Gestalt therapy is the method by which the therapist discusses the present situation of the patient according to her perception, emotion and any preexisting attitudes. Linda in her condition today can consult to a gestalt therapist because of her condition. In her case, telling her parents about her pregnancy is absolutely out of her plans especially her boyfriend is totally out of the case. In gestalt therapy, the first thing the therapist must do is ask her how she understands her present condition and how she is willing to get out of it.
A bewildered and teen age young mother-to-be normally loses control and unconsciously divert on options that have bold riskiness on it and this is dangerous. Therefore there must be someone who would understand her, discuss with her and guide her before she loses her control and confidence in herself. To expound it further, the main idea of providing therapy to Linda is to replace her concept of blame with responsibility to create a flexibility of relationship with her while allowing a natural equilibrium between her needs and the environment.
Since gestalt therapy emphasizes the independence of the client, the therapy will leave her in charge of her own development. The therapist will now play a role as a facilitator or a guidance counselor to the therapeutic process rather than making the therapy itself responsible to her well being. This can create confidence in Linda and become dependent with her capacity. In this way, we can say that Linda may not develop a relation of dependency with the therapy and the therapist but create for herself a positive outlook for her personal growth (Doermann, 2002) .
However, in my own point of view, gestalt therapy is effective depending on the urgency and situations of the case. In some case, gestalt therapy may not work accordingly due to the number of factors. First, the subject may not be able to develop fully the confidence he needs because of underlying reasons he or she could not tell to the therapist. Second, although the therapy can provide psychological boost to the patient, the physical characteristic of the problem causes the inefficiency of the therapy and render it useless.
And third, since gestalt therapy provides only consultations and dialogs within the existing conditions of the patient without consideration for the future, the patient may experience recurrence of consciousness with the problem. All these factors can create conflict into the personality and interest of the patient. Linda does not only need a therapist to help her gather her courage and think clearly but needs someone to back her up talking to her parents about her condition.
At her age her dependency to her parents is so strong and normally she feels that any serious negative concern caused by her could mean rejection from them. Thus the therapy may not have positive result on her if the cause of the problem will not be addressed. Sooner or later her parents will find out about her situation and no amount of therapy could sustain her. Since gestalt therapy provides confidence and independence to the client, the therapist may help Linda personally discuss this with her parents although it may mean that by doing this the therapist is going beyond her professional duty “only” as a therapist.
There is only one great issue here that must be addressed. Linda is not supposed and does not want to take on abortion and adoption of her baby and that is a good choice. However, at 15 she is still under the custody of her parents therefore she has no other alternative but to rely to them for support. Discussing this matter to her parents is not purely an option but a responsibility towards members of the family. Perhaps what she needs is someone to be on her side when telling this to her parents. A close friend or a relative could help.
The therapist could discuss this matter with them so they may fully understand the situation and future consequence. The parents are close-knit so being told and we can and must assume that they will understand. After the parents are settled up, this can be the best time for the therapist to do his part for Linda as she will surely struggle to gather back her confidence again.
Reference
Doermann, D. J. (2002). Gestalt Therapy [Electronic Version]. Retrieved March 13, 2008, from http://www. healthline. com/galecontent/gestalt-therapy