ABSTRACT
Creative indifference5 is an essential attitude in practising the gestalt approach. It does not mean taking a couldn’t-care-less attitude but being open to each unfolding moment of contact in the therapy session without the need to rescue, pre-plan or hide behind a bunch of techniques or ‘coping strategies’. Holding such a therapeutic stance means that the therapist surrenders to the between of the relationship and in doing so equalizes the relationship between client and therapist. The therapist’s caring is shown
back and hoping for the best. Being creatively indifferent means bracketing what you imagine might be a way for the client to progress to leave you free to move in any direction in your exploration of the client’s world in the service of the person before you, rather than being attached to one particular outcome that may be gained from a restricted view of the client’s whole situation. If we focus on one or two aspects of the client’s situation they are unlikely to feel fully understood. Usually it is only when the whole person in relation to their whole situation feels understood that the fixed gestalts that originally formed to manage the situation at that time can be challenged, thus freeing the client to experiment with something different in the present.
