John E. Jones

POLARITIES
Another major concept in Gestalt psychology is polarity—the idea that there are
opposite, counterbalancing poles of action. These opposites also attract each other. The
experiential knowledge of each pole increases the available range of behavior. The aim
is to achieve a rhythmic movement from one pole to another as in a pendulum’s swing.
For example, people who are very involved in intellectual happenings (head or
cognitive understanding), may be equally uninvolved in or unknowledgeable about
happenings of their body (emotional understanding). This case of polarity would be
between the head (that is, the cognitive) and the physical (that is, the emotional) body.
By working on each pole, a person can integrate both.
FIGURE/GROUND
The concept of figure/ground is also important. When something is figure—that is,
clearly and sharply focused for an individual—it is, in Gestalt logic, worthy of being
dealt with; it does not need to be justified. Linked with the concept of figure is the idea
of ground, or background. Any concept can become figural and then move into the
background.
For example, I come home tired after a hard day. What is figural for me is fatigue,
and I want to sit down and prop my feet up. After I have done that for a brief time, my
fatigue moves from figure to background—ground—and my thirst emerges as figure. I
fix myself a drink, have a couple of sips, sit back, and my thirst moves from figure to
ground. Then the quietness in the room emerges as figure and I decide to turn on some
music. I listen for a while; the music is figural, and then it fades into the background.
The next thing that emerges for me is the awareness that I am hungry: It has been
several hours since I have eaten.
As the example shows, figures emerge, are dealt with, and then move into the
background. They must, however, be dealt with before they can become ground. In a
group setting, for example, if someone does not deal with what is figural, as frequently
happens, that figure stays within the group and does not recede into the background. A
typical example of this can be found in a group-on-group setting. The people in the outer
group may be very figural for the inner group. Not until someone in the inner group
acknowledges anxiety about the outer group does that figure pass into ground. Often
figures can be released simply by acknowledging them.
Assume that I am a member of a personal growth group. My figure is anger, but I
deny understanding it. In order to deal with my anger, I must unblock and clarify the
figure. I can ask myself some questions to help in doing this: What am I doing? How am
I doing it? What do I want? What do I need? What am I pretending? What do I feel
angry about? With whom am I most angry?
Once I have clarified my figure, I can decide what to do with my anger at that time.
Perhaps acknowledgment may be sufficient to release the figure. As soon as I make a
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 3, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer