John E. Jones

Dreams
The other means to psychological awareness is through dreams. The Gestalt approach to
dreams is unique and distinct from the Freudian, psychoanalytical approach, in which
interpretation is the key. In the Gestalt framework, there is no interpretation. The major
premise is that all components of the dream are in the individual who has the dream. If
your dream is about driving fast down a mountain road, you can work through the dream
so that at one point you might be moving as though you were the automobile and at
another point wavering as though you were the road and at another point frozen as if you
were the cliff. All these perspectives can be reached through the one individual.
A productive variation to individual dream work is group dream work. In the car
example, one person might be asked to play the mountain road and several people might
be asked to play the car. While the dreamer talks out the dream, the people move down
the road. By following the core elements of the contact cycle (Figure 3), the dreamer
gains new perspectives. The excitement and action are in the blank spots, that is, the
parts of the dream not remembered: how he or she got from there to there. Fleshing in
those blank spots provides the richness of the dream.
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Figure 3. Core Elements of the Contact Cycle
GESTALT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT 1
A number of exciting dimensions are related to the application of Gestalt technology to
organizations. Perhaps the most distinctive and pervasive concept in Gestalt OD is the
lack of concern with the system. It is an anti-systemic approach. According to
Gestaltists, the only real ingredient to be dealt with in systems is the individual. The way
to change the system is to change individuals. Energy is not put into how individuals
work together, how they relate, or what the organizational climate is. Instead, the focus
is on how to deal with each individual.
In Gestalt OD the consultant is the model—particularly, a nonrole model—for the
organization. The consultant tells “where he or she is” and what is happening,
encouraging individuals in the organization to do the same.
1 The major work in Gestalt OD has been done by Stanley Herman at TRW. “Notes on Freedom” and “The Shadow of Organization
Development” are key examples of an emerging Gestalt OD theory (see references).
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 3, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer