Student RLY0004

Post Graduate Certificate in Gestalt Therapy Theory Studies

Tutor Carmen Ablack

“Self Conquest is socially esteemed as ‘character’.”

Perls Hefferline and Goodman 1989 Gestalt Therapy (Souvenir

Press p364)

Outline and discuss the process of self conquest and the

development and maintenance of character as understood in

Gestalt theory. Contrast with views held by ONE other theorist

such as Freud, Reich or the work of the Existentialists.

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Introduction

In researching this essay I felt as if I had fallen into a swamp of ideas

which I thrashed around in, vainly reaching for a firm handhold to catch

onto. Many of them took me off into interesting wild goose chases about

the role of cognition, intelligence and understanding, about change theory

and intentionality. A timely intervention by my tutor brought me back to

the essay title which I will attempt to answer as simply as possible.

In this essay I will use the phrase ‘self conquest’ and the word ‘character’

in the sense that they occur in the quote above. This has caused me

difficulties in contrasting with other writers as their terminology differs so

widely. For this reason I have chosen to also broaden the meaning of

‘character’ to include the definitions in the Compact Oxford English

Dictionary. I.e.:

“character • noun 1 the qualities distinctive to an individual……….6

strength and originality in a person’s nature. 7 a person’s good reputation.

These are the aspects which I consider relevant to this essay title. What

makes individuals different, qualities in an individual which are applauded

by society, and a person’s standing in society.

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Perls Hefferline and Goodman, use the word to denote the rigid moralistic

attitude of an individual denying his natural passions and needs in order

to comply with society’s mores. I will attempt to explain this specific

theoretical idea regarding the development of character and then to

contrast with Irvin Yalom, Victor Frankl and Rollo May’s understanding of

human character.

The Process of Self Conquest

In their book, Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality, Perls

Hefferline and Goodman, 1951, assert that internal conflict is normal and

necessary for the organism (person) to function healthily and that people

are constantly regulating a multitude of conflicts, both in and out of

awareness to serve their needs. However they say that the process

becomes unhealthy when, what they term as

“the meddling inward of outside-the-skin social forces…deliberately

upsets the spontaneous inner-system.” (1951, p355).

As I understand this, there is often a contradiction between cultural and

societal values and the healthy functioning of the organism. When an

individual introjects societal values over their natural organismic

regulation of conflict, neurosis occurs.

Perls et al, say that:

“neurosis may be regarded as self-conquest”. (1951p 353)

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If the individual, particularly when they are young, despairs of a solution

to conflict because their opponent seems too big and powerful (i.e. society

at large, or principle care-giver) and the only prospect is continued

suffering, they will give up. They will become resigned. This is a process

of numbing and putting the raging conflict out of awareness. Although not

in awareness, the conflict is still there, but the individual’s drive to resolve

the conflict is missing in the figure. This is a vacancy which must be filled.

The individual does this by identifying with the other, the loved and feared

caretaker or society at large. The self introjects the other, their values

and beliefs. Then, when an internal need expresses itself in the future,

the introjected self will swat itself in the same way that the introjected

person or structure would have, thus conquering itself.

Top Dog/Underdog

This introjected internalised system of values and beliefs was developed

by Fritz Perls into the concept of ‘top-dog’ and ‘under-dog’. He called the

dominant aspect of a person’s personality ‘top-dog’. This is the part of

the self that moralises with shoulds and oughts. It is critical and

punishing. The other polarity is submissive, but engages in conflict with

top-dog by sabotaging. I am struck by the polarity to self conquest - self

defeat - which I see as the work of the underdog.

“You grow up completely surrounded by what you should and should not

do, …. you spend much of your time playing this game within yourself –

the game I call the ‘top-dog/under-dog game’….One part of you talks to

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the other part and says, ‘you should be better, you should not be this way,

you should not do that, you shouldn’t be what you are, you should be

what you are not’” (Perls 1970, p 17)

So the individual is waging an internal and unacknowledged battle with

both sides having considerable power. The vitality that is taken up by this

conflict is unavailable for the natural growth and development of the

organism and it is consequently weakened.

The neurotic will battle for victory against the self as Perls et al term him -

a ready victim (1951, p353) – and so conquers himself. He has

experience of losing and been humiliated in the past, but he has not

assimilated the loss and grown from it, instead he feels the agony of

shame and repeatedly tries to save face by scoring wins. Every

experience and interaction with others becomes a little battle with a

chance to win and so prove his superiority. The object of the battle is not

what is being fought over, but purely to win. Perls et al, say that the

neurotic will avoid real conflicts. This is because in a genuine conflict,

change will inevitably occur, win or lose, and the neurotic finds change in

the status quo unacceptable. (1951, p353)

Creative Disinterest

According to Perls et al, the opposite of this neurotic need for victory is

‘creative impartiality’ or ‘creative disinterest’. This occurs when the

spontaneous self engages in conflict, is not invested in either side, but is

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merely open to and curious about the possibilities of change that will

inevitably result from the conflict.

“What then is the function of ….suffering?.....to get us to attend to the

immediate present problem and then to stand out of the way…to let the

conflict rage and destroy what needs to be destroyed.” (1951, p 359)

For the therapist with a neurotic client, the challenge is to bring the

conflict into awareness, but this is a risky business. The neurotic who has

developed this system of self conquest might be torn to pieces by the

suffering that they would have to endure to resolve the internal conflict.

However, Perls et al, believe that the way to protect the client is not to

weaken or eradicate the conflict, but to strengthen the self-support and

awareness of the client. When this is adequate to the task they will be

able to endure the conflict and experience growth from enduring the

suffering and reaching an outcome.

“When one realizes that it is one’s own conflict, and that one is tearing

oneself to pieces . . . one sooner reaches the attitude of creative

impartiality and identifies with the coming solution. . . . But neurosis is the

premature pacification of conflicts . . . It is, briefly, self-conquest. (1951, p.

360)

The Development and Maintenance of Character

Perls et al, suggest that the process of self conquest as described above

has been identified in Western culture as ‘character’. (1951 p365)

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Individuals have historically been rewarded who demonstrated mastery

over their ‘appetites’. An individual was and (to a lesser extent) still is

admired as a ‘person of character’ when he overcame his weaknesses.

However, Perls et al, 1951 say that what this culture identifies as

weakness is actually the individual responding to his natural drives and

fulfilling his needs. This squashing of his natural drives diminishes the

individual, rather than making him strong.

“grace, warmth, strength, good sense, gayety, tragedy: these are

impossible to persons of character” (1951 p365)

I understand this to mean that the characteristics named above abound in

the spontaneous self but are impossible for the ‘person of character’ due

to the fact that they ignore their organismic drives and therefore are

unable to meet their needs, nurture themselves grow, assimilate and

integrate.

With self conquest there is no excitement of growth. Needs may be

satisfied to a certain extent in a controlled way, i.e. in the experience of

sexuality, aggression and grief, but the individual is not committed to the

experience and so takes no risk of growth and suffering. For this reason

his experience is dull and the acts lack meaning.

“Meaningfulness is the same as the excitement of the coming solution”

(1951 p367)

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I see my father as a very vivid example of this phenomenon of self

conquest and ‘character’. He was a man with a rigid value structure

handed down to him by his family who were financiers and scientists and

well respected in British society. He held himself rigidly, had no physical

grace, little humour and after living in Cuba for 15 years still spoke with a

very strong English accent, thus demonstrating that he maintained his

character without adapting to his new environment. His upright morality

was flawed by periodic bouts of alcoholism. The warring tensions within

him were visible to the naked eye, with his tightly clenched jaw and

trembling hands. The only place I saw him lose this tension was in the

lab, working, when he became relaxed and purposeful. I saw him in very

stark contrast with the Cuban men around who were, generally speaking,

graceful, relaxed, humorous, and free. Cuban culture does not have the

same concept of self control and ‘character’ that English culture does.

This contrast between my father and the Cuban men I have known

demonstrates for me the impact of society and culture in the development

of character, whether of the type that Perls et al, 1951 describe, or simply,

as in the definition above, ‘the qualities distinctive in an individual’.

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Three Existentialist Psychotherapists

Existential philosophy emphasises the importance of personal

responsibility and the fact that each individual is alone and must live

through his existence himself. The existential self chooses who he is

moment by moment within the limits of his existence. The word ‘choice’

holds particular importance for me in the development of the ideas in this

essay, as it implies use of the will to achieve change, whether internal or

external. The phrase ‘will power’, I associate with the concept of ‘self

conquest’ as outlined above, and as distinct from this – ‘the will’ is a

natural extension of the wish, projecting the individual from the present

into the future.

I have looked at the writings of three existential psychotherapists, Victor

Frankl, Irvin Yalom and Rollo May in an attempt to understand how they

view the phenomenon of ‘character’.

Frankl

Frankl believed that human beings are unique in that they have the ability

to transcend pain, suffering, hardship, as well as wealth, prosperity and

abundance beyond their instincts, drives and conditioning and biological

responses. He calls this the ‘will to meaning’ and suggests that finding

meaning is man’s primary intention as opposed to self actualisation.

“I would say self-actualization is the unintentional effect of life’s

intentionality” (1969 p38)

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 Without meaning he observed that human beings fail to thrive and that

in conditions such as he experienced in the concentration camps of Nazi

Germany, without meaning people give up the will to live, they become

resigned to their fate. This observation echoes the description above of

the individual who numbs themselves when faced with extended conflict.

Conversely, Frankl observed that if a person has meaning in their life, they

can survive great hardship and transcend themselves.

“There is also purpose in that life which is almost barren of both creation

and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral

behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence.” (1963, p. 106)

So according to Frankl, man has a choice as to the attitude with which he

lives his life. With choice there is also responsibility, conscience and

intention. A person’s character is therefore developed by the choices of

attitude that he takes to live his life by.

Irvin Yalom

Yalom also puts great emphasis on the importance of taking

responsibility. He makes the statement

“responsibility avoidance is not conducive to mental health and

responsibility acceptance ....leads to therapeutic success.” (1980 p261)

However, he is very clear that awareness of responsibility alone is not

enough for change. Change must be expressed in terms of action rather

than just knowing, dreaming or intending. This brings the issue of

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decision making into play and how difficult decisions can be. Yalom

suggests that this is because they are a boundary experience. Once

crossed a boundary cannot be uncrossed. He says

“Masochistic characters who are encased in a symbiotic relationship with

a parent have particular trouble with guilt and decision” (1980 p319).

He goes on to say that such people find a set of rules a

“handy decision-making agency” (1980 p327)

This statement supports the Perls et al (1951) description of the individual

who introjects parental values, and then engages in self conquest.

Rollo May

In Rollo May’s book ‘Love And Will (1969)’, he explores the relationship

between ‘wish’ and ‘will’, and concludes that there can be no meaningful

act without a prior wish. The wish is our projection into the future and our

awareness of our feelings and wants. Will on the other hand is how we

decide to achieve that wish. Will is the driver and wish precedes the will.

However he stresses the importance of having access to all the

information, mental, emotional and physical when bringing wish and will

into play.

“Victorian man used his will to push down and suppress what he called

“lower” bodily desires. But one surely cannot be a man of decision

without taking bodily desires into consideration” (1969, p238)

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I conclude from this brief outline of these existentialist psychotherapists

that they regard human beings as creatures who are meaning makers,

that to live in service of their meaning gives them fulfilment and allows

them to self actualise, that this meaning allows them to transcend even

the most degrading and tragic of circumstances and choose the attitude

that they live their lives with. Furthermore, taking stock of all the

information available to them, including their physical drives (i.e.

becoming fully aware) allows them to take responsibility for themselves.

By making choices and using their will combined with taking action to

achieve their wishes they project themselves into the future and form

their characters day by day.

Conclusion

As discussed above, according to Gestalt Therapy Theory, the neurotic

who has introjected a set of values and beliefs over and in conflict with his

own needs is in a state of constantly battling with himself and scoring

petty victories. Ultimately he is frozen, unable to engage in his life which

becomes meaningless. In unawareness he lives by an introjected set of

values with which he destroys himself and masochistically beats himself

down. He avoids engaging in genuine conflict from which he would

change and grow. This description complies with Frankl’s observations of

people in concentration camps who surrendered internally, and ultimately

died.

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Conversely according to existentialist psychotherapy, a person who

chooses to live their life according to their own values and beliefs can find

meaning and fulfilment even in the bleakest situation. The fact that they

take responsibility for choosing the attitude with which they meet their life

circumstances gives their life meaning and creates the conditions for

them to achieve self actualisation.

Word Count 2514

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References Section

Clarkson, P. and Mackewn, J. (1993) Fritz Perls London. Sage Publications

Ltd.

Frankl, V. E. (1963). Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to

Logotherapy. New York: Washington Square Press.

Frankl, V. E (1969). The Will to Meaning: Foundations and

Applications of Logotherapy. England: Penguin Books Ltd.

Friedman, N. PHG A Summary and Explication. Presentation at The

Gestalt Journal’s 24th Annual Conference.

Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F and Goodman, P. (1951) Gestalt Therapy:

Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality. New York Julian

Press,

Perls, F. S., (1970) Four Lectures in Fagan, J. and Shepherd, I. L. (Ed)

Gestalt Therapy Now. England Penguin Books.

May, R. (1969) Love and Will. New York: WW Norton & Company Inc.

Woldt, A. L. and Toman, S. M (2005) California: Sage Publications

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