From an interview with Jorge Rosner

from http://www.gestaltinstitute.com.au/articles/march2000/0703interview_rosner.shtml

JORGE:..Fritz asked me to attack him. I did the normal thing. I told him, “I don’t know you; how can I attack you or say something I don’t like about you?” He repeated the instruction. I told him that he was a chain-smoker, and I didn’t like that about him. That evening there was a party. Fritz was there, and I went up to him to apologize for saying what I had said. I didn’t even get the apology out when he said to me, very clipped and sharp, something like: “You said it. It’s your responsibility.” He then turned and walked away from me. My immediate reaction was to get angry at him, thinking him rude and crude.

Later that evening a light lit up somewhere in my head. Whether or not he had been considerate, I had agreed to do what he had asked. As far as I was concerned, he was right. Whatever I say, prodded or not, is in fact my responsibility. I was intrigued by the man, and at the same time had no desire to learn Gestalt Therapy. I was intrigued by his personality. I wanted to know more about Fritz, about the person, about what I called his neuroses and his strengths. That was the way I got hooked, by the personality of the man himself.

he continues later:

JORGE: I certainly increased my awareness from knowing Fritz, awareness of myself and others. I also increased my sense of responsibility. I now accept that any and every act or statement of mine is my responsibility. With this insight has come a tremendous difference in my sense of freedom. Looking back, I realize that what I gained most from Fritz is a deeper appreciation for what freedom means to me.

CHARLES: I experience you as a person with great respect for individual freedom, as well as a person with seemingly unlimited resourcefulness. How did you achieve this?

JORGE: By taking responsibility for my life. This is very clear to me. I am responsible for whatever I say, think or do. In this way I am free.

CHARLES: How do you see yourself doing things differently from Fritz?

JORGE: I wouldn’t say that Fritz was a scholar, although I know that he was well read. Also as a psychiatrist, he had a rich background in the field of psychotherapy. My training was my experience in surviving, taking responsibility for making my own way in the world, creating my own jobs for a living. What I bring to my work is a greater clarity about my responsibility and what responsibility means. I also bring into my work, which may or may not be called therapy, an understanding that life as we now live it is in our own hands, that each and every one of us can in fact be freer, fuller human beings.

CHARLES: How are you now experiencing that freeness and fullness in your own life?

JORGE: By making choices. Sometimes I do not immediately act on the choices that I make. If I have the little picture in my mind of what I want, I set my path, my work, my way of life in the direction what will get me where I want to go.

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.