GESTALT
BACKGROUND
Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s, is an experiential and humanistic form of therapy that was originally designed as an alternative to conventional psychoanalysis.
We use creative and experiential techniques to enhance awareness, freedom, and self-direction.
The word gestalt comes from the German word meaning shape or form, and it references the character or essence of something.
At the core of gestalt therapy is the holistic view that people are intricately linked to and influenced by their environments and that all people strive toward growth and balance.
We use empathy, understanding, and unconditional acceptance of the self to enhance therapeutic outcomes, recognizing that forcing a person to change paradoxically results in further distress and fragmentation. Rather, change results from acceptance of what is.
Gestalt therapy places emphasis on gaining awareness of the present moment and the present context- FOCUS ON "HERE AND NOW".
You learn to discover feelings that may have been suppressed or masked by other feelings and to accept and trust your emotions.
Needs and emotions that were previously suppressed or unacknowledged are likely to surface as well.
Through this process, we gain a new sense of self as overall awareness increases.
