Art and Creativity in Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Review, 5(4):225–248, 2001
Art and Creativity in Gestalt Therapy


N A N C Y A M E N D T - L Y O N, Ph.D.
The development and theoretical foundation of the aesthetic and cre-
ative dimensions of Gestalt therapy are presented. Special consideration
is given to the reflection of the theoretical and practical significance of
art and creativity for the founders of Gestalt Therapy, in particular Laura
Perls. Contributions from the “pioneers” in this field in the United States
are discussed. A number of principles suited for a timely appreciation
and practice of art and creative process in Gestalt therapy are suggested.
Guidelines for an Appreciation of Creativity
in Gestalt Therapy
Y THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS on the use of artistic methods and
materials in Gestalt therapy are based on a number of practice-
Mrelated guidelines. They begin with the application of the prin-
ciples of Gestalt theory, such as figure/ground, the principles of good
Gestalt, Prägnanz and closure, as well as viewing perception as an ac-
tive process. This implies a process-oriented approach in working with
artistic methods that supports the concept of perceiving and under-
standing. Our focus is not merely the product of creative expression
but, rather, the process through which it came to be. The realization
that cognition and emotion are inextricable helps us understand the
relationship between figure and ground, that is meaning. Patterns in
our lives and their location within the context of our reality emerge.
Playful experiences within the therapeutic relationship enable au-
thentic self-expression, the meaning of which is to be found in the life
context of the person involved. Gestalt therapy can facilitate the ability

Nancy Amendt-Lyon has studied psychology in New York, Geneva, and Graz. She
is in private practice as a psychotherapist and supervisor since 1978 and is on the teach-
ing staff of the Departments of Integrative Gestalt Therapy, Group Analysis and Super-
vision of OEAGG (Austrian Association for Group Therapy and Group Dynamics) and
is a chairperson of the Extended Board of the EAGT (European Association for Gestalt
Therapy) since 1999.
225
 2001 The Analytic Press

---

226
NANCY AMENDT-LYON

of human beings to engage playfully and creatively with one another
by offering potential space for impulses to unfold and develop.
Productive thinking, another theoretical guideline, is analogous to
creative adjustment, a process that aims for the transformation of the
familiar into something novel and valuable and searches for the “good
Gestalt” in the sense of an aesthetic self-expression and one’s uniquely
appropriate style. Productive or “independent,” thinking implies un-
derstanding the relationship between figure and ground, giving mean-
ing to our experiences and gaining insight into the implications of our
actions. The reorganization of familiar, chronically poorly configured
elements into something new and valuable and therefore beautiful re-
flects the embeddedness of Gestalt therapy in field theory. The forces
of the elements in the field that, when reconfigured, suddenly make
sense and seem to “fit” and the impact of an insightful “aha” experi-
ence are examples of this embeddedness.
Being able to appreciate personal meaning and achieving individual
style may be considered developmental goals in a culture of rapidly
changing mass fads and fashions. Furthermore, the concept of isomor-
phism, or structural relatedness between experience and expression,
has gained in significance for the relationship between psychothera-
peutic practice and theoretical knowledge of Gestalt therapy. Experi-
encing the authentic expression of inner experiences with artistic
materials during therapeutic interaction enhances that which exists
“between” therapist and patient. Being part of this process makes it
something beyond mere self-expression. It is a phase in a process tak-
ing place between two human beings.
The same phase applies to the application of processual diagnosis
and dialogic relationship during all phases of the therapeutic process.
The description of interpersonal behavior patterns; modes of sensing,
thinking, and feeling; symptoms; and disturbances are our working
hypotheses. A processual diagnosis can be compared to the number of
temporary stops that one makes during a journey. Diagnosis can be
seen as relatively constant ways of being in the world with others. The
life context and interpersonal patterns of the therapist are an integral
part of this diagnostic process. Another guideline involves being person-
ally familiar with the materials and methods one uses. This familiarity has
become a prerequisite to appreciating the possible attractiveness and ef-
fects they can have on others. Experience with the repercussions and risks
of materials is an essential part of teaching their use.
Creativity in psychotherapy is more than being creative as a thera-
pist or being in contact with a patient who shows creative qualities. It
is the daring, creative interaction within the therapeutic relationship.

---

ART AND CREATIVITY IN GESTALT THERAPY
227

It is that which happens in the no man’s land between patient and thera-
pist, through them. Creativity in Gestalt therapy means venturing
beyond self-expression and entering the dynamics of the productive
interchange within the therapeutic relationship. The creative expres-
sion and interchange can best be encouraged in Gestalt therapy when
the therapeutic process is “creative” in the just-mentioned way and the
participants in this process have attained optimal results with the giv-
ens of the situations. To this end, precisely those individually created
experiments are suitable that, in contrast to stereotyped exercises, take
the uniqueness of the patient into account and also require the thera-
pist to act creatively. Only the continuous production of custom-made
interventions, whether in individual, couples, or group therapy, stimu-
lates the liveliness, innovation and meaningfulness that are necessary
if those interventions are to be called creative in the Gestalt therapy
sense of the word.
Recent research has confirmed that neither the minds nor the bodies
of two persons work the exact same way. Since no two brains function
identically, we as therapists have to explore the sensory strengths of
our patients. Some patients orient themselves well visually to images,
shapes, colors, and designs. Others attend readily to auditory signals,
while others are particularly receptive to spatial modes of communica-
tion and need interaction involving direction, movement, and space.
Still others find it easy to communicate in metaphoric terms or enjoy
playing with figures of speech. Such verbal interventions as metaphor
and verbal imagery may not have the intended effect on a person, but
gestures, facial expressions, and group “sculptures” may. When a thera-
pist realizes in which sensory mode his or her patient‘s strength lies,
then it is advisable to direct the therapeutic interventions to the patient’s
preferred way of experiencing. Successfully addressing the particular
sensory strength of our patients and matching it with an appropriate
therapeutic intervention is a prerequisite for what I colloquially call
“picking up the patient where he or she is.” This additionally requires
the diagnostic knowledge necessary to assess the patient’s developmen-
tal level, major conflicts, and ways of dealing with interpersonal prob-
lems. If our patients are not reacting favorably to our interventions,
then we may be addressing them in a sensory mode to which they are
slow to react or with which they cannot deal properly (Burley, 1998, p.
133). Assuming that cognition and feeling are inseparable processes, I
agree with Burley’s statement that creativity is a phenomenon relying
on the entire human brain, with differing emphasis, depending on
whether the activity involved is one of composing music, writing, or
painting.

---

228
NANCY AMENDT-LYON

The Development of the Aesthetic and Creative
Dimension in Gestalt Therapy
How the Founders of Gestalt Therapy Treated Art and Creativity
The initial phase of Gestalt therapy is indicative of its withdrawal from
classical psychoanalysis and the development of an approach that can
appreciate the comprehensive expression of a human being on differ-
ent levels of experience. In an early article, Fritz Perls (1948) describes
working with a sculptor who sought him out because of two crucial
disturbances. Perls left the medium of spoken language temporarily
and suggested that the artist express his problems by sculpting them.
This means of expression on the nonverbal level enabled him to enter
domains that were closed off from the exclusively verbal level.
Considering the cultural interests of Fritz and Laura Perls, it is not
surprising that the founders of Gestalt therapy stimulated and inspired
creative expression through an abundance of media and materials. Fritz
Perls loved the theater, had worked in plays directed by Max Reinhardt,
and took over elements of Moreno’s Psychodrama in his new psycho-
therapeutic approach. Both Fritz and Laura were strongly influenced
by German Expressionism and modern literature. Laura Perls empha-
sized that she considered herself to be a musician and writer before she
became a psychologist and a psychotherapist (Kitzler, Perls, and Stern
1982). Long into her late years Laura played the piano and held an
active interest in modern dance. Perls (1989) described her lifelong in-
terest in world literature in the following manner: “I acquired more
insight and richness of thoughts out of it, a better feeling for values
and greater awareness of the possibilities of dealing with them than
from reading psychological textbooks and journals or even from my
own psychoanalysis” (p. 121f.). Under the prerequisite that a psycho-
therapist‘s work is existential-phenomenological, experiential and ex-
perimental, Laura Perls encouraged the application of the most diverse
techniques, depending, of course, on the personal and professional ex-
periential background of the therapist.
Paul Goodman yearned for acknowledgment as a man of letters. He
expressed his creativity not only as a writer of poems, short stories,
plays, and novels, but also as a philosopher and social critic, in which
fields he was more widely acclaimed. His literary style is obviously
reflected in the theoretical part of Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman (1951).
Goodman introduced Fritz and Laura Perls to the founders of the leg-
endary “Living Theatre” in New York, Judith Malina and Julian Beck
(see Sreckovic, 1999, p. 123). His involvement in the “Living Theatre”
included writing plays and the “communitas” aspect of the project, view-
ing art as a means of creating community value (Humphrey, 1999, p. 173).

---

ART AND CREATIVITY IN GESTALT THERAPY
229

Psychotherapy as an Art and a Science
The new approach received the name Gestalt therapy, although Laura
Perls considered the name Gestaltung Therapie more appropriate, be-
cause the term Gestaltung describes a process, not something that is
static, such as a fixed gestalt. She depicts Gestalt as a philosophic and
aesthetic concept (Kitzler et al., 1982, p. 13).
Moreover, she deplored the narrow backgrounds of some psycho-
therapists that limited their practice of therapy. “Psychotherapy is as
much an art as it is a science. The intuition and immediacy of the artist
are as necessary for the good therapist as a scientific education” (Perls
and Rosenfeld, 1982, p. 27). She praised the artistic talents of early psy-
chotherapists and psychologists of the 1920s and 1930s, especially their
insight and intuition. In her opinion, having a broader humanistic and
artistic background would allow psychotherapists a better approach to
a wider spectrum of people. Much of what we designate as pathologi-
cal or psychotic is, according to Laura Perls, often something that is not
understood or, owing to its limitations, cannot be accessed by certain
psychotherapists (cited in Kurdika, 1982, p. 32).
She goes on to describe an appropriate example of this broader back-
ground knowledge from her own practice: her knowledge of poetry,
modern poetry in particular, enabled her to treat a schizophrenic young
woman who was silent during the first few sessions, then began to com-
municate through her own poems. Laura Perls went as far as saying
that good therapists are also good artists, even though they are not
known as artists or considered to be artistic. In this vein, a background
and continuing experience in the arts as an influence on a psychothera-
pist broadens his or her communicative abilities and deepens his or her
understanding of many aspects of personalities. This influence of the
arts is reflected in Gestalt therapy‘s emphasis on intuitively compre-
hending essentials and enhances the therapist‘s insight into human
nature (e.g., Kelley, 1982)
Creative Expression and the Concept of Health in Gestalt Therapy
Developing awareness of one’s own processes as well as one’s own cre-
ative possibilities is essential to the health of a human being. When one
is working through conflicts and interpersonal problems within the
Gestalt therapeutic approach, a colorful palette of creative means of
expression may be implemented to promote productive solutions.
By emphasizing the analogies between the creative processes in art
and in psychotherapy, various artistic media are made available to fa-
cilitate creative expression. The application of such art forms as paint-
ing and drawing, modelling and sculpting, collages, pantomime and

---

230
NANCY AMENDT-LYON

dance, musical instruments, and voice enables the integration of aware-
ness, movement, and emotion into a present-centered contact process
that requires the use of all our senses. The state of concentrated percep-
tion and spontaneity that usually accompanies this process is indicative
of the middle mode and spontaneous self (e.g., Leitner, 1982; Aissen-
Crewett, 1986; Perls et al., 1997).
“Creativity and adjustment are polar; they are mutually necessary”
(Perls et al., 1951, p. 231). In their description of creative adjustment
and progressive integration, Perls et al. compare creative artists to chil-
dren by calling special attention to the structure of art-working and
children’s play (p. 245). This theoretical assumption, that spontaneity
can be considered to be evidence of curative insight, is in accordance
with modern psychoanalytic theory (see e.g., 1971, Winnicott). Perls et
al. attempt to bridge the artificial divide between the spontaneity of
creative artists and children, on one hand, and general creative adjust-
ment on the other hand:
The important part of the psychology of art is not in the dream or
in the critical consciousness; it is (where the psychoanalysts do
not look for it) in the concentrated sensation and in the playful
manipulation of the material medium. . . . His [the artist’s] aware-
ness is in a kind of middle mode, neither active nor passive, but
accepting the conditions, attending to the job, and growing toward
the solution. And just so with children: it is their bright sensation
and free, apparently aimless, play that allows the energy to flow
spontaneously and come to such charming inventions. . . . Can
the same middle mode of acceptance and growth operate in adult
life in more “serious” concerns? We believe so [Perls et al., 1951,
pp. 245–246].
In this vein, they “insist on the unitary thesis, on the creativity of
structured wholes” (p. 239) and propose the following approach: “The
method of treatment is to come into closer and closer contact with the
present crisis, until one identifies, risking the leap into the unknown,
with the coming creative integration of the split (p. 240).
Working therapeutically with artistic media proceeds principally the
way other experiments in Gestalt therapy do: the continuing process is
emphasized; increased awareness and allowing oneself to be involved
in new experiences are aimed for as well. The goal is to tap into dor-
mant or unexpected expressive possibilities of a person by engaging in
the use of a wide range of methods. As practiced in the Gestalt thera-
peutic experiment, this is a diagnostic-therapeutic process (e.g., Suess
and Martin, 1978, p. 2738).

---

ART AND CREATIVITY IN GESTALT THERAPY
231

Pioneers in the United States
“The Gestalt Art Experience”—Janie Rhyne
As Gestalt therapy began to establish itself in the United States, Janie
Rhyne was one of the pioneers in this domain who combined her back-
ground as an artist, anthropologist, and psychologist to create the “Ge-
stalt art experience,” the term she coined to describe her method of
working (Vich and Rhyne, 1967 and Rhyne, 1971, 1973a, b). Rhyne’s
approach gives us guidelines for the use of art materials to find and
explore one’s own (and others‘) individually unique qualities, stimu-
lates expanding one’s range of perception through the creation of forms
with art materials, and helps us learn to understand the visual mes-
sages these forms convey. In contrast to early writings on Gestalt art
therapy, which reflected a product-oriented focus, Rhyne‘s 1996 revised
edition of her book, originally published in 1973, depicts the develop-
ment in this field: the emphasis is on the process. Artistic media serve
as a bridge between the internal and external worlds, and the forms
that evolve are messages that support human beings‘ expressive possi-
bilities, contact functions, and problem-solving strategies.
Principles of Gestalt Psychological Theories of Perception:
It becomes apparent that the laws of Gestalt psychological theories of
perception guide this approach:
•
Perception is an active process.
•
We create figures and background spontaneously and naturally (fig-
ure/ground).
•
We show a natural tendency to complete wholes and effect the clo-
sure of “open” or unfinished parts of wholes (closure).
•
There is a tendency to be aware of certain patterns (laws of similar-
ity and proximity)
•
There is a further tendency to reduce configurations to simple forms
(“good” forms, the law of Prägnanz).
•
Our perception is influenced by actual needs, experiences, and in-
dividual personalities.
•
Actively organizing forces are present in meaningful wholes (Rhyne,
1973b, p. 8ff.).
The crucial aspect of the therapist’s task in the Gestalt art experi-
ence is his or her skill in transferring the insights and realizations of
the entire process onto the way one structures and experiences one’s
life and relationships. Rhyne is convinced that sensory memories can more

---

232
NANCY AMENDT-LYON

effectively be activated by nonverbal, sensory experiences, such as
movement and body awareness as well as working with art materials,
than by remaining on a purely verbal level.
Gestalt Therapy as Creative Therapy—Joseph Zinker
In a stimulating and playful manner, Zinker (1971, 1974, 1977) warns
psychotherapists time and again about the pitfalls of using stereotyped,
repetitive exercises with their patients. He considers Gestalt therapy
itself to be a creative process. Zinker (1974) sums up his position with
the basic tenet that Gestalt therapy is “permission to be creative”
(p. 75), and he suggests that therapists experiment creatively as a means
of coming closer to the unknown territories of the personality. Zinker is
well-known for his dreamwork as theater and for his Gestalt art work-
shops with music and artistic materials. He stresses that therapeutic
and creative processes are connected on the levels of transformation,
metamorphosis and change.
The goal that Zinker (1977) proposes is the concretization and sym-
bolization of one’s inner life, expressing aspects of it with a broad spec-
trum of media and exploring it fully: “For me, doing therapy is like
making art. The medium is a human life. Whether admitted or not, the
effective therapist shapes lives. Too often the therapist is not honest
about his powrful influence on others and unwilling to take responsi-
bility for his behavior” (p. 37). In doing this, the creative therapist treats
the person facing him in his complex entirety, just as a choreographer,
playwright, or a visionary would. “The creative therapist provides the
milieu, the thick, rich atmosphere within which a person’s integrity
can become more fully realized” (p. 38). Although I am convinced from
his writing that Zinker treats patients with respect and integrity, I do
not share his opinion that patients are the artistic medium for creative
therapists. It appears to me that creative process is not a one-way course
of action but, rather, is the result of interdependencies and mutual in-
fluences within the therapist–patient interaction.
Art and Creative Expression in Children
and Adolescents—Violet Oaklander
Oaklander ’s (1979, 1992) contributions to the Gestalt therapeutic ap-
proach to working with children and adolescents through the use of art
materials deserve special attention. She employs creative means of ex-
pression in her Gestalt therapeutic practice to facilitate her patients‘
achieving better awareness of self and having a fuller experience of the
here-and-now of their existence and experience. The focus of her work
lies on what someone does in his or her life, how he or she does it, and

---

ART AND CREATIVITY IN GESTALT THERAPY
233

the consequences of this behavior. Oaklander ’s concept is based on the
theoretical assumption that imaginative children have higher I.Q.s and
are better equipped to solve and overcome problems. She encourages
imagination as a means of improving a child’s ability to learn and re-
solve the problems with which he or she is faced.
A second assumption of Oaklander ’s is the parallelism of imagina-
tive and life processes. An important part of her therapeutic work is
the reflection of the process of artistic creation as well as projected per-
sonality aspects and identifications with the product of the artistic en-
deavor. One of the essential goals is naturally to locate the artistic
expression within the context of the person’s own life outside of therapy.
When one is considering indications and counterindications of certain
techniques for different forms of problematic behavior, Oaklander ’s
(1978) facit is refreshing: “I can’t think of one across-the-board general-
ity that fits all children” (p. 62).
Of crucial importance is the phenomenological principle to which
Oaklander ’s approach adheres: the psychotherapist should begin with
the child wherever he or she is at the present moment, should respect
the child’s needs and defenses, enter his or her world gently, and should
address the presenting problems. Characteristic of Oaklander ’s work
is the deep respect for the various forms of resistance that her patients
present when she engages them. She considers each of the various
technques she applies to be a catalyst, not a means to an end, within
the context of the creative, therapeutic process. Since each child and
each situation is different, every session will have a different and un-
predictable outcome if the therapist can stay with the process that is
evolving with the patient and allow the creative process to unfold. In
this way, unique means of creative expression are constantly arising
from the ongoing, dynamic therapeutic process if the therapeutic inter-
action permits it. Thus, Oaklander advocates the development of one’s
own personal therapeutic style, including one’s own preferences for
materials, which should be an integration of their scientific and artistic
abilities. As she sees psychotherapy to be an art, she feels that every
psychotherapist must find his or her own path to follow by connecting
his or her techniques, knowledge, and experience with intuitive feel-
ings and creative impulses. Otherwise, it is unlikely that anything pro-
ductive will happen (Oaklander, 1992, p. 243).
Gestalt Art Therapy—Elaine Rapp
Rapp clearly focuses on the search for self in the group participants.
Achievement, talent, and artistic productivity are irrelevant to this pro-
cess. The existential perspective, which requires that the participants
take responsibility for themselves and remain present centered, explores

---

234
NANCY AMENDT-LYON

the relationship between a person and his or her environment (mate-
rial) through a broad spectrum of experiments with formable materials
(clay, plasticine, wire, stone, etc.). Rapp encourages dialogues with the
polarities emerging out of the artistic products, promotes the explora-
tion of unknown aspects of the self, and considers the message of the
creation—as in Gestalt dreamwork—to be an existential one. Rapp
(1980) views the basic philosophical assumptions, goals, and results of
other forms of gestalt therapeutic work and those of the creative pro-
cesses of gestalt art therapy to be analogous to each other, despite the
fact that the techniques are not identical: “Creative process often evokes
fears, such as those of not knowing, of risking, of the taking of new
spaces, of the unexpected accident—in short, all the introjects that pre-
vent us from further growth and from contacting our excitement” (p.
92). The uniqueness of each individual is underlined; the artistic cre-
ation is regarded as a symbol with personal meaning and as a means of
communication. Accordingly, creative growth, that is, health, can oc-
cur when this communication with one’s environment is meaningfully
processed. This phenomenological approach refers to the tangible or
visual contents that confirm a persons’ subjective experience.
The transposition of creative energy from one art form to another
was a concern of Leedy and Rapp (1973), who encouraged the coopera-
tion of therapists from various expressive disciplines working together
with one patient or in a coordinated therapy program:
There is a link within each of us between the various manifesta-
tions of our natural creativeness in writing, art, music and dance.
When expressiveness in any one area surfaces, due to contact with
a supportive non-threatening therapist, the likelihood of other
forms of creative self-expression emerging is enhanced [p. 145].
Toward a Theoretical Integration of Art and
Creativity in Gestalt Therapy
“Gestalt” as an Aesthetic Concept—Michael V. Miller
Michael V. Miller (1980) eloquently highlights the fact that Gestalt
therapy theory reflects concepts we are familiar with in the field of art.
This connection between Gestalt therapy and the arts is not surprising
when we remember that the founders of Gestalt therapy were active in
creative fields. Whereas drama influenced Fritz Perls’s style of using
the hot seat and enactment of dreams and polarities, his theoretical
contribution to the aesthetic orientation in Gestalt therapy was negli-
gible. Miller reminds us of the close cooperation between Laura Perls

---