Gestalt Psychotherapy
Gestalt is a holistic an relational type of psychotherapy. It was developed after the WW II by Fritz and Laura Perls, Ralph Hefferline, and Paul Goodman.
(in the photo: Frederick and Laura Perls)
When I say ‘holistic’, I mean that I, as a Gestalt Therapist, welcome you in all that you are; your mind, your body, your relationships, and your world.
“We deny independent status to ‘mind’, ‘body’ and ‘external world”. /Perls, Hefferline, Goodman, 1972:17/
It also means we are tightly connected with the world we live in and a person can’t be seen truly without their context.
When I say ‘relational’, I mean that you will have an impact on me and I will have an impact on you. As we explore this, you have a chance to try out new behaviours and experiment with the impact you have on another person, in a safe environment.
Gestalt Psychotherapy puts an emphasis on ‘here and now’. The present moment is what we experience. You can think about the past or the future, or have feelings about it. However, you can only feel them here and now. This is the door to self-awareness and accessing change.
Awareness is a corner stone of Gestalt Psychotherapy.
“Awareness is the spontaneous sensing of what arises in you - of what you are doing, feeling, planning.” /Perls, Hefferline, Goodman, 1972:75/
The more fully you know yourself the more possibilities and choices arise.