Psychology · Ch 5 — Therapeutic Approaches
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
The Meaning of "Gestalt"
The German word gestalt means "whole." This is the central idea of the therapy — that a person is more than the sum of their separate parts, and that psychological distress arises when parts of the self are fragmented or denied.
Founders
Gestalt therapy was developed by Friederick (Fritz) Perls together with his wife Laura Perls. They shifted the focus of therapy from analysing the past to experiencing the present.
Core Goal
The primary goal of Gestalt therapy is to increase an individual’s self-awareness and self-acceptance. The therapist does not interpret the client's behaviour for them; instead, the therapist creates conditions in which the client can discover their own blocked feelings and take responsibility for them.
How It Works: Blocked Awareness
The therapy teaches the client to recognise the bodily processes and emotions that are being blocked out from awareness. For example, a person might feel a tightness in their chest (a bodily process) but not connect it to the anger they are suppressing. Gestalt therapy brings these hidden experiences into the open.
Key Technique: Acting Out Fantasies
The therapist encourages the client to act out fantasies about feelings and conflicts. This is not about talking about a problem, but about being the problem in the moment.
A classic Gestalt technique is the "empty chair" exercise. The client imagines a person (or a part of themselves) in an empty chair and speaks to them, then switches chairs and responds as that person. This makes the internal conflict real and present.