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aggression (Gestalt)

-(from the Latin ad-gredere, to go towards the other; opposite re-gredere, to draw back, to go backwards; similar to pro-gredere, to progress, to go forward). For Perls, as for contemporary ethologists, aggression is a life instinct and not a 'death instinct', as it was for Freud; necessary for the active assimilation of the external world in order to avoid introjections: first you have to bite the apple and chew it (destroy it) before you can digest it.

Credit

Definition excerpted with permission from Ginger, Serge International Glossary of Gestalt Psychotherapy (Seven languages including English. Order from FORGE at 183 rue Lecourbe; 75015 Paris, France) Paperback 1995.