Monday, January 22, 2007

gestalt-field theory I


reading "reflections of field theory" by malcolm parlett:
there are five principals of field theory:
1. the principal of organization-
2. the principal of contemporaneity
3. the principal of singularity
4 the principal of changing process
5. the principal of possible relevance

1. principal of organization- "whether or not a....behavior occurs depends not on....one fact or a number of facts viewed in isolation, but upon the entire....field as a whole"- lewin
i think this basically says that as humans, we structure the function of things based on our need. a chair is for sitting in, but if someone gets dizzy and needs to lie down, and there is no bed, but a collection of chairs, the chairs can be organized around the need to lay down and so are lined up, creating a makeshift bed.

2.principal of contemporaneity- im gonna have to come back to this one...it seems real simple, but im having trouble holding on to it the way parlett has worded it.
i think the closest i can get is to say that the past and present in their original form are not existant in the moment, so instead of treating the moment as if it is reoccuring to approach it from terms of "what is,and not what was"- how the past plays out in the present (but it feels so flakey for some reason

3. principal of singularity-"each situation, and each person-situation field, is unique...we are all in this lecture hall together but our actual phenominal experience are all different..... meanings will be individually constructed and conclusions drawn which are not identical"- parlett
what i like about this one is the acknowledgement that generalizations are actually taking away from the experience, by assuming that all people are going to respond in the same way, alot is lost

4. principal of changing process- "experience is provisional rather then permanent. nothing is fixed and static in an absolute way" -parlett
black and white thinking be damned! its like snowflakes (if you ignore the newest research atleast), no moment can be exactly like another, as our state of mind is never truly exactly as it was at another moment (do you see why i say this is kind of hard to hold onto? )

5.principal of possible relevance- "no part of the total field can be excluded in advance as...irrelevant"-parlett
i can see that majickal professor of mine in this. she never rejected anything any of us said...

OH, and Kirsti, this is specifically for you!!!- " in old style gestalt therapy groups, the presence of a "hot seat" inevitably is a major part of the framing or context of what happens in the group."- parlett (as i know we were interested in that)

ok, thats enough for one sitting.

2 comments:

HitThaFloor said...

I love how psychology is so, and I'm losing the word here, but, maybe, common sense? is that the word?

molly said...

i agree

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