ABSTRACT
Aggression in the way it is used in gestalt rather than its colloquial meanings is necessary in the contacting process to destructure in order to assimilate; liberating healthy aggression frees the individual to live creatively and spontaneously. Through healthy aggression we mobilise and organise our energy to act on our field to satisfy our emerging need. We need aggression to maintain a healthy flow in relation to our situation, to take in from our environment when needed and to armour ourselves when field conditions indicate a need for self-protection. To avoid what is toxic, unhealthy or unwelcome in the environment takes an act of aggression. When a healthily aggressive response is unsupported by the environment our ability to creatively adjust may lead to our contact boundary becoming less permeable or alternatively the creative adjustment can lead to an adaption to avoid conflict through confluence.
