Silence as Source, Condition, and Result of Contact

This reflection is devoted to a description of the place and role of silence in Gestalt therapy. According to the author, the phenomenon of staying in silence is the necessary way to give birth to a client’s figure in therapeutic relations. The description of the therapist’s position is proposed as inner silence, entering into the border of contact, acceptance of one’s responses to what is happening, a calm attitude toward one’s quietness. The possibilities of relying on silence in the process of therapists’ work are shown as six propositions: perceiving and backgrounded positions of therapists; therapists’ reaction to clients; therapists’ ability to listen to the sound of their own soul; the conditions for clients to hear themselves; and the quietness of touching moments of the session. Silence also varies depending on the different styles of therapeutic relations.