Friedrich (Fritz) Perls was a psychologist who was born in Berlin in 1893 and who is known for developing Gestalt therapy, a humanist-existentialist model of therapeutic intervention. Perls has inspired many psychologists and his legacy still lives on in the form of types of intervention far from psychotherapeutic orthodoxy.
Gestalt therapy is a type of experiential therapy that is not considered a simple psychotherapy, but rather an authentic philosophy of life, which influences the individual’s way of perceiving relationships with the world.
In this article We have compiled the best phrases pronounced by Fritz Perls Enjoy them!
1. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is the same as expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
You should treat yourself well because it is the only thing you have under your control. You don’t have to depend on others.
2. Friend, don’t be a perfectionist. Perfectionism is a curse
Perfectionism is not good for our emotional health, because it makes us live with too high expectations. That can frustrate us.
3. It is very rare that people can speak and listen. Very few listen without speaking
Most people talk without listening, because they are too busy thinking about what they are going to say.
4. Consciousness is subjective. We become aware of ourselves through our body and our emotions. We perceive the world through our senses
Emotions give our world all its meaning. That is why we must accept them as they are.
5. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who bother don’t matter and those who matter won’t bother.
The emotional experience should not be ignored, because that is a breeding ground for emotional problems.
6. Every time you refuse to answer a question, you help the other person use their own resources.
A phrase from Fritz Perls that invites you to think about responsibility.
7. Things do not exist; each event is a process; the thing is merely a transitory form of an eternal process. Everything is in a flow
A quote that talks about how the world is what we perceive, what our mind interprets.
8. If one feels chased by an ogre and becomes the ogre, the nightmare disappears
Another reflection that invites the reader to think deeply.
9. Angst is the gap between “now” and “later”
When we have expectations that are irrational, we can experience distress.
10. Only one phenomenon can occupy the foreground at a time
When anxiety manifests itself, it dominates our attention.
11. Heartbreak is always the result of moving away from the now.
When we think about the future and the past, anxiety can appear. Therefore, you have to live in the present moment.
12. Trying is lying. I’ll try means that you have no serious intention of doing it. If you really plan to do it, say: “I will”; and if not, say: “I will not do it.” You have to speak clearly to think clearly and act clearly
When we think about something too much, then we procrastinate.
13. A truly whole person has to have good orientation and also the ability to act
Honesty and integrity are virtues that every human being should possess.
14. Be as you are, so that you can see who you are and what you are like. Leave for a few moments what you should do and discover what you really do
True health is found in one’s own personal self-development.
15. Most modern men live in a “verbal trance.” They do not see or hear, and waking up takes a long time
About the way in which existential crises appear when we do not reflect.
Living in fear is not living fully. In reality, it is not living.
17. Let the plan for you arise within you
One’s personal development must come from one’s own motivations.
18. I only have one goal: to impart a fraction of the meaning of the word now
Living in the moment is the way to get in touch with yourself.
19. The “how” of self-deformation is the first step on the path to personal development. It could be stiffness of a body member, rapid heartbeat, or some discomfort, etc.
Self-reflection can begin after a crisis or triggering event.
20. Illness, the pretending to be sick that constitutes much of this going crazy, is nothing more than a search for environmental support. We are sick in bed: someone takes care of us, feeds us, gives us shelter, we don’t have to go out to earn a living, it is total regression. But regression is not, as Freud thought, a purely pathological phenomenon. Regression means withdrawing to a position where one can provide one’s own support, where one feels safe.
Gestalt therapy appeared as an alternative to conventional psychoanalysis.
21. Learning is nothing more than discovering that something is possible. Teaching is showing someone that something is possible
True learning happens when we put our minds to the test.
22. If you feel uncomfortable with someone you can be sure that there is no real communication. As soon as one expresses oneself genuinely, all the discomfort disappears.
Gestalt therapy emphasizes how communication between people can determine a dysfunctional relationship.
23. Being in the world with its ups and downs, alone or with others, is part of the same thing: existing in the here and now.
Problems arise in life, but you have to learn to accept them.
24. By not experiencing needs and impulses, organismic self-regulation deteriorates, needing to rely on moralistic regulations
Emotional self-regulation is necessary to live in harmony with others without depending on moral codes that are not questioned.
25. If you feel convinced about something, say it. Expose your true self. feel what you say
Another of Fritz Perls’ phrases that talk about honesty. We do not have to be afraid of ourselves, nor of expressing what we are.
26. Everything flows when you find mental well-being
When we are good with ourselves, life flows and we are in a state of flow.
27. Being present now consists of uniting our attention and our awareness
One of the principles of gestalt therapy is to be in the here and now.
28. At the same time that we address the patient’s awareness of how he experiences himself, we fulfill the requirement of working in the present
Gestalt therapists are humanistic-experiential.
29. Happiness is a matter of realizing it. Or are you being Freudian when you say: I am unconsciously happy
Unlike psychoanalysis, gestalt therapy places emphasis on consciousness.
30. The organism knows everything. We know very little. Intuition is the intelligence of the organism
There are forms of knowledge that are expressed through intuition.
31. I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to meet your expectations and you are not in this world to meet mine. You are you and I am me and if by chance we meet, it is beautiful. If not, there’s nothing left to do
Being dependent on someone is not good for the person’s development or emotional health.
32. Be as you are
True happiness occurs when someone finds themselves.
33. Guilt feels much nobler than resentment and it takes much more courage to express resentment than guilt. By expressing guilt you hope to pacify your opponent; with resentment you can awaken their hostility
A reflection on the relationship between guilt and resentment.
34. All emotions are expressed in the muscular system. You cannot visualize anger without muscle movement. You cannot visualize joy, which is more or less identical to dancing, without muscular movements. In grief there are sobs and crying, and in sex there are too
Emotions have three components: physical, cognitive and behavioral.
35. If love and hate come together, then one gets confused
The line between love and hate can seem fine in some cases.
36. If you have difficulty communicating with someone, look into resentments. You must find what you are resentful of and express it and make your demands explicit.
Emotions are present in our behaviors and our interpersonal relationships.
37. The therapist constantly seeks ways to be in touch with the “how” of events occurring in the present. He attends to the patient’s stream of consciousness
Fritz Perls was always innovative in how to do therapy.
38. Every time you use the words “now” and “how” and realize this, then you grow. Every time they ask the question “why,” they decrease in height.
To grow you have to be aware and know yourself.
39. You can’t achieve happiness. Happiness happens and it is a transitory stage
Happiness is on the path, in fighting for goals.
40. Deliberate changes don’t work. Changes take place on their own
A quote from Fritz Perls about the change and development of a person.
41. Our dependence makes us slaves to ourselves, especially if that dependence is on our self-esteem
Depending on someone or something has a great relationship with our self-esteem.
42. The goal of therapy is to ensure that the patient comes to know when he experiences himself, when he perceives his world, and when he uses his intellect.
Gestalt therapy aims to make the client aware of what is happening to them.
43. Abandon your mind and dedicate yourself to your senses
When we are more aware of expectations, we do not pay attention to our emotions and sensations.
44. It is perfect if you let yourself be and be
Developing has to do with finding yourself and seeking the motivation to move forward.
45. The crazy person says: “I am Abraham Lincoln”, the neurotic: “I wish I were like Abraham Lincoln”, and the healthy person: “I am me, and you are you.”
Mental well-being has to do with finding yourself and being clear about who you are.
46. If you need encouragement, praise, and pats on the back from everyone, then you are making everyone your judge.
One must find inner peace to be happy and not constantly seek the approval of others.
47. There are two big lies: “I want to” and “I try to”
You don’t have to think about making something done, but rather you have to take the initiative and do it.
48. The person… how does he feel his own continuous internal change?
Fritz Perls asks this question about how we feel we develop.
49. I cannot perceive your consciousness. I only know your observable behavior and what you are willing to share.
Psychologists, as Fritz Perls understood them, are not fortune tellers, but rather have to interpret based on what they can observe and what people express.
50. You will not find any animal – except the domestic animal, already infected by humanity – no plant that prevents its own growth.
Human beings can be our worst enemy.
51. Our life is basically nothing more than a series of unfinished situations, incomplete gestalts
There is no definitive closure for what we do.
52. Don’t push the river, it flows on its own
The present is a constant change.
53. The person who is most in control is the one who can relinquish that control
The attempt to dominate everything that happens in our lives only produces frustration.
54. A hundred plastic flowers cannot make the desert bloom
Everything that does not go through the acceptance of the present is destined to fail.
55. Educate means showing someone that something is possible
An inspired reflection about the task of teachers and educators
56. Emotions are not annoyances that need to be discharged. Emotions are the most important drivers of our behavior
The emotional aspect is totally integrated with our lives.
57. They feed your computer, the intellect. And the intellect is the tip of intelligence. A hindrance in life
The accumulation of information can act as a distraction.
58. Nothing has meaning without its context. The meaning does not exist
Everything we interpret we do from a specific situation.
59. The fact that we only live with such a low percentage of our potential is because we are not willing to accept ourselves
Fritz Perls talks about human potential.
60. We do not allow ourselves, or are not allowed, to be entirely ourselves
Part of the process of self-acceptance is actually a conquest.
61. If one refuses to remember one’s dreams, one really refuses to face one’s own existence.
A reflection on the expectations that mark our life journey.
62. Change is an opportunity
In the flow of time there are spaces to detect improvements.
63. Each person has the responsibility of directing their life towards what they want.
Fritz Perls had a conception of humanism that was in certain respects individualistic.
64. There is no way to avoid the situation in which you have to force yourself to accept the present
The acceptance processes herein cannot be avoided indefinitely.
65. Knowing what is blocking a vital situation is each person’s task.
No one can judge for us what our situation is.
66. The past is only seen through our eyes kidnapped by the present
There is no objective way to look at the past.
67. Much of what it means to improve our visas has to do with knowing how to prioritize
Avoiding vain struggles avoids frustrations.
68. Solitude is actually the place where you can connect with the feeling of belonging to humanity
A paradox about loneliness.
69. Rediscovering emotions and learning to embrace them is something healing
One has to reconcile with the emotional
70. Distractions are also part of the life path
Throughout our lives, heights also count.
71. Harmony returns during rest
In the simplest situations, balance is created again.
72. There is a lot of potential in people, but knowing how to detect it also requires talent
A paradox about the possibilities to be discovered and what they require to be discovered.
