Author: | Peter Philippson | ISBN: | 1230002400174 |
Publisher: | Manchester Gestalt Centre | Publication: | June 4, 2018 |
Imprint: | Language: | English |
Author: | Peter Philippson |
ISBN: | 1230002400174 |
Publisher: | Manchester Gestalt Centre |
Publication: | June 4, 2018 |
Imprint: | |
Language: | English |
When I do therapy in a new venue, the first thing I do is to take away the clocks. When clients ask me why I do this, I tell them that clocks foster the illusion that time is a given, moving at a regular speed. An hour’s session with one client at one time has an experienced duration that is very different to the experienced duration with another client, or even the same client at another time. We say ‘Is it that time already?’ and ‘How time flew.’ and ‘That seemed never-ending.’.
In this paper, I dig deeper into a Gestalt Therapy understanding of time which gets away from the idea of a line from the past into the future. I then look at what this view implies about our understanding of death in relation to life.
When I do therapy in a new venue, the first thing I do is to take away the clocks. When clients ask me why I do this, I tell them that clocks foster the illusion that time is a given, moving at a regular speed. An hour’s session with one client at one time has an experienced duration that is very different to the experienced duration with another client, or even the same client at another time. We say ‘Is it that time already?’ and ‘How time flew.’ and ‘That seemed never-ending.’.
In this paper, I dig deeper into a Gestalt Therapy understanding of time which gets away from the idea of a line from the past into the future. I then look at what this view implies about our understanding of death in relation to life.