Case #11 — Father, mother, girlfriend
John was having difficulties in feeling solidly committed to his girlfriend. He wasn ’ t sure about the relationship. He had a dream. He and his girlfriend were making love. His father and mother were…
Case #12 — Dream: twins, water, mother
Dreams, daydreams, and stories are all similar: they provide us with access to the whole person. Jesse had composed a story about two twin boys. They were both playing at the side of a dam. The main c…
Case #13 — Dream of blood
Liz had a dream that recurred. I asked her to tell in Gestalt style, in the present tense - that is how we get clients into the here and now with a dream. Here is how she related it: I am on a train,…
Case #14 — Sleep: holding on and letting go
Julee remarks that sitting in the group she felt very relaxed and sleepy Says she has had insomnia for 20 years. I asked what happened at that time, and she replies that she there were many things, sh…
Case #15 — Colour blindness, blinking and emotional sensitivity
Wang was a bright young man. I wanted to demonstrate the phenomenological approach. So I started by noticing his T-shirt - a very boring looking brown. He said he chose it because he is partly colour…
Case #16 — Smiling eyes, scary eyes
Ingrid looked at me and said, ” you have smiling eyes. ” I said, “ better than scary eyes. ” I wanted to bring out the polarity - it ’ s great that she felt safe with me, but that ' s only because she…
Case #17 — The stale story
Jake had mental problems. He had experienced a lot of suffering in his life; he had been in and out of clinics, been through a gamut of medication, and was doing therapy to try to deal with what felt…
Case #18 — The mini holiday
Trudy lived with her aunt and uncle. The uncle considered her interest in psychology to be frivolous, pressured her about getting a job, criticized the money she spent on workshops like this one, and…
Case #19 — Attraction and boundaries
Dee was a young woman who spoke of her fear. I said, “ what are you afraid of? ” She said, “ men. ” I asked her to clarify. She explained that she wanted male attention, but she was also afraid of it.…
Case #20 — The frozen lid
Jane was provoked by the sharing in the group. She came up and was shaking. She did not want to talk about the content, which was fine. We just worked with the energy. I asked her to describe her expe…