Minds and Brains for Gestalt Therapists

Abstract

This article seeks to present in a brief form some of the findings in psychological research which have relevance for the practice of psychotherapy in general and Gestalt therapists specifically. Therapists often assume that if the patient has not sustained damage to the brain, all brains and related cognitive processes function similarly enough that standard therapeutic procedures are adequate to treat all or most patients. In fact the differences in processing between “normal” brains are significant enough to have a noticeable impact on the effect of psychotherapy for individuals. Both learning theory and cognitive neuroscience have in recent times provided insights that are readily applicable to understanding the psychological functioning of normal and pathological behavior as well as psychotherapeutic practice. Thus the importance of understanding procedural memory, the Rescorla-Wagner Effect, and the nature of memories produced by the patient are facilitated by understanding the outcomes of such research. Some examples are provided.