What does it mean to close gestalts?
“Unclosed Gestalt” is an incomplete, that is, an incomplete holistic image or an action that has not been logically completed. In this case we are talking about the Zeigarnik effect – interrupted action.
At the beginning of performance of some action, a person experiences tension which stimulates him or her to search for solutions for completion of the started action. As soon as the action is completed, it is discharged and the person is satisfied.
If an action is incomplete, the psyche will strive to do so, expending energy to obtain a coherent image or a logically complete action. And that’s why we continue to think and fantasize about abruptly severed relationships, unlived grudges, unexpressed anger, unexpressed grievances, unfulfilled actions.
If one tends to interrupt oneself or is unable to resist being stopped by others, one accumulates unfinished situations. The energy devoted (and unspent) to them will keep him in constant tension and focus his attention on unfinished business, preventing him from living fully in the present day.
But the Zeigarnik effect also has a positive side. If you find it difficult to get down to business, it is possible to use the method of small first steps. It is about breaking down a difficult thing into small parts. And then, even if you put it off, the focus of attention, thoughts will constantly return to this process, stimulating you to continue and finally finish what you have begun.
Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy, also had his own unclosed Gestalt. In 1936, the scientist arrived in Prague for the International Psychoanalytic Congress with a report and the goal of meeting with Freud, whom he revered. But the meeting disappointed him by failing to provide answers to his questions. It lasted only four minutes.
Perls recalled that he had come all the way from South Africa to give a report and see the legend, but received only a short answer to questions, “So when are you leaving?” Perls later referred to the meeting as one of the major unfinished situations of his life.
