What is Gestalt Psychotherapy?

Gestalt psychotherapy is a humanistic, experiential approach that sees a person as a whole: body, feelings, thoughts and relationships with others. Rather than dealing only with the story of the past, Gestalt therapy asks what is happening now, in this moment, and how you experience it.

Where Gestalt comes from

Gestalt therapy was developed in the 1940s and 1950s by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman. The book “Gestalt Therapy” (Perls, Hefferline and Goodman) was published in 1951. The word gestalt is German and means form or whole: a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.

The approach grew out of several influences: Gestalt psychology, phenomenology, existentialism and body-oriented work. Today Gestalt psychotherapy is taught and practised around the world, and in Europe the profession is brought together by the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT).

Key ideas

• Here and now: we work with what is happening in the present moment, in the body, the feelings and the relationship between us. The past matters, but we meet it as it is alive today.
• Awareness: change begins when we notice what we do, feel and need. Becoming aware is often the first step.
• Contact: we are curious about how we come into contact with ourselves, with others and with the world, and how we sometimes unconsciously protect ourselves from that contact.
• Unfinished business: unspoken feelings, unresolved losses and old conflicts seek completion, and can hold us back until they find it.
• Responsibility: not in the sense of blame, but as the ability to respond to what happens to us, and to choose.
• The paradoxical theory of change: change happens when we become what we are, not when we try to force ourselves into what we are not (Arnold Beisser, 1970).

What a session looks like

A Gestalt session is a conversation, but not only a conversation. The therapist is actively present, shares what they notice and invites you to pay attention to your breathing, voice, posture or a feeling that is arising right now.

Sometimes I suggest a small experiment: saying something to someone you could never say it to, as if they were here (the empty chair technique), giving a voice to a part of yourself or a part of a dream, or using figurines and cards to show what is hard to put into words. An experiment is never compulsory and always goes at your pace.

At the centre is the relationship. The experience of being seen and accepted without judgement can itself be healing.

When it helps

This psychotherapeutic approach is applied successfully in the following situations and states.

Personal growth and emotional difficulties

• Low self-esteem and insecurity
• Anxiety, stress and panic attacks
• Depressive states and loss of meaning
• Unfinished business: particularly helpful for working through old, unresolved trauma, resentment or grief (for example a broken relationship or the loss of a loved one) that holds a person back in everyday life.

Relationships and communication

• Couple and family conflicts
• Difficulty setting boundaries

Physical symptoms and psychosomatics

• Psychosomatic symptoms

Working life and decisions

• Creative blocks and burnout
• Life turning points and decision-making

How long therapy takes

Some changes can come quickly. Deep and lasting change takes ongoing work: sessions are usually weekly, and we agree the length of the work around your needs and goals. You can end the work whenever you decide.

How to begin

You don’t need to know exactly what to say, how to say it, or in what order. It is enough to reach out by phone, WhatsApp or email. The first meeting is for getting to know each other and seeing how we can work together.

Gestalt therapy helps when we want to improve our quality of life, gain better self-regulation and develop greater awareness of our mental and emotional states.