Marc Thouret - Gestalt therapist
An important contribution appeared to me recently during the first session of Gestalt therapy while walking with Michel.
He knew that I could offer sessions while walking and when he arrived he asked me to go for a walk rather than doing the session face to face.
This session was an opportunity for him to be able to rely on the natural environment to approach words that are difficult to name. In the session, we face each other and the floor comes under the gaze of the other. Obviously, the work of the gaze of the other is a subject in itself. But here, Michel needed to talk and he chose this side-by-side way of working.
At that time, the fact of walking side by side without the gaze of the other in front but also with the close physical presence of his therapist gave him support. I had already made this observation while working with teenagers, a few years ago.
When speech is difficult to express, the situation side by side without the gaze of the other (the parent usually) is a situation that supports the expression of speech. For example, speech is easier for a teenager during a two-person car ride.
This side by side situation is interesting but it is also possible to experiment in front/behind, at a certain distance, …
Marc Thouret, Gestalt therapist, offers Gestalt therapy individual sessions, while walking.
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