ility for his/her own feelings and behavior. It is through this increased awareness that the health (or mental health) of the individual is restored. II. Breakthroughs and Steps in Learning Practicing Client Centered therapy helped me get over most of my fear and apprehension about performing as therapist and client in front of my classmates. So, as we (the class) began our first session in Gestalt I initially felt less nervous about participating, in fact, I volunteered to be the first client in my group during the first demonstration. Just like client centered therapy, I had again been in a group that was assigned to Dr. Fiebert and I felt fortunate to have him demonstrate because I knew that I would learn a great deal given his years of experience. I had learned through the reading and class lecture that this was a therapy that called for the therapist to be creative in getting the client to express emotions and feelings. I was anxious to see what creative techniques Dr. Fiebert would employ. He began the session by asking me what I was aware of and I told him that I was feeling some tension in my neck and shoulders. He then asked me to describe the tension, rate the level of tension on a scale of 1-10, increase the tension and relate it to and experience or incident in my life. I linked to a recent situation I had experienced with my mother, whom he then brought in to the empty chair to begin the external dialogue. My immediate reaction was to put up a defense by holding back but I knew if I was going to truly learn anything I had to freely allow myself to experience this process. In the third stage we had identified and labeled my internal polarities – Independent and Neglected. After a couple of minutes in to this stage I was uncomfortable with the depth of emotion that we were exploring and again put up my defenses but trying to keep it at a superficial level. Sensing this, Dr. Fiebert had me stand up a...
