Gestalt Therapy was founded by Fritz and Laura Perls and others in the 1940’s. It is primarily a humanistic psychotherapy drawing on a rich foundation of philosophical and psychological influences. The word Gestalt means ‘a whole configuration’, or patterns, integration, formulation.

One of the key concepts of Gestalt psychotherapy is that we are innately motivated to actualise our fullest self, while maintaining a contactful relationship with our environment which includes other people, our work, our society and all that lies ‘outside’ of ourselves. Much of our behaviour can be understood as an expression of our attempts to do this.

Since much of this happens out of your awareness, one of the tasks of the Gestalt therapist is to help you get more in touch with what  you are doing and how we are doing it. Some of your feelings, desires and ideas do not best support us to live life in the here-and-now with our full energy available. Some of your energy is tied up in “unfinished business”. With awareness you can unblock that energy and have it available to live a full life.  You can come to exercise real choice, and gain access to your fuller potential for meeting a variety of life experiences.

The Gestalt therapist works in partnership with the client to empower them in this natural process, and help in releasing areas where they may have got ‘stuck’. Gestalt therapy has a variety of dynamic approaches that allow you to do this, and aims to integrate all aspects of the person: cognitive, emotional, physical and spiritual.