Gestalt Therapy for Addictive and Self-Medicating Behaviors

Philip Brownell, MDiv, PsyD

Dec 2011 · Springer Publishing Company

About this ebook

This volume describes the most current gestalt approaches to treating substance abuse and other self-medicating behaviors by a leading practitioner and scholar in the field. It is based on the gestalt view of the self-medicating dynamic as one of pattern repetition and difficulty overcoming rigid patterns of response to sensory experience and life's routine demands.

The book provides a practical model for helping clients with the gamut of self-medicating behaviors-substance and alcohol abuse, overeating, gambling, overworking, rage, and others-and describes a recovery program as a system created to change one's lifestyle over time through the development of disciplines that ultimately shape one's life. The volume will also be helpful to therapists in other modalities as an alternative therapy when treating self-medicating clients, as well as a spiritual alternative to the 12-step approach.

Key Features:

• Applies current gestalt therapy approaches to the spectrum of addictive behaviors
• Provides practical treatment models for self-medicating behaviors
• Written by a prominent practitioner and scholar of gestalt therapy
• Offers a spiritual alternative to the 12-step approach to recovery

About the author

Philip Brownell, MDiv, PsyD, is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in North Carolina and Oregon and a Registered Psychologist in Bermuda. He is an ordained clergyman and writes a weekly column on integrative issues for The Royal Gazette, Bermuda's largest daily newspaper. He is currently a staff psychologist at Benedict Associates, Ltd., where he offers a broad range of assessment and counseling services to child, adolescent, and adult populations, including individual, couple, family, and group therapy.