressed, very sad. She brought a little doll with her, with stiff little wooden arms. ‘This is me’, she said. ‘My arms are stiff, like a Zombie. My heart is sad.’ She revealed that her parents fought terribly when she was growing up, and that created a lot of fear and frozenness in her. In her adult life she felt too tough, and wanted to find more softness. But the doll showed just how stiff she felt.

Read More >>

Case #50 - Talking to pillows: about support

Mark raised a number of topics, but none seem to have much traction. His work situation was in transition - he previously worked with his father, but moved away from that. He had several business activites, but none making good enough money. He was married three years, and was ready for a baby. I made various comments and observations - the flowing sound of his voice for instance.

Read More >>

Case #51 - Confronting a ghost

Leanne spoke about being very fearful. She was scared of cockroaches, could easily be startled, and at night sometimes found it hard to sleep, fearing theives coming in the window, or ghosts, or ‘monstors’. She also feared monstors when she went out in a boat.

Read More >>

Case #52 - The party girls

Martin had a number of major relationships in his life. At 50 he was now in a very heart-connected relationship, but without children. He had always been attracted to ‘party girls’. In the end, despite working hard on the relationships, he found he hadnt been able to make them last, until the present one.

Read More >>

Case #53 - Too much drinking, or to too much giving?

Tom drank, too much, too often. He had done this for many years. Sometimes he gave up, sometimes he started again. Abby was not happy, and had become increasingly vocal about things having to change. The trouble is, they did change - he stop drinking, they would get on better for a while, then somehow, the whole thing would start again.

Read More >>

Case #54 - Bringing the devil and God together

Angelica was a doctor, though she had more recently changed professions. She had a child, and longed for another one, but was also deeply afraid to have another one. She said, as we established contact, that she was concerned how she was seen in my eyes. I told her what I actually observed, to create some relational ground..including a beautiful bracelet she had on, from her husband.

Read More >>

Case #55 - The creative void

Betina talked about being afraid of her husband dying - there was a history of early deaths in his family, a fortune teller had told her he could die, and he stayed up late each night.

Read More >>

Case #56 - The little girl needs attention

Wendy spoke of wanting a partner. She was divorced, and ran a business. She talked about how impatient she was with her employees, and how she was very businesslike, and never showed her vulnerabilty. She contrasted this with the patience she recognised in me.

Read More >>

Case #57 - Invitation to conspiracy

As soon as Annabelle started speaking I got an uncomfortable feeling. She clearly wanted to tell her ‘story’, about how she had been wronged in various ways, how she had valiantly tried to help others in the family, etc. I found myself feeling impatient, and not really wanting to listen to her. I could see that she would just talk, fill up the space, without really allowing for input - she seemed to just want to complain.

Read More >>

Case #58 - When words fall away

When someone raises a lot of issues, we need to be open to them, looking for what we call something ‘figural’ in Gestalt terms - a particular topic that has the most present energy.

Read More >>

Case #59 - Longing for meeting

After a group process Trevor got in touch with some deep sadness. I had given an exercise in the group to creatively explore aggression. Participants faced each other, and pushed against each other with their hands. The instruction was to meet with equal force, which meant that the stronger person would have to modulate themselves.

Read More >>

Case #60 - Hating and loving

Jeremy and Miranda - a married couple - did an exercise which involved pushing hands against each other, to get in touch with their aggression.

Read More >>

Case #61 - Getting comfortable with sexual feelings

Linda was 33 and single. She reported that she had plenty of men friends, but they were all ‘buddies’. And when it came to the possibility of a romantic relationship, she found it hard to move out of the buddy relationship.

Read More >>

Case #62- Medusa

Tracy had a dream. She had killed a man, and put him in a cupboard. She was trying to ensure that none of the people around found out. She had it in the back of her mind to blame it on her mother.

Read More >>

Case #63 - The fast talking limper

Murray had worked in the police force for 20 years. Then, at one accident scene, he suddlenly found that he had lost his resilience. Normally he could get over whatever emotion he might occassionally feel. But that time it was different. He found that he didnt recover.

Read More >>

Case #64 - Sensible choices or crazy choices

Zac had relationship troubles. His girlfriend Marta was ‘a handful’. She was creative, had a colourful personality, and shared many of his values about society and politics. She was very accepting of him, something he had not experienced in relationship before. He had fun with her, but there were things he couldnt come to terms with.

Read More >>

Case #65 - Joined in sadism

Kathy’s mother was quite unstable, in the worst of ways. Growing up, her mother would find ways to criticise, attack, and blame Kathy and her siblings. She would hurt the children emotionally, and at other times was unavailable. Her moods, her anger were difficult to live with. But at other times, she could be generous, compassionate, and took care of all the physical needs.

Read More >>