Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy is a therapeutic approach with a focus on personal responsibility that helps clients focus on the present and understand what is happening in their lives right now. Gestalt therapy aims to help clients focus on their current circumstances with fresh eyes to understand their situation. It is based on the concept that we are all best understood when viewed through our own eyes in the present. If working through issues related to a past experience, for example, rather than just talking about the experience, a Gestalt therapist might have a client re-enact it to re-experience the scenario and analyze it with new tools. During the re-enactment, the therapist might guide the analysis by asking how the client feels about the situation now, in order to increase awareness and accept the consequences of one's own behavior. Think this approach might be right for you? Reach out to one of TherapyDen’s Gestalt therapy experts today.

Need help finding the right therapist?
Find Your Match

Meet the specialists

 

I focus on the here and now, understanding the past exists, but not allowing the to define your future.

— Candice N. Crowley, LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor in Cincinnati, OH

Each of us has the parts of ourselves that we are aware of, and all the parts we have hidden away. Often these parts are in conflict, trying to keep us safe and get our needs met. In psychotherapy, we pay attention in the moment to what is happening for you. Using the process, we will creatively co-create opportunities to hear and connect to the other parts of yourself, to allow your fuller self to emerge and create new meaning for your life.

— Sarah Peace, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Los Angeles, CA
 

Gestalt therapy is a fancy way of saying that the therapist uses your experiences and ideas and "plays" with them. Gestalt therapy is experiential: What is happening in this moment? And how do we work with it? In this method we take what you are feeling and thinking and interact with it. Sometimes we use this to re-negotiate old relationships or experiences, and sometimes we learn new ways of being in the present. We can be very creative and have a lot of fun with this method!

— Melissa Walker, Therapist in Whitesboro, TX

Ongoing training with Pacific Gestalt Institute

— Olga Goodman, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in El Cajon, CA
 

Gestalt therapy is oriented around building awareness: of ourselves, of our thoughts & behaviors, of our choices, and of our physical systems that are constantly sending us invaluable data about our experiences. Through the gestalt process, clients learn to become more aware of how their own negative thought patterns and behaviors are blocking true self-awareness.

— Kim Stevens, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Oakland, CA

The interactive, experiential, present-moment nature of Gestalt Therapy has been my guiding framework since I first became a therapist. I've utilized and created my own Gestalt experiments that bring clients into a direct experience of healing in many varied contexts. My supervisor is Joan Rieger, Director the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies.

— Dan Halpern, Licensed Professional Counselor in Lafayette, CO
 

I believe in the power behind Gestalt therapy to harness emotions and the here and now. I have had great success in utilizing the Empty Chair Technique

— Liz Smith, Psychotherapist

I am a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of New England. I have four years of postgraduate training in Gestalt psychotherapy.

— Cindy Blank-Edelman, Mental Health Counselor in Cambridge, MA
 

I am a Certified Gestalt Therapist and trained at the Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy 4 year Clinical Fellowship Program.

— Robin Friedman, Clinical Social Worker in White Plains, NY

Gestalt therapy is a relational kind of therapy that focuses on your life here and now. It emphasizes your strengths and accepting yourself the way you are. Gestalt therapy is also creative, helping you to work on your issues via different kinds of experiments. Gestalt therapy with me is lively, interactive and engaging. We will focus on options more than obstacles, the present more than the past, and strengths more than weaknesses.

— Cindy Blank-Edelman, Mental Health Counselor in Cambridge, MA
 

Gestalt Therapy is all about our whole sense of self. That whole self encounters a whole world and that brings on a whole host of difficulties. Being able to understand that dialogue that is always going on within and without our selves can be helpful to increase our satisfaction with ourselves

— Jonny Pack, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Asheville, NC

“Gestalt therapy is about helping people become aware of what they do and how they do it, and to encourage living in the present, to ‘be here now,’ and make better choices.” – Violet Oaklander. In Gestalt therapy, I use talk or play to help you or your child experience, explore, and process thoughts, feelings and sensations to bring greater awareness, self-understanding and empowerment. I am not an ‘expert’ but a partner on your journey, in the process with you every step of the way.

— Michelle Sargent, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in VALLEY VILLAGE, CA
 

It can help you increase your awareness of what you are experiencing (psychically and emotionally) in each moment.

— Marc Campbell, Licensed Mental Health Counselor in ,

"It would be nice to talk freely to somebody on your side, someone who can help you become who you want to be and not who they want you to be. You want somebody supportive and caring to help push you forward in your growth". You will never have the same therapy as someone else – your therapy centers around you – your needs, goals, and preferred pathways for achieving those goals. Gestalt therapy is more active, conversational, and effectual.

— Open Space Therapy Collective, Licensed Professional Counselor in Los Angeles, CA
 

I am a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of New England. I have four years of postgraduate training in Gestalt psychotherapy.

— Cindy Blank-Edelman, Mental Health Counselor in Cambridge, MA