Unfinished business is an important concept in the gestalt therapy. Bluma Zeigarnik was a great gestalt psychologist who observed that incomplete tasks are easy to remember than complete tasks (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002).
This observation is caused by the fact that human needs to invest more energy in holding details of incomplete tasks in the short-term memory. In contrast, complete tasks require less energy as they are stored in the long-term memory, thus, can be easily forgotten. Imagine someone spinning plates on sticks; each of them is an incomplete task that requires a lot of energy to keep the plates spinning (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002). ones ( Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).
Psychological research about incomplete business dates back from the late 1920s. Zeigarnik did a study where he gave 138 children easy tasks to do like puzzles and arithmetic. She interrupted one-half in the mid-task and allowed the other half to complete the tasks.later, only one out of ten (12%) recalled the completed tasks while 8% remembered the same number of each. However, 80% recalled the interrupted tasks. Repeated experiments continue to confirm that people remember uncompleted tasks far better than the completed ones (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002). ished situation for that person (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008). An important aspect of focusing on the here and now is that it helps us actively seek to complete our unfinished business.
One of the pitfalls of unfinished business in counseling is that the client may not pay enough attention to the counselor’s advice because of the constant disturbance by the unexpressed feelings. These unexpressed feelings keep on lingering at the back of the mind of the client, and unless they are addressed, the client may not benefit from the therapy (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002). The therapist must also possess a high level of personal development if the therapy is to be effective. He must be in a position to recognize the uncompleted tasks in each client so that he can apply the right intervention to help the client complete those tasks. In this case, the rapist should engage in regular in-service training so as to keep themselves abreast with the current changes in their field of experience (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).
This therapy also tends to concentrate much on here and now or else with the present (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008). Lack of emphasis onlacks a strong theoretical base to support its application. There is no enough literature in this field to support evidence-based health care provision. The therapists can also harm the client when they displace their unfinished business to them. The harm to the client is especially high in therapist who lacks self-awareness (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002).
Most people have unfinished business in their life, and the difference is brought by the coping mechanisms an individual employs (Greenberg & Malcolm, 2002). Incomplete tasks therapist face challenges when some of these suppressed feelings are brought into awareness by the behaviors of the clients. A client who expresses anger and hatred may remind the therapist of the suppressed feeling of hatred towards some people in the past who wronged them (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008). Many of the therapist’s repressed feelings of rage, abandonment, hatred or betrayal may be brought into awareness. The therapist can become a victim of these feelings.
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