Experimenting

I have a certain reluctancy to use the word "experiment" or "experimentation" as I know it can conjure up images of deranged scientists cruelly subjecting patients or animals to painful procedures and new medications. The gestalt meaning of experiment is completely different though. In gestalt an experiment is an invitation to try or notice something that you are ordinarily not in the habit of doing. This could be because it is just simply out of awareness or because you have a deep resistance to it. 

Important to note is that there is no end goal in an experiment. it is simply a foray into unknown territory, a gentle expansion of one's horizon. And by the way, saying "no" to an experiment is just as valid, meaningful and interesting to the therapist as saying "yes."

The most famous gestalt experiment is the empty chair technique where one imagines a person from their life in that chair, whom they have unfinished business with. They experiment by sharing words or feelings with that person that they have never been able to say before. They may then be invited to go and sit in the chair and respond as if they were that person. A dialogue could progress in which internal conflicts, fears, beliefs and introjects can be brought to the surface for processing, and where the client can be supported to embody their true, authentic selves. 

Examples of other experiments:

With a client who was unable to interrupt someone for fear of being rude, I invited her to interrupt me as I talked, trying different ways (with eye contact and touch) until she found one that felt right to her. 

With a client or made himself small in conflict situations, I modelled how he sat and spoke, inviting him to observe me. He immediately saw how he avoided eye contact, looked to the floor, sounded apologetic etc. He then made adjustments to me until I held myself in a way he valued. He then stepped into this new mode of being and liked the way it felt, relating to me as an equal. 

With a client who felt she was not deserving of attention and acceptance, it got her to pay attention to her posture and sensations which kept her chest closed and protected and her head tilted downwards. I then invited her to allow her body to find the opposite of this. She moved around intuitively opening her body up, raising her head, feeling into a new experience of feeling that she deserved many wonderful things. 

In these experiments I often find myself inviting clients to find the polarities (the opposites) of the experiences in which they are stuck and struggling with. I invite them to pay particular attention to how they use their bodies to perpetuate these modes and patterns. The aim is not to force oneself into the opposite, but to taste the possibility of it and bring awareness to how they move through the world. With awareness comes greater choice.  

I find that many clients really get into the experiments, taking a lot from them and even incorporating them into their own lives. Every moment of our lives brings opportunities to experiment, to do things in a different way, to become the person we truly are. Experimenting keeps life spontaneous, fresh and rewarding. It helps us become aware of what we are not aware of, and this expansion of awareness necessarily opens up the possibilities of life.