Gestalt Institute of San Francisco offers advanced degrees in psychotherapy under the guidance of director Morgan Goodlander.

How and why people change is the subject of much ongoing debate. Regardless of over a hundred years of psychology and three thousand years of recorded metaphysical practices, the process is still a mystery. No one can predicate or make another person change. In fact there is a large school of thought that challenges the idea of people changing at all. These are the people who over coffee say things like, "Can a leopard really change his spots?"

However, regardless the academic debate, and some popular cynicism, we all know that change does happen. We know it happens because it has happened to all of us numerous times during our lives. We have all changed something. Most often the changes people make are what I call Contextual Changes. They are changes in external circumstances, like jobs, relationships, living environments, or career paths. They are changes that put us in new circumstances and as a result require different kinds of responses than we are used to making. Contextual Changes are quite challenging and rewarding. They often involve considerable personal or financial risk. This is the kind of change we find in western European traditions. It is the change of new exploration, discovering new territories, and mastering new environments. It is the kind of change America loves, full of new ideas, new products, and endless possibilities.

However, there is another kind of change associated with eastern traditions.

It is a different kind of change. It is the change of the inner person not the external circumstances. It is the change that occurs within us rather than without us. It is a change in "how we are in the world" rather than a change in where, with whom, or "what we are doing in the world." This Inner Change is a shift that occurs at the core of our being. It is the difference between being vs. doing. With Inner Change we are "being different" with Contextual Change we are "doing different" things. Inner Change is the process of dissolving our unconscious responses and changing the automatic feelings, emotions, and beliefs that fuel our external actions.

Both kinds of change are important and work hand-in-hand in creating an authentic transformation. In gestalt practice we work both ends of the being/doing spectrum. We work hard to integrate the two traditions of eastern and western change by meeting in weekly groups and practicing awareness skills together. We shuttle back and forth between external relating and internal transformation. Neither will work by themselves. Inner transformation is impossible with external relationships. Growth full external relationships are impossible without internal transformation.

The mechanics of change will always be mysterious and different with each time period and culture. Like life, change will always remain a mystery for us to unravel. However, by balancing the two great traditions of eastern and western change we can heal a planetary split in culture and dramatically increase the likelihood for the magic and mystery of change to happen for each of us.