Approaches / Humanistic and experiential
Gestalt therapy
An experiential approach that attends to present awareness, contact and what happens between therapist and client.
Overview
Gestalt therapy is an experiential approach that gives attention to what a person is aware of in the present moment and to how they make contact with others and their environment.
Core ideas
Central ideas include awareness, contact, and the view that a person and their environment form a field. The therapist often works with what is happening in the room, including the relationship and bodily experience, rather than only discussing the past.
What a session can involve
A session may include talking, noticing sensations, trying out an experiment such as saying something aloud, or working with an empty chair. Experiments are offered, not imposed, and the client's response guides what follows.
Formats and settings
Gestalt therapy is offered one to one, in groups and with couples. Availability and professional regulation vary by place and service.
How it relates to other approaches
Gestalt shares a humanistic outlook with person-centred counselling and has influenced emotion-focused therapy. It draws on psychoanalysis, existential thought and field theory.
Limits and open questions
A 1994 meta-analysis reviewed 38 studies conducted between 1970 and 1986. Its abstract reported positive findings but said no definitive conclusions could be drawn about individual therapy or long-term outcomes. A later review included 11 studies published from 2007 to 2018. Its author noted limitations in study methods and a search restricted to English and Italian journal publications, making the findings difficult to generalise. Neither review establishes what will work for a particular person or condition, and neither summarises subsequent research.
Early styles were sometimes confrontational; contemporary practice often emphasises dialogue and collaboration. This site has not yet added guidance by condition and country.
History
Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman developed the approach in the 1940s and 1950s. The 1951 book by Perls, Hefferline and Goodman is the founding text.
Key people
Fritz Perls and Laura Perls are the founders most often named. Laura Perls is often credited with stressing contact and support.
Sources and inspection notes
BACP, What is Gestalt therapy?
Supports: An introductory description of the approach from a UK professional body.
Supports: Library catalogue records the title, authors, publisher and 1951 first edition. This bibliographic record is not a review of clinical effectiveness.
Supports: Abstract describes a meta-analysis of 38 studies from 1970–1986 and limits concerning individual treatment and long-term outcomes. The full text was not reviewed.
Supports: Review of 11 studies published from 2007 to 2018; describes limits of the search and study methods that restrict generalisation.
Supports: Abstract of a survey of 47 practitioners in the Netherlands and Flanders; participants reported working individually and, in some cases, with groups or couples. It does not establish the distribution of services elsewhere.