ABSTRACT
The theory of polarities begins with a collection of opposing forces that may be in or out of awareness. Every quality we possess is one end of a continuum with the opposite end of that continuum also residing within us as a potentiality. Polarities can apply to many different areas: to polarities of self, polarities of the therapy process, polarities in contact styles, polarities in our cultural field. Fritz Perls worked with a particular polarity he identified as topdog/underdog. The topdog is the voice of what the individual should be doing and consequently would often contain introjected material. The underdog is more spontaneous, rebellious and impulsive. The topdog dichotomy, as the name suggests, presents as the more powerful part but the underdog hides its power behind a victim-like facade. Perls’ methodology for working with the topdog/underdog polarity can be adopted for working with any split where awareness of its relationship to its opposite quality is diminished.
