The origins of the concept of aggression in gestalt-therapy: Freud, reich and others

Abstract

The concept of Aggression lies on the basis of the construction of Gestalt therapy, being central to the first work of Fritz Perls, Ego, Hunger and Aggression, of 1942. The theme was developed by Fritz and Laura Perls, from a work of watching children. The objective of the paper was to recover the origins of the concept, which goes back to the first experiences with psychoanalysis, seeking to clarify the links between this and Gestalt therapy. The study was based on an analysis of primary sources - works by Fritz, Freud and Laura - and relevant secondary sources. It points to the need to re-establish a clear link between Gestalt therapy and its psychoanalytic source, and clarified, as well, the influences of other names, such as Reich, Goldstein, Horney and Nietzsche, in the construction of this concept.