Gestalt Therapy

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“Gestalt therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that helps clients focus on the present to understand what is actually happening in their lives at this moment, and how it makes them feel in the moment, rather than what they may assume to be happening based on past experience. Along with person-centered and existential therapy, it is one of the primary forms of humanistic therapy.

The term “gestalt” is derived from a German word that means “whole” or “put together.” Gestalt therapy was developed in the 1940s and 1950s by Fritz Perls, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and his then-wife, psychotherapist Laura Perls, as an alternative to traditional, verbally-focused psychoanalysis. Their foundational premise is that people are best thought of as a whole entities consisting of body, mind, and emotions, and best understood when viewed through their own eyes.

The gestalt philosophy rejects the notion that any one particular trait, episode, or indeed a diagnosis could define a person. Instead, their total self must be explored, discovered, and confronted. As they encounter and gain awareness of other parts of themselves, individuals can take greater responsibility for themselves and hopefully gain a greater sense of what they can do for themselves and others.

Instead of simply talking, clients in gestalt therapy are often encouraged to engage in intellectual and physical experiences that can include role-playing, re-enactment, or artistic exercises like drawing and painting. In this way, clients can learn to become more aware of their thoughts and actions, of how negative thought patterns and behaviors may be blocking their self-awareness and making them unhappy, and how they can change.” (written by Psychology Today)

Gestalt therapy is a relational, experiential, holistic and person-centered form of psychotherapy. It is a body centered, non-pathologizing and a deeply compassionate philosophy. Gestalt therapy focuses on contact, relationship, awareness, personal responsibility and unfinished business.

Steph Joseph is the Director at the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies (GIR). GIR is a training institute for graduate students, therapists, coaches, among other helping professions.

If you are interested in learning more about the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies, please visit www.gestaltoftherockies.com.