Advance scribble of an unfinished writing that will be about Letting Go and Becoming Separate
I've created this diagram out of the original Cycle of Experience from Gestalt Counselling in Action (Clarkson 1990) and Contact Styles (Bentley 2002)
In an ideal world, and ideally in a post therapy world experiences will be met with openness to the evolving experience that is presenting. With this OPENNESS to the experience a focus is allowed and initiated. Through this Openness and FOCUS the experience is able to be assimilated with previous same/similar/different experiences and enrich the Self appropriately. Thus the ASSIMILATED experience becomes owned and accepted or rejected. With this OWNING of the experience there comes a shift to clarity for the experience in relation to the fuller situation; a clear expression for the whole current experience and its fit with previous experiences. Because of this CLEAR EXPRESSION the individual is able to let go and be separate of this particular experience that is now complete, and ended. The individual is satisfied and content and able to be Open for new evolving experiences.
Ideally we would all be operating in the ‘peachy’ segment.
References:
Bentley, T. (2002), "Contact styles", The Learning Organization, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 202-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/09696470210442141