Correlations of Gestalt Effectiveness Measurement Instrument (GIRL) with psychiatric diagnoses in clinical settings

The Gestalt Associate for Psychotherapy in NYC which houses a 4-year post Masters clinical training program and low fee clinic has been collecting data on the effectiveness of two valid and reliable instruments, the Gestalt Inventory of Resistance Loadings (GIRL) and the Gestalt Mental Status Exam (GMSE), measuring contacting resistance styles in clinic clients at intake. Correlations of quantities contacting resistance styles with Depressive and Anxiety Disorders diagnoses indicate retroflection is the prevalent resistance style in a sample (n = 60) of 38 depressive and 22 anxiety diagnoses clients. Not only does this finding support previous studies by Woldt and Prosnick, but offers the possibility of establishing a Gestalt based Theory of Resistance diagnostics.