GESTALT THERAPY  

 KEY CONCEPTS 

• Emphasis on "what" and "how"  of the here and now to help clients accept all aspects of themselves.
• Key concepts include holism, figure-formation process, awareness, unfinished business and avoidance, contact and energy. (Corey,2009)

GOALS OF THERAPY

• Assist clients in gaining awareness of moment-to-moment experiences.
• Expand the capacity to make choices.
• To foster integration of the self. (Corey,2009)

TECHNIQUES 

• Wide range of experiments are designed to intensify experiencing and to integrate conflicting feelings.
• Experiments are co-created by therapist and client through an I/Thou dialogue.
• Therapists have latitude to creatively invent their own experiments.
• Formal diagnosis and testing are not a required part of therapy. (Corey,2009)

FOUNDERS

• Frederick S. Perls (Fritz)
• Laura Posner Perls (Corey,2009)

 

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psycotherapy. Fullerton: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.