A Population of Selves

by Erving Polster

In this important book, Erving Polster - coauthor of the landmark work "Gestalt Therapy Integrated" - greatly expands the therapeutic utility of the concept of self. A Population of Selves offers therapists new ways of thinking about the self, as well as specific procedures to help patients realize a powerful and healthy sense of a goal at the very heart of the therapeutic process. In an innovative expansion of therapeutic theory, Polster shows how the human reflex to summarize and animate experiences serves as a natural springboard for the formation of selves. He enlarges the therapeutic aim of synthesizing alienated aspects of a person by offering a construct of heterogeneous characters within, each with its own place and voice. Every person is host to a population of the infantile, the cunning, the rebellious, the tender. Using case examples from his own therapeutic practice, Polster illustrates eight major pathways for therapists to elicit new selves and to help their

Genres: Psychology

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Polster beschreibt in diesem Buch den therapeutischen Umgang mit verschiedenen Selbsten. Nein, hier geht es nicht um verschiedene Persönlichkeiten im Sinne einer dissoziativen Identitätsstörung, sondern die innere Vielfalt an Charakteren, die jede*r von uns mitbringt.

"(...) the self is always a summation of large or small clusters of characteristics within the person, a metaphorical dynamism that guides the person's behavior and feelings." (S. 22)

"This creation that I am proposing as the self is an example of natural gestalt formation and greatly reduces the confusion between person and self. First, the self is a psychological event intending to illuminate and animate reality, not to replace it. Second, this configurative process is fluid and is the creator of many selves." (S. 25)

Jedes Selbst entsteht aus den Erfahrungen, die wir machen. Erfahrungen können wir in jeder Sekunde unseres Lebens machen, sofern wir uns ihnen achtsam zuwenden und sie registrieren. Hier kann die Therapeutin/der Therapeut unterstützen. Das Gewahrsein fördern. Erleben, wann ich mich nicht gemäß einer einschränkenden Geschichte von mir verhalte. Meine eigene Vielfältigkeit wahrnehmen lernen.