Items tagged "Gestalt":
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Interview with Herb Stevenson on the Cycle of ExperienceThis interview was part of a series done on a cool Friday morning at Herb’s Ranch in Ohio. We were sitting in his library, enjoying some coffee when I asked him about Gestalt’s concept of the Cycle of Experience.
The cycle is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Understanding it can help in both individual change work and organizational. In many of the groups I work with they get a sensation then jumping straight to action…in the process they short-circuit awareness building anddon’t understand why they can’t mobilize their collective energy or get their intended results. Awareness building and mobilizing energy are not optional, they are required for effective action taking. Herb points out this is a “ready, fire, aim” approach that decreases the effectiveness of our efforts.
In community based work, like community organizing, effective campaign efforts spend considerable time and money in the stages of awareness building and mobilization of energy, before moving to action. We can enhance and improve our work by bringing this lesson into the inner workings of our organizations.
Think about the projects you might have been a part of that go from great idea to mediocre results. Was there a step in the cycle that was not properly attended to?
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- # of plays:
- 20
- date:
- Mar 4, 2012 (a Sunday)
- time:
- 5:05:00 (2 months ago)
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Herb Stevenson talking about becoming more of who we are and the Paradoxical Theory of Change
On an absolutely beautiful morning, Herb and I were talking at his Pebble Ledge Ranch in Novelty, Ohio. I asked him about the Paradoxical Theory of Change. The concept is from Arnold Beisser, M.D. While the article Beisser wrote was short, just a couple of pages, it has become one of the most cited works in Gestalt Therapy. Simply put it states, “that change occurs when one becomes what she is, not when she tries to become what she is not.”What does this mean when we are trying to create change in organizations, individuals, or ourselves? It means that it is most effective to start with awareness building. Raising awareness of the current state creates the possibility for change to take place. When we deny parts of ourselves or our organizations, the change we seek is undermined by our own lack of perception. At an individual level, I’ve seen this approach support clients trying to make difficult changes in their lives. It can lift a real burden when we stop trying to be different, and start trying to be more of ourselves or the best us that we can be without denying any part of selves.
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- # of plays:
- 30
- date:
- Mar 4, 2012 (a Sunday)
- time:
- 4:55:00 (2 months ago)
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Interview with Herb Stevenson talking about resistance to changeI’ve gained a lot from my relationship with this man since first meeting him in Austin at the Organization Development Network conference in 2008. This is one of the first interviews of a series done at his Pebble Ledge Ranch in Ohio that he shares with his wife, Jackie Stevenson. We were sitting between rows and rows of books in his library and a window looking out over a pasture with grazing horses.
In this interview, I ask Herb how he thinks about resistance to change. He offers a historical view of how the concept of resistance has moved from understanding resistance as a defense mechanism to understanding resistance as contact styles. Herb believes that using the term and the frame of contact styles is more productive and expansive. For instance, it is not necessarily that I have “resistance” to an idea or a person, but rather this is my way of making contact with that idea or person.
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- # of plays:
- 25
- date:
- Mar 4, 2012 (a Sunday)
- time:
- 12:00:00 (2 months ago)
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Interview with Herb Stevenson: Gestalt Approaches to Leadership, Change, and New Development in the FieldThis is the first interview I did with Herb. We were in a breakout room, just outside of the library of the big ol’ Tudor home that houses the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. Herb gives an introduction to Gestalt and it’s impact. Herb runs the Cleveland Consulting Group and is a lead faculty member at the Institute.
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- # of plays:
- 19
- date:
- Mar 3, 2012 (a Saturday)
- time:
- 12:00:00 (2 months ago)
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