ABSTRACT
The process of figure formation is of particular interest to gestalt therapists in terms of what figure the individual selects and how it is chosen. The figure emerges from an undifferentiated background of experience out of which focused needs and interest surface. In a healthy process of figure formation these needs and interests will emerge with clarity and sharpness, stimulating energy. In certain states such as acute anxiety figure formation is rapid and poorly differentiated from the ground from which it emerges. Conversely, in a healthy process the emerging figure will be the dominant need at that moment and will be well defined standing out from the background, what is referred to as good form. Much of what a gestalt therapist does is to facilitate the sharpening of the figure that emerges from an undifferentiated ground, but when doing so the readers need to pay attention to the structure of the client’s ground.
