What is Gestalt Therapy?

Developed in the 1940s by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman, gestalt therapy is a humanistic and experiential type of therapy that was intended as an alternative to traditional psychoanalysis. The word gestalt comes from the German word meaning form or shape and references the essence or character of something. Gestalt therapists and their clients utilise experiential and creative techniques to enhance freedom, awareness, and self-direction.

Principles of Gestalt Therapy

At its core, gestalt therapy is the holistic view that people are convolutedly linked to and influenced by their environments and that all people want growth and balance in their lives. In this way, gestalt therapy is like person-centered therapy. In addition, it stresses the counsellor’s understanding, empathy, and unconditional acceptance of the client to improve therapeutic outcomes.

Gestalt therapy operates on the belief that context affects experience, and a person cannot be fully understood until he or she understands his or her context. At the same time, gestalt therapy recognises that no one can be entirely objective. This includes counsellors whose perspectives and experiences are also influenced by their contexts. Practitioners of Gestalt therapy accept the truth and validity of their clients’ experiences.

Gestalt therapy also believes that requiring a person to change unexpectedly results in added fragmentation and distress. Instead, change comes from the acceptance of what is. As a result, therapy sessions focus on helping people develop a greater sense of self-awareness and accepting and trusting in their experiences and feelings to reduce distress.

Focusing on the “Here and Now”

Gestalt therapy emphasizes gaining awareness of the present moment and context. In treatment, people learn to uncover feelings that may have been masked by other feelings or suppressed and to accept and trust in their own emotions. Emotions and needs that may have previously been suppressed or unrecognised are also likely to appear. During this process, a person’s overall awareness increases, and they gain a better sense of self.

Focusing on the here and now does not reduce or deny past events or future possibilities. Remember, the past is closed and linked to one’s present experience. The idea is not to dwell on the past or anxiously worry about what the future may bring. Past experiences may be discussed in therapy sessions. Still, the counsellor and client will concentrate on exploring what factors made a memory reappear during this moment or how the present moment is affected by past experiences.

What to Expect During a Gestalt Therapy Session

There are no set guidelines for gestalt therapy sessions. The truth is that counsellors are urged to be creative with their approach and consider the context and client’s personality. However, there is an emphasis on direct contact, experimentation, and experience and a focus on the “what and how.” This refers to what the client is doing and how he or she is doing it.

Together, the counsellor and client evaluate what is happening and, as a result, what is needed. The focus is on the immediate situation, which includes the client’s physical responses. For example, the counsellor may remark on the client’s slight change in posture, which can help bring a person back into the present. In this way, gestalt therapy can help clients better understand how their physical and emotional bodies are connected.

Gestalt Therapy Techniques

Gestalt therapy is Practised in individual or group settings and involves exercises and experiments. In most cases, the exercises are relatively established practices intended to provoke action, goals, or emotion from the client. The counsellor and client then evaluate the exercise’s results to increase awareness and help the client understand the experience “here and now.”

Unlike exercises, experiments arise during the therapeutic relationship and process development. They are a critical component of gestalt therapy and allow the client to understand various aspects of a mental health issue, conflict, or experience.

A quintessential gestalt therapy exercise is commonly known as the empty chair technique, which is considered especially helpful when assisting people to become mindful of the entire situation and disengaged or forgotten pieces of their self. The client is placed across from an empty chair and is asked to imagine someone there, whether it’s a partner, spouse, boss, or a part of themselves sitting in the chair. The counsellor urges dialogue between the client and the empty chair to engage the client’s behaviours, emotions, and thoughts. In some cases, the roles are reversed, and the client takes on the role of the person or part of the person in the chair.

Another common gestalt therapy exercise is the exaggeration exercise. It requires the client to repeat and exaggerate an expression or movement, such as grimacing or bouncing a leg. During gestalt therapy, the spontaneous experiments and exercises allow the client to reconnect with parts of themselves they may deny, ignore, or minimise.

Learn more about private counselling and therapy in Bristol, at my Totterdown practice.