Susan Krenselewski
Unbroken & Blooming
Introduction: This capstone project looks at the benefits of gestalt coaching groups with a relatively consistent member cohort.
Significance: Based on self-reported outcomes, group work using the EGCM is a powerful tool for shifting awareness of self, whether it’s the person doing the gestalt work (the client), participating in a client’s gestalt experience, or observing the work.
Purpose: The purpose of this capstone project is to evaluate the benefits group work plays in client progress and outcomes compared to one-on-one coaching sessions.
Setting and Participants: The group coaching sessions are held in the author’s home beginning in late January of 2024 and moved into the arena in May with the advent of warm weather. Sessions are ongoing as of the publication of this capstone. Groups are held the first three Thursdays of each month from 6-9 pm. The group began with 7 participants. Two people left the group, and another joined. The group consists of women and one man who range in age from 22-71. All of the group members previously experienced multiple individual coaching sessions.
Capstone Description/Process: All groups follow a pattern of a check-in where members have time to say what’s on their hearts and minds, one or two pieces of work, and a check out. Members typically volunteer for their pieces of work. The author may also ask a specific member if they would like to work. No member is ever required to work. The work consists of co-active questions designed to determine if the issue the member (now the client) is experiencing is from the present moment (foreground) or the past (background). The author then creates a gestalt experiment graded to the client’s tolerance/previous experience, often using props and other group members as stand-ins for people from the client’s experience. The experiment gives the client the opportunity to verbally, emotionally, and/or physically express fully what they could not previously. The experiment allows a client to gain greater awareness of self and/or process and complete charged memories and past events to leave them inert. After the piece of work is complete, the author assists the client in a debrief to draw connections between the work and the client’s life. If the client is willing, the group then has the opportunity to share, without giving advice, how the piece affected them, their borrowed benefit, or what they observed from the horse.
Capstone Results/Impact: The dynamics of a committed group allow for more creative and interactive Gestalt experiences than one-on-one sessions, allowing for a deeper yet supported experience for the client. Additionally, the feedback and observations from group members to the client bring both greater awareness and validation to the client as well as other group members. The supportive sense of community and trust built within a group structure may be the first time a client has truly felt seen, heard, and not alone, and gives them the courage and sense of safety to come forward and do their own work. Group members often experience a “borrowed benefit” from seeing or participating in the client’s process that can be nearly as impactful as being a client in the group. Thus, unlike one-on-one sessions, groups also amplify the healing effects of gestalt by impacting multiple people with each experiment. Additionally, because cost is shared among group members, group work is less expensive for the individual participants and is more accessible for everyone.
Capstone Evaluation: This capstone project was evaluated based on feedback from group members and the author’s personal observations. To a person, each group member expressed improved awareness and less or no triggering in previously difficult situations. All expressed the supportiveness, confidentiality, and nonjudgment of the group as a key to their healing. Members also expressed initial surprise at the benefit they received from participating in gestalt experiments or observing other members’ work. Those who were currently in therapy also expressed their surprise at how the work catapulted them forward compared to their rate of progress prior to participating in the group. Additionally, the author observed positive changes in group members’ posture, facial tension and expression, skin tone, and willingness to contribute.
Future Directions: Further study is needed to determine if the results experienced by the group members in this capstone are reproducible, and if and how much the number of members affects outcomes.
Acknowledgments:
Many thanks to Melisa Pearce, my teacher and mentor, for demonstrating how to run effective groups and showing me what is possible in a group setting. Many thanks also to my program coaches Kirstin Johnson and Marsha Bressack for their patience and assistance getting through my own stuckness. Thanks and gratitude to Megan Bronson who helped me follow the process and find the courage to become a certified Equine Gestaltist. And finally, love and gratitude to my healing herd of horse partners who show up in ways big and small in and out of the arena.
References:
Pearce, M. (2019). What the Heck is Gestalt? Touched by Horse, Inc
Van Der Kolk, Bessel (2015). The Body keeps the Score. Penguin Books