My approach
What led me to embrace Gestalt therapy as therapeutic approach is its focus on the 'here and now', its effort to (re)connect the Whole: our body, our soul, our emotions, and our Self. It pays particular attention to what happens when we interact with our environment (the field). And above all, it leaves space to explore and make the best of whatever is emerging at a given moment. And be aware that nothing is also something!
This is what brought me to Gestalt therapy, to its principles and principal dimensions. Here are the ones that I hold particularly dear.
‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’
We owe that quote to Aristotle; you perhaps have heard it before. It is one of the founding principles of Gestalt therapy, which can be defined as experiential, humanistic, and holistic psychotherapy.
Gestalt therapy is centred on the person - you - and your environment.
It focuses on the present life and challenges. Not that those past experiences are not relevant; they are! It is a way to better focus on the relevance and understanding of our context, desires, emotions, and of taking responsibility. Gestalt therapy is very much about how we approach the world. Or better said: it is about one and the world and what happens when there is contact.
The ‘here and now.’
Gestalt therapy explores the present moment, when there is contact between a person and the environment (also called field or situation).
Relational, personal, and social contexts are at the core of what is being explored, through how they emerge and evolve during the therapeutic sessions.
This focus supports self-regulating adjustments, working on curiosity, the potential for change and movement. Sanding still allows a greater awareness, and it is movement that generates change.
Co-construction.
Yes, we will walk this path together! In Gestalt therapy, the experience, what happens in the therapeutic sessions, is a co-creation process.
This collaborative relationship is essential in building trust and safety and is fundamental to healing.
You are not alone! Together, we explore the present moment, and everything that happens is at the service of the therapy.
To quote Leonard Cohen, while ‘There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’, this process also allows us to get things out.