SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING A PROCESS GROUP
IN A GESTALT CONTEXT.
.
Victor Daniels
.
Vancouver 2006; Taormina 2016, revised July 2025
There is no universally accepted correct way to run a process group. These guidelines, describe what works for me. They can be used for a group within a variety of settings and theoretical perspectives–they’re not restricted to Gestalt groups but are strongly influenced by a Gestalt Therapy-existential perspective and my own history with it and with Rogerian groups. They are not intended for “hot seat” or classical Gestalt “empty chair” work, with the exception that they’re useful for feedback sessions at the end of the chairwork.
These suggrestiond are intended for groups in which the leader or facilitator takes a back seat to the interactions of the participants and intervenes with process comments only when the reason to do so feels compelling. In an ongoing group, the need for such facilitation is apt to decrease over time as group members internalize the principles below.
A caveat about the empty chair comment. Sometimes when the group interacts with the focus on one person, I sense that a brief “empty chair” dialogue may be very useful. I recall, for example, a woman who was talking with the group about her ambivalence about how to treat her knee problem. My intuition told me to suggest that she let her mind and her knee talk to each other. She did, only for about five minutes, and it helped. Then I fell silent and the group went back to an interactive mode. (That evening she danced for the first time in years.)
A DIFFERENT PROCEDURE. When I do an empty chair session with one person, I like to conclude with a group feedback session that has a very specific structure. Since time is limited, each group member is allowed just one statement (so if they want to make several points they need to get them all in at once–with a time limit, often two minutes, with time kept by the person sitting next to them. Otherwise the feedback period follows the guidelines below. In that context, item #8 below is especially important, and I enforce it tightly,
- SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, AND NOT FOR OTHERS. Ask members to “own” their thoughts and
feelings. Avoid “the group feels. . . .” or “people here feel. . . .” When someone makes such a general
statement, an appropriate intervention is to say, “Well, let’s take a moment to go around and hear a
sentence or two about what each person actually does feel or think right now.” (Usually there
are diverse reactions, many very different from what the person attributed to other group members.) - USE A PERSONAL FRAME OF REFERENCE. (With thanks to Carl Rogers.) When you notice that
you are labeling what someone is doing, pause for a moment and rephrase your comments as your
own likes and dislikes. If someone else is labeling, ask them to similarly rephrase and “own” their reaction.
When someone makes a judgmental comment insist that they own it: “I feel angry at. . . ” rather than “You are. . . “
Or “I like — or dislike” rather than “this is good — or bad.” The idea is not that someone should never be
judgmental (since we almost all sometimes are), but when we are judgmental, to become aware of it and then
respond in an alternative way. Be VERY attentive to comments that include some form of one-upmanship. (A
frequently useful starting point there is to ask the one-upped person, “How do you feel in response to
that remark?”) if they don’t spontaneously volunteer that information. - FOCUS ON PRESENT FEELINGS. When a person tells a story about the past or future, ask their
present feelings about it. - “WHAT” AND “HOW” INSTEAD OF “WHY.” Avoid “Why did you. . . ?” or “Why do you. . . ?”
Such questions are usually attacks. Or else they’re STATEMENTS IN DISGUISE. Usually they lead to
defending, counterattack, or intellectualization (with minimal awareness of what they’re doing by either the
speaker or recipient). Useful interventions include: (1) if it is a statement in disguise, “I’d like to hear your
statement that underlies that question;” or (2) point out that “what” and “how” questions avoid the problems of
“Why” and are more likely to deepen awareness. - BE SPECIFIC. Ask ask someone who is describing a generalized response to another person to
identify the specific statement or behavior they are responding to. Whenever possible, refer to specific
real events rather than speaking in abstractions or generalizations. This is valid both in regard to
actions a person likes and those that they dislike. NOTE: An attitude is a generalized response. “I like
your attitude” is no substitute for “I like what you said as you supported Monica a minute ago.” - TUNE INTO WHEN ONE FEELING MAY BE HIDING BENEATH ANOTHER (OR EVEN LOOK FOR
CLUSTERS OF FEELING–THE CONCEPT OF “EMOTIONAL STACKS” CAN BE USEFUL HERE).
When a person appears stuck in a repetitive response on a single emotional level, you might ask, “Do
you have a sense of any other feeling beneath that one?” Sometimes several feelings are hidden beneath
each other. - “FEEL WITH” RATHER THAN “REASONING ABOUT.” Instead of trying to analyze what’s happening with |
someone, try identifying with their situation and reactions by “feeling with” them. - STEER CLEAR OF ANALYSIS AND INTELLECTUALIZATION. Discourage analysis and
intellectualization. Instead, ask people to respond in terms of their personal feelings and body
reactions, and by sharing their own related experiences. - IDENTIFY GUESSES AS SUCH AND CHECK THEM OUT. Treat your thoughts about what’s going
on with people as guesses or hypotheses. Be tentative, avoid commitment to your guesses, and treat
snap judgments as hypotheses to be investigated further. Such as, “I’m guessing that you hope. . . Is
that so?” This helps to avoid getting stuck in your own projections when they are mistaken. - CREATE SPACE FOR QUIETER MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE. If some group
members have been silent, or if big-time talkers are taking all the air time, you (or
anyone in the group) can explicitly invite their participation. One approach is to say, “I’d like to
take the next twenty minutes to hear from those who have not spoken yet,” or “I’d like
those of us who have been doing most of the talking to be silent for the next ten minutes to hear
others who may wish to speak. Alternatively, you might directly address those who have not spoken:
“”Erin, I wonder whether you have some response to what’s been going on?” Or you
can even address several people at once. “Jane, Ted, Mary (looking at each as you say their names)
– do any of you have a comment at this point?” Use your intuition and best judgment regarding which
invitation fits. If there is a decision to be made, a simple go-around in which each person makes a brief statement may be
most efficient. Sometimes one sentence per person is enough. - SILENCE CAN BE GOLDEN. Silences are soften useful. Don’t feel like all the time needs to be filled
with talking. Don’t facilitate intrusively. Leave some empty space in which no one speaks.
©️ July 2025 by Victor Daniels. Permission is hereby granted for electronic or print distribution, so long as a link or printed copy of a link to this web page is provided.