A Gestalt Approach to Internal Objects

A GESTALT APPROACH TO INTERNAL OBJECTS RUDOLPH BAUER, Ph.D Gestalt Therapy techniques are considered to be powerful tools for the remobilization of human growth and change. I will attempt to show that the power of these techniques lies in the fact that they are effective ways of dealing with our "internalizations". I will first briefly review object relation theory and then discuss gestalt techniques as they pertain to internal objects. ! Object Theory One of Freud's most important contributions from his ego structural viewpoint was his observation that our relations with real people reflect our intemal representations of others and the internalized dialogues that take place within this phantasy object realm. This implies that just as there is an encounter like quality between ourselves and others there is a relational and dialogue-like drama within ourselves.1 Melanie Kline expanded and clarified Freud's ideas by emphasizing that there are two different kinds of object relations: relations with real people in the external world and relations with internal objects. Internal objects or imagoes result from the introjection, incorporation and assimilation of significant others or parts of them. We internalize our experience of others, their words, prescriptions, moods, feeling tones, wishes and even our sense of their very presence. In this process of introjection we become the other or become "aspects" of the other. Our internal object world reflects the degree and intensity of our becoming the significant others in our life. Guntrip points out that "The figures with whom we have relationships in our phantasies are called appropriately internal objects because we behave with regard to them, emotionally and impulsively in the same way as we do towards external real people, though in more violent degrees of intensity than would be socially permissable.2 Developmentally, the formation of this inner world of internal objects and dialogues proceeds from the very beginnings of life. The formation of internal objects comes about because the child creates and grows slowly into a distinct psychological self with differentiated and defined boundaries. Although lessening with the increase in differentiation and boundaries, this most primitive experience continues throughout life. Due to the lack of boundaries and poor sense of differentiation the earliest introjecting is quite direct. It can be said that our earliest experience of the other is our experience of our self. Later as boundaries develop we are able to be more discriminating and selective. But this process of becoming like others in fantasy continues in part throughout childhood and into our adult functioning. In adulthood the processes are characterized especially by our becoming what the other wishes us to be or do. A person seeks a particular mode of relating to people, that reflects his internalized dialogues. We tend to relate to others in terms of our internalized imagoes, seeking to replicate in real life the drama of our inner life. To rephrase this issue developmentally, what is initially experienced as an external other becomes internalized and is consequently experienced as an internal other or part self. Our continuing future relationships may then reflect these internalized fantasy dialogues. This process of internalization facilitates psychological self growth and self support if the aspects of the other that are introjected are able to be assimilated and integrated into the self because of intrinsic supportive properties. However, there will be only partial assimilation if the other is experienced as frustrating and destructive. In this situation the internalized other will be experienced as a source of fragmentation and non-integration and this unnurturing , self frustrating dialogue will be repeated in this world. The recognition that we internalize our external experiences of people, that we experience internal dialogues that are conflicted, polarized and at times in confluence is of paramount importance for the psychotherapist. Although particular behaviors may change, the confrontation with the internalized other presents the therapeutic impasse. For it is a consistent catastrophic expectation that to modify these internal dialogues is to lose an aspect of self and in losing this aspect of self, one feels the possibility of partial annihilation. I will now discuss the techniques and practice of Gestalt Therapy in terms of internal object relations. Gestalt Therapy's Approach to Internal Dialogues First, Gestalt techniques begin with the understanding that a person' s experience of the world reflects his inner experience of self. In Gestalt Therapy Verbatim Perls asks the reader to consider everything a projection . . . . . everything that he attributes to others in terms of moods, attitudes and intentions.3 Projection here refers not to a defense reaction but refers to the issue that one's perceptions of and responses to the world reflect one's internalized experience. Second, there is a consistent admonition by Perls to distinguish what one is seeing and doing from what one imagines as this facilitates the differentiation between external and internal objects. Perls refers to fantasy life as the DMZ area that prohibits "2 good contact. Fantasy reflects our internal dialogues that intrusively interfere with seeing the world as it actually is. Third, the major gestalt way of dealing with the internal objects is by reowning and re-experiencing the introject as part of ones total self system. In this approach there is the possibility of integration where there was fragmentation. Introjects are dealt with by active assimilation and integration, not by disowning. It is our attempt at disowning our inner selves that result in our experience of deadness, alienation and denial of power. The gestalt techniques that foster such integration and reowning are exaggeration, specificity and dialogue. Exaggeration is a concentrated acting out or repetition of a movement, statement, word, sound, thought, gesture etc. This is a technique for heightening awareness. Specificity is the focusing on, attending to, and expressing one's experienced need, desires, and bodily felt sensations. In gestalt psychology terms, the process of gaining specificity is the process of the clarification of figure against ground. Through this technique one pays attention to one's present feelings and coming to a clearer more specific felt-to-be-meaningful formulation about them as a result of paying attention to them. This is the essence focusing and the process of becoming specific. Dialogue is the technique whereby the therapist works with the splits that might become manifest in the personality. Whenever a division is encountered (should---don't want to, strong---weak, etc.) the patient is asked to have an actual dialogue between these two components of himself. The dialogues can also be developed between the patient and some significant person, between bodily parts and many other variations. Now how are these techniques applied to internal object difficulties? It is the unassimilated internal object that plagues a person as if there was an unknown driving daemonic which is both part of him and yet not part of him. This is the part of self he wishes to do away with -- to be free of--and yet often senses that his power is somehow contained therein. It is our task to assimilate and contact the introject. Exaggeration and specificity are most important in this undertaking. Specificity allows one to get a feel of exactly what he is saying, hearing, fantasing, experiencing and provides for greater differentiation as to what he is not saying, hearing, fantasizing and feeling. Exaggeration provides the ritual for getting in touch and recapturing the power and force of the introjected experience. Dialogue is the technique whereby the person makes an encounter between two opposing internal objects or voices. The dialogue technique provides the ritual for integration between the conflicted, fragmented and opposing internal objects. Dialogue "3 allows for the internal encounter to be resolved-for internal silence to take place where there was sound. The dialogue technique makes explicit our internal polarities, and our inner strivings for inner peace and inner silence. Interestingly, the word person conics from the Latin word per-sona--through sound. Jungians speak of the persona--the mask beyond which is the integrated self. Perhaps it is beyond the dialogue--the silencing of the voices wherein one experiences the quiet self--the silence that eastern philosophy speaks of. From therapy experiences, the result of integration from a dialogue is a quietness inside and a clear contactfulness with the external real world. Fourth, the ritual and technique of attentively taking responsibility for our statements, feelings and dream creations, further facilitates contact with the internalized object. This technique puts one in touch with one's internalized dialogue and the reality that one is the creator of his internal dialogues. For it is only in contacting one's actual creation of the dialogues that one can regain the power and energy that these voices now possess. The paradoxical Gestalt Law of change reflects this understanding. Briefly stated, it is this: change occurs when one becomes what one is, not when he tries to become what he is not. Change does not take place through coercive attempts by the individual or another person to change him, but does take place if one becomes fully invested in his current productions. By coercively striving to change oneself--one simply creates another internal object—another voice and thus one loses more of one's power and experiences further fragmentation. Fifth. Gestalt therapy emphasizes the importance of the polar rhythm of contact and withdrawal. Being a therapist entails the ability to facilitate withdrawal to internal dialogues and then approaching the external world. When there is difficulty in maintaining good contact with the real world this suggests that an internal dialogue is interfering and the issue should be resolved on an internal or fantasy level. However, at times it is important to facilitate contact with real objects when the person is unwilling or not ready to deal with an especially threatening or overwhelmingly fragmented inner dialogue (psychosis for example). The process is to strengthen ego functioning or ego identification in a contactful way. The ego is not a substance, but as Perls points out it is the contact boundary. When internal conflict becomes too heavy, when the internal objects become overwhelmingly split and powerful, then rituals for contacting the external world can be strengthening and facilitate a lessening of the power of the internalized dialogue. Such techniques facilitate ignoring the inner dialogue and paying attention to the external environment. In a sense one covers up the conflicts until one's boundaries are clearer and then one is more able to handle the inner fragmentation. As I have noted, the process also works the other way, for by making explicit the internal dialogue and polarities and working to integration, the external world can be "4 contacted in clarity. The therapist must be sensitive as to where the issue can best be resolved and as to where the patient can best deal with his relational drama. Sixth, the principle of the now, the promoting of now awareness, facilitates contactfulness and allows one to become cognizant as to when and how his contactfulness is interfered with by internal imagoes. When one is attempting to stay in contact with the present situation and is unable to do so, then this lack of contactfulness reflects interference from internal images. Consequently, the principle of the now allows the patient to deal with the internal object. He does this by not simply talking about the memory or visual/auditory image, but by entering into the imaginary, describing it, reenacting it, re-experiencing it in the now. By staying in the now, not only recognition of the interfering image is facilitated, but actual reowning and integration is facilitated. The same process is followed if the image is of a pre-verbal and non-conceptual quality and is consequently reflected in a vague amorphous sense or feeling. The reowning of this kind of imago is often facilitated by verbal description of the kinesthetic experiential qualities of the imago and by re-experiencing the kinesthetic feeling in nonverbal movement and drama. Seventh, dream work is a way of dealing with fantasy that reflects internal object dialogues. By reenacting the dream in the present the patient is able to assimilate, contact and integrate the internal object experiences that are unassimilated. Dream work is a primary way of contacting internal objects since the dream is an obvious fantasy product. Eighth, making the rounds is a technique that not only facilitates contact with external objects, but is a way of testing one's freedom from internal interference. The therapist may utilize this technique when he feels that a particular theme or feeling expressed by the patient should be faced vis-a-vis every other person in the group. The patient may have said "I can't stand anyone in this room", The therapist will then say "Say that to each one of us, and add some other remark pertaining to your feelings about each person". If one misperceives the real person, makes unfounded attributions, fails in his attempts at contactfulness, he is again invited to deal with his internal drama that interferes with his external transactions with people. Ninth, reversal is a technique wherein one plays the opposite attitude, or feeling or behavior that he is expressing. For instance, if a person suffers from timidity, he may be asked to play the exhibitionist. This technique reflects the Klinean approach to internal objects as being split: good-bad; dirty-idealized; and it also reflects Perls understanding that dialectic and polarities are deeply rooted in organismic functioning. The relationship of having opposite internal objects is that the existence of one necessarily requires the existence of the other. The interaction between polarities "5 develops and functions in a dialectic manner. In the most correct expression, we don't internalize an object but a mode of relating--a dramatic and relational polarity. Often we tend to overly identify with one dimension of the polarity, but both dimensions are inherent in the imagery. For example, if a child experiences a sadistic-masochistic relationship, internalization would reflect the polarity of torturing and being tortured, master as well as slave, even though the initial frustrating object was sadistic. To internalize the punisher is at the same time to internalize being punished, to internalize the lover is to internalize being loved. If one is stuck on one side of the relational transaction, it is helpful to play the other side in order to synthesize and assimilate the imagery and energy contained therein. Tenth, the technique of "staying with the feeling" is a technique for facilitating contact with internal objects, especially those images that have little cognitive and visual content. Kline realized that the internal psyche of small children was not a seething cauldron of instincts or id drives, but a highly personal world of ego object relationships, finding expressions in the child's fantasy life that were felt even before they could be pictured or thought. These earliest most enduring and primitive imagoes can only he contacted and dealt with on the non-conceptual,pre-verbal and kinesthetic level. These earliest imagoes remain with us and are most difficult in contacting in verbal and pictorial imagery. Kinesthetic experiencing, expression in body movement is most helpful in the reintegration of these most primitive introjects. In summary, in this paper I have discussed Gestalt techniques in the context of object relations theory. I have attempted to show the functional relationship between the major gestalt techniques and object relations theory. This author sees Perls' major contribution as being a developer of techniques that reflect a contemporary ego psychology. REFERENCES BOSZORMENYI-NAGY, I. A Theory of Relationships: Experience and Transaction. In Boszorrnenyi-Nagy (Ed.) Intensive Family Therapy: Theoretical and Practical Aspects. Harper and Row, New York, 1965. GUNTRIP,H. Psychoanalytic Theory. Therapy and the Self, New York; Basic Books. 1971. PERLS. F. Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, Calif: Real Peoples Press. 1969. ! Prepublished in Psychotherapy, Theory, Research and Practice, Vol. 13 #3, Fall,1976 "6