Gestalt work / GST-A02-5
Figure and Ground — Review journal
Review an attempt at figure and ground and choose what to keep, change, or leave aside.
10 minutes · Journal prompts · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: A job application fills Rae's attention while hunger and noise fade into the background.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. What becomes prominent depends on the surrounding situation.
Before looking back
Choose one ordinary attempt or decide to review the fictional example instead. This journal has no scores, required disclosure, or expectation of progress.
Revisit the practice
Draw a foreground concern and place competing demands in the background; change their sizes to show attention.
Notice context and impact
Record what actually happened, including an unhelpful or neutral outcome. Note resources, power differences, accessibility, and changed conditions rather than attributing everything to personal effort.
Choose a revision
What changes when the background is included? Keep the approach, change one part, ask for support, or set it aside. A mismatch is useful information.
Prompts for this resource
- What I tried, or what happened in the fictional example:
- What I noticed before, during, and after; what remains uncertain:
- What helped, did not help, or was outside my control:
- What changes when the background is included? My optional adjustment or support request:
Conceptual background
Gestalt Therapy: An Introduction — Gary Yontef
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.