Cops in the head: connection between theatre of the oppressed and gestalt therapy

The paper deals with the connection between the theater of the oppressed and gestalt therapy as a tool for personal self-knowledge and change. In theoretical part I introduce what theatre of the oppressed and gestalt therapy are. Than I present their common points: both deal with the individual internal conflict-reppression, which can be seen as cops in the head; they are common in their philosophies and ways of working. People can learn about themselves from experience gained through theater and gestalt and change their reality. In the empirical part I describe the course of the two-day workshop in which I joined exercises from the theater of the oppresed and gestalt therapy. I was interested how participants experienced particular exercises and what impact had the whole workshop on them. In qualitative research, I used the metod of observation with open participation. Participants filled out open questionnaires after workshops, which were related to the exercise of the rainbow of desire. In addition, I conducted an interview with theater educator Tony Cealy. Results obtained through qualitative research showed that the combination of both types of exercises have positive effect on participants. Theater exercises have helped to create an open, creative, relaxed atmosphere in the group. Gestalt exercises have helped the participants pay attention to themselves. Elements of Gestalt are brought with the last theater exercise Cops in the head - from technique Rainbow of desire; these help bring about the Cops in the head to one of the participants. Through feedback, participants expressed that that the workshop was important to them because it gave them new insight, it allowed them to understand and express themselves and their repressed parts in a creative way. It also enabled the protagonist directly, the rest indirectly, to confront their internal oppressors and take an active role in the process. Through some exercises, participants got more in touch with their healthy sources (playfulness, openness, imagination, creativity, etc.), which has contributed to an understanding of their needs, desires, unfinished gestalt etc. One of the important findings was the fact that we have the power to influence on some of our cops in the head, when we become aware of them