Gestalt psychotherapy – who is it suitable for and what is it?

Proven content

Gestalt therapy is a method invented by Fritz Perls. According to its assumptions, the basic source of human problems are unmet needs in childhood. We are talking mainly about the need for love, acceptance and respect. This therapy helps, above all, in working on heavy emotions. Find out who Gestalt therapy is especially recommended for and what it is based on.

Gestalt psychotherapy – for whom?

In society, especially in Poland, there is still a misconception that all kinds of psychotherapy are intended only for people who struggle with serious mental disorders and diseases. Many people think that only a person who is dangerous to the environment or who shows disturbing psychotic symptoms should enroll in such therapy. This is why people who really need help prefer to be left alone with their problem, which may be depression or emotional distress. In fact, psychotherapy can not only help people struggling with everyday problems, but also provide a form of self-development for people without any disorders.

It is difficult to clearly define who Gestalt psychotherapy is intended for. Certainly, it can be used by people with emotional difficulties, depression, eating disorders, personality disorders or phobias. However, anyone can sign up for this type of therapy. Even if you are functioning perfectly, you can try. Why then sign up for Gestalt therapy? This type of therapy will allow you to develop and find answers to difficult questions that are for some reason important. Thanks to conversations with a neutral person, such as a psychotherapist, it is easier to see your own mistakes made in relationships or to visualize the influence exerted on us by other people. Each person can draw different conclusions from the meetings, adequate to their situation.

It is worth noting, however, that Gestalt therapy may not be a good solution for people who are struggling with personality disorders or psychotic diseases. There is also a group of disorders that should only be treated pharmacologically. In this case, Gestalt therapy should not be chosen by force. The specialist will then use an appropriately modified approach or refer the patient to a therapist specializing in working on a specific type of disorder.

1. Read more about psychotherapy: What are the types of psychotherapy? Indications for a visit to a psychotherapist

How does Gestalt psychotherapy work?

Gestalt therapy is based on the so-called existential dialogue between the patient and the therapist. The patient learns to recognize his own emotions and the way they arise. The main assumption of Gestalt psychotherapy is related to the fact that the change we strive for is self-acceptance, which will enable conscious decision making and regain control over one’s own life. There are several ways to achieve this goal. Meetings in groups are possible and it is this form of therapy that constitutes the basic variant. Another option are multi-day workshops, individual meetings and mixed forms of psychotherapy that bring the best results.

If we decide only on group meetings as part of Gestalt therapy, we need to know the stages of such therapy. However, it is worth remembering that group work is most often used during self-development workshops. The first stage is usually an individual interview. Its task is to introduce the therapist to the patient’s problems. This is a typical psychological interview. The next stage is the so-called opening therapy. It is mainly about familiarizing the patient with the therapist. Only after being so familiarized, the patient will be able to talk openly about his problems. This stage can also be performed as a physical activity to relax the patient. This is why yoga and Zen exercises are used.

The third stage of Gestalt group meetings is typical problem solving that the patient is struggling with. During this stage, he learns to recognize his own emotions and the mechanisms of their formation. This stage is characterized by a series of conversations that can be both individual and group. The therapist and patients try to evoke a variety of emotions that are not always positive. They play different scenes in order to bring back the emotions that accompanied the patients in the hard times of their lives. The last step is to evaluate what the patient has managed to achieve. The assessment is made by the therapist or group. It should be remembered that one group does not guarantee that all patients are at the same stage. Usually there are different stages of development. It is often the case that patients at a later stage are a kind of helpers to therapists.

Individual Gestalt psychotherapy is becoming an increasingly popular variant of cooperation with the patient. It works especially well as a long-term dialogue that can be used to work on self-acceptance or support the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or psychosomatic disorders. Good contact with the therapist and openness to discover cognitive processes that we were not aware of before are important here.

Other types of psychotherapy include:

1. Psychodynamic psychotherapy – for whom, what is it, what are its effects
2. Cognitive Behavior Therapy – How Does It Work?
3. Couples psychotherapy – in what situations is it advisable?

Gestalt psychotherapy – opinions

Gestalt therapy is a psychological method, so it is based on philosophy. The most important thing is to be active at this moment and focus on what is happening here and now. The patient’s task is to learn to accept himself, his own needs, expectations, and to eliminate the expectations of other people from the awareness. Additionally, he learns to express his own needs. This type of therapy is mainly based on the relationship with the therapist. This is why he should be kind.

Really opinions about Gestalt therapy they can be very different. It all depends on the person who will conduct it, or more precisely – on their approach. If we want the best results, we should choose the right person. The therapist should approach a person holistically – take the body and psyche as one, inseparable whole. Apart from choosing the right therapist, the patient’s approach to therapy also plays a key role. It should be aware of the goal to which it is going and open to action. Such awareness allows you to better empathize with the therapy, which in this case brings very good results. Commitment is actually the key to understanding yourself and your emotions. Unfortunately, not everyone believes in Gestalt therapy.

Many of us, despite the problems that qualify us for it, do not want to submit to it. If we do not believe that meetings are meaningful, they will most likely not bring the desired effect, because a negative attitude will prevent you from working effectively and making progress. A very important issue regarding Gestalt psychotherapy is the attitude towards self-development. If striving to get to know oneself better, to become aware of one’s own needs and desires does not seem to be a suitable form of therapy for us, it is worth talking to a therapist about it. Changing your approach or looking for a different path is still an opportunity to pull the benefits of psychotherapy. There are some things better to discuss first than not to stop therapy altogether.

How does Gestalt psychotherapy work?

Thanks to involvement in Gestalt psychotherapy, you can independently develop the skills of coping with difficult life situations. Recognizing your own reactions resulting from previous experiences gives you a chance to consciously modify your behavior in relation to the environment. Such a cognitive process does not have to be effective in people who are markedly fragmented and confused. The potential for change in the event of an unstable mental state is low, and such a patient should usually be helped in other ways.

The operation of Gestalt psychotherapy is possible by focusing the patient’s attention on the present and the possibility of shaping it. However, this does not mean ignoring the future and what lies ahead. Achieving internal balance and better impulse control allows you to redefine thinking about yourself and your life. Such an outcome, however, remains a long-term goal, therefore the effects of the Gestalt method you should expect regular meetings with a psychotherapist after a year or more. Shorter duration of therapy with satisfactory results is also possible, but it all depends on the type of problem with which we come to the specialist.

Gestalt psychotherapy – important issues

1. Gestalt psychotherapy is a type of therapy that belongs to the humanistic trend. It focuses on the figure (Gestalt), i.e. the figure of a human being and the complex aspects of his psychology. The therapy therefore takes into account both the individual needs of a given person, as well as their development in relation to the environment and the ability to build relationships. During meetings with the therapist, the patient focuses on himself, but in this way he has a better understanding of himself, and then translate this knowledge into the ability to interact with others in a healthy way.
2. During therapy, the patient is not supposed to become a different person, but to rediscover himself and thus find new ways to deal with problems, quit addiction, and differently direct negative or positive emotions.
3. The long duration of Gestalt psychotherapy is important for consolidating certain issues that the patient has learned in previous meetings. That is why we should persevere until the very end of the therapeutic process, even if we already see satisfactory results.
4. A therapist using the gestalt method may propose various psychotherapeutic techniques to the patient, including the method of empty chairs (expressing feelings related to a specific conflict in order to better understand them), dream analysis or psychodrama technique. Some methods also work well in group therapy.
5. The price of one Gestalt psychotherapy session depends on the individual price list of a given therapist. Maybe it is from about PLN 120-170 for an individual meeting.