INTERLOCUTION BETWEEN AFFECTIVE DEPENDENCE AND ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GESTALT-THERAPY

Abstract

In emotional dependence, the person starts to live for the other, losing the autonomy of their own life and living only to maintain their relationship. When this type of dependence exists, a woman may submit herself to an abusive relationship. The study aimed to elucidate the phenomenon of affective dependence in the character Alex from the miniseries Maid from the perspective of Gestalt therapy. To this end, a dialogue was held between scenes from the miniseries and concepts from the Gestalt therapy approach. When collecting information, scenes centered on the life story narratives and the actions of the character Alex throughout the miniseries were considered. For the analysis and discussion of the results, three thematic units were developed. The first consisted of identifying the types of violence suffered, the second analysis tried to investigate the available existence of support/protective networks, while the third analysis was based on identifying the factors contributing to the worsening of the abusive relationship in the couple. The results show that emotional dependence can lead to an abusive relationship in which victims suffer some types of violence and do not recognize the real situation they are going through, some of these victims develop depressive and anxious conditions and in more serious cases they are at risk of committing suicide.