Gestalt Therapy

The founders of Gestalt were Wertheimer, Kohler and Koffka. In large part this movement was a resistance to the then current psychology that broke down elements for study and research into ever smaller parts.

The Gestaltists felt that much of the work of the time was sterile; that it did not enrich the field of psychology. They felt that a  phenomenological approach was more useful; that being aware of the ‘whole’ first, before breaking it into discrete parts, actually allows the ‘seeing’ of how the parts fit in and connect.

Gestalt Therapy
Fritz Perls (born 1893) was the founder of Gestalt therapy, which is not the same as gestalt psychology, although it is based on, and takes much from it. Perls was influenced by diverse disciplines; from phenomenology and existentialism; Eastern philosophies to biological field theory.

Gestalt therapy was a shift from the Freudian unconscious to a conscious awareness; to feeling, sensing and attending. The meaning of what is perceived comes from the context (ground) and from within which the element (figure) is found. There is an emphasis on the interaction between the individual and the environment.

Intentional awareness is at the centre of this therapy; the way an individual makes contact with the surrounding environment using all senses. This happens through sensing and excitement, the latter defined as physiological excitation and undifferentiated emotions. (Perls, Hefferline & Goodman, 1977).