Gestalt therapy

“Who looks outward, dreams. Who looks inward, wakes up”

C.G. Jung

“Everyone has the responsibility to live his live the way he wants.”

Fritz Perls

The Gestalt therapy is a humanistic approach, which acts on the assumption that body, mind and soul, as understood, is an unbreakable unit. Fritz Perls and his wife, Laura Perls, established the Gestalt Therapy. They introduced the German term of “Gestalt”, which loosely translates to the English word ‘figure’, which in this context means ‘a need, or concern’ (request). Gestalt therapy dwells on the idea, that there is always one need/concern in the foreground, while the others are constrained to reside in the background. If the need is sated, another one comes up, and the first disappears in the background. Conflicts and suffering arise when needs and concerns can´t be sated, certain parts of the personality are excluded and the contact towards oneself or another person is interrupted.

The meaning of Gestalt therapy in our daily life: In the therapeutic process, we aim to locate the excluded or rejected parts and reintegrate them. The Gestalt therapy doesn´t ask so much for the „why “, the causes, but it is much more interested in the „hows”, or the reciprocal effects in our relations. It is a therapeutic approach dealing with the present, and only includes the past or client history as much as it interferes with the present.

Contact is an important aspect in Gestalt therapy: the encounter between you and me. How do you relate to others and your surroundings?

The Gestalt Therapy helps to perceive what is right at the moment. These can be, for example, suppressed feelings that can currently be felt and experienced. By experiencing one’s own inner powers, it becomes possible to feel directly connected to oneself again. Self-responsible action, as well as a creative and active life, are strengthened.

Recommended books:

“The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy” Fritz Perls

“In and Out the Garbage Pail” Fritz Perls