ORGANISMIC BALANCE: GESTALT FORMATION AND DESTRUCTION

The goal of all organisms, including humans, on an ongoing basis is the maintenance of homeostasis, where all systems are in balance. This is the basic ingredient for survival. Life, and the environment in which we experience life, is constantly changing. This places demands on the organism to notice the impact and determine what response is required to restore balance. The organism must continually adjust and act based on recognizing and meeting these needs, which may be physical or emotional. Ultimately, all living systems are engaged in the continual process of detecting change and taking action to return to the place of balance. It is only from this place of balance that one can be fully present, the basic requirement for optimal living! Lack of awareness of this need results in the splitting off of a part of oneself that continues to seek completion. This splitting of attention results in an ever-increasing dysregulation with its concomitant symptom development. In Gestalt Therapy, this ongoing process is referred to as Gestalt Formation and Gestalt Destruction (Perls, Heferline and Goodman 1951). It is the basis for organismic self-regulation. The greater the health of this process, the better the organismic self-regulation and functioning. Figure 1 illustrates the steps in this process