What is Gestalt Therapy? 

This man has helped me through all of my Psychotherapy classes, Thank you for being so on the point

I appreciate this video. I'm a gestalt therapist, and researcher. The reason as to why there is a perception of non-cohesiveness in technique is because gestalt therapy is not about technique alone. Underlying the method is the attitude towards dialogue and contact. This is the "invisible" part of gestalt therapy and it is the most important aspect in our training. Gestalt therapy, for this reason, is a very challenging method to master, compared to other schools of psychotherapy. We may do different creative things during therapy, but it is done only in service of dialogue and contact. It is ultimately the dialogue and contact (re Martin Buber) that bring about change. It is not accurate to say that other schools can borrow these techniques, and it would work. These techniques do not define gestalt therapy. Using the empty chair without dialogue and contact is not gestalt therapy. This also explains why it is difficult to create empirical study for gestalt therapy: contact and dialogue is difficult to quantify. Work is being done, though. Thanks again for the video.

Flashback! The adults in my life were deeply into Gestalt when I was a child. I actually lived on two Gestalt communes. I remember a lot of anger and resentment being expressed... pillow attacks... group role-playing etc. They also eschewed small talk, believing it was inauthentic. All in all, a strange place for a kid.

You are sooooo incredible at explaining Gestalt Therapy. You are a wonderful teacher, so clear in your presentation! Thank you for enlightening me on this subject!

I am a graduate student for clinical mental health counseling and I have to say that this is the best description of Gestalt therapy that I have heard. It really puts it all together and sums it up nicely. Thank you so much!!

As a young psychologist, your videos helps me a lot. Thank you

I must choose a theoretical framework to master in my counseling grad school program, and my heart just knows that this is right for me. Thank you for making this incredible and informative video.

I appreciate the no-nonsense approach and the simplified explanation. That is what teaching is about.

RIP Fritz Perls 8 July 1893 ~ 14 March 1970⚘

Truly love Dr. Grande's method of teaching. Thank you

Thanks so much for your analysis. (I came across a RU-vid video of Fritz Perls' session with Gloria a few years ago - and I consider it to have had a most profound beneficial influence on my life going forward, despite being initially horrified by his confrontational approach. I related to Gloria's girlishness - and seeing this challenged caused me to change almost over-night). It's hard for me to imagine anyone other than Fritz himself having sufficient tenancity to push away at a client in the way that he does. It boarders on cruelty - yet I think it might be the best example of how a form of challenging 'tough love' might be more effective at times than an empathetic approach. Interestingly, I later read that Gloria's first reaction was to rate Carl Rogers' approach as the most effective - but later on her life, she changed her mind in favour of Perls.Your video has inspired me to look further into Fritz and Gestalt. Thank you.

I've long thought that people tend to continue to experience events - traumatic events particularly - as the person was at the time of the event, not as the person is now. So the idea that appeals to me here is having a structured approach for reframing the past events that caused trauma by bringing them into the present, where the person is now much better equipped, and supported, to deal with them better. To me, the rest of gesalt therapy seems like a somewhat mystical encapsulation of what is really some pretty simple philosophy.

While listening to the concepts of Gestalt therapy, I immediately thought of person-centered therapy when hearing about the concept of greater self-awareness. I also related unfinished business to having a sense of closure, and I think that this is very important in order for clients to heal. I am surprised that there is not much evidence supporting the effectiveness of this form of therapy because it is still practiced today.

Visiting from 2/24. Clear, concise, balanced. People from the future should (and probably do) return to these educational subject videos to remind themselves of Dr. Grande's obvious bona fides!

Very enlightening. I'm just now realizing after watching this video: I think the first therapist I ever saw back in 2001 was attempting to use this form of therapy, (especially the confrontational model), with me. I was 19 years old, I was new to therapy in general and the way she implemented it, (especially the subject she kept pushing me with), was not effective for me at the time. She was a much older woman. I was reserved and newly reformed, very religious at the time with a checkered past from my earlier teenage years and had some family of origin issues. She kept asking me why I wouldn't "get angry and yell and scream and curse." She even shared a theory she and her colleagues had and said that if she were in the position I was in, she would, "be angry and yell, curse and scream." I thought it was strange she was trying to get me to have an outburst, so I didn't trust her. I had been seeing her for roughly six months and had not been diagnosed by my psychiatrist yet, so I was frustrated with both of them at the time. I stopped seeing her immediately after that session and wound up being hospitalized shortly thereafter due to a manic episode and diagnosed with BP1. For 19 years I've periodically wondered why she confronted me like that. Wow... you learn something new every day. Thanks for sharing, Doc!

Thanks Todd for such clear, simple explanation of psychotherapies. It really helped. I have a request to make. Please try to make videos on some common disorders and then briefly explain how each major school of psychotherapy explains it's causes and then treatment. It would be really nice of you to do that. Thanks.

Love this guided tour of Gestalt Therapy. Tricky to drag Gestalt techniques into scientifically proven area though - the very nature if its work is individually creative and down to each Gestalt therapist to bring their own unique personality into it. How to test therefore? Great work Dr G.

What a concise, clear, objective explanation. I learned a lot. Thanks!

Thank you for the introduction to Gestalt therapy, " bringing awareness " to the present.

I really appreciate your videos. Some of the theories are difficult to understand. You explain the key points and the science behind them in a way thats easy to understand. Thank you!

I love the clarity of your explanation! Thank you so much. You've aided me a lot in my learning of different therapeutic approaches. Your materials have been so helpful.

Please make more videos like this sometimes. They’re very educational

Thanks for making counselling psychology classes easy

Preach brother! I am all for Gestalt and REBT by late Dr. Ellis.

As a Gestalt-therapist myself, I really appreciate your points and I make a constructive criticism about the video. Gestalt-therapy, as it is practiced today has good epistemological ways to back up the work. First of all, its vision comes from the existentialism, so the works of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau Ponty and many others are the basis for the view of the human and also the concepts of freedom, choosing and many others. So alongside with the organismic theory and field theory to state that we are who we are while we are in contact, dialogue and on relationships with each other and with a community. And even with all those epistemological theories, there is the method of Gestalt-therapy, developed for Laura Perls, Ralph Hefferline, Paul Goodman, Isadore From and many others. People who stablished the theory of Gestalt-therapy basead on the way people develop themselves on a society and how the defense mecanisms can act on the border of the contact among other parameters to make Gestalt a very solid approach to psychoterapy.

Thank you for making these videos, you helped me refresh for my NCE exam.

I read "In and Out of the Garbage Pail" coming of age out of High School and was most intrigued 🤔

thank you so much, found this more informative than the stuff I've learnt in class

One of your best analyses and through experience I totally agree with you. Thank you.

Thanks for the overview Todd, I realise in order to be an overview this needs to be basic. But I think you missed a lot here in understanding gestalt therapy. Although Perls is heralded as the founder, gestalt therapy is firmly rooted in gestalt psychology (Wertheimer et al). A central principle being humans perceive systems as wholes not parts, "The whole is something else than the sum of the parts" (Koffka). the notion of unfinished business etc comes from this principle. The theoretical ground for gestalt therapy is field theory (Lewin) which you also failed to mention. This is the coherent theoretical model in gestalt therapy. You mentioned that the gestalt therapist uses the here and now and attends to the unfinished business in the here and now because this is where the issue can be dealt with. This is not strictly true, it is more accurate to say, the unfinished business IS in the here and now and will express itself. Through paying attention to the phenomenological situation (body language etc) the unfinished business will manifest, most noticeably in the client therapist relationship. You mentioned various gestalt associated techniques, however this again is not accurate. It is more accurate to say gestalt uses awareness experiments. Experimentation is an essential principle in gestalt and takes many forms. The basic premise being that the therapist invites someone to experiment with a behaviour with awareness that they normally do by habit. E.G, someone who always crosses their arms when you say their name. You might invite them to bring awareness to this movement and explore it and its polarity and find what function this has for them relationally. To summarise I would say the key themes are awareness, experimentation and dialogue. I hope this helps.

Thank you for this video! I have a counseling and personality exam coming up and this video has been helpful during studying. Thanks again!

Thanks one in a million Dr. Todd This will help me in my psychology class

Some clients who are skilled manipulators will try to "capture" a gullible therapist, to recruit the therapist as an ally. That never works with a Gestalt therapist, who is always alert for such tricks. The Gestalt therapist is trained to confront the client and point out manipulative behavior in stark terms. Don't ever smile while describing a hurtful problem to a Gestalt therapist or you will be called a phony to your face. When a person's body language doesn't match what the person is saying that person is probably lying. What I like best about Gestalt therapy is the notion that lying is the cause of much neurotic behavior.

Thank you. This will help me with my periodic examination tomorrow. More power!

This video is a helpful overview and/or supplement to understanding Gestalt Theory. After reading Richard Sharf's outline of concepts and techniques and reviewing Fritz Perls' session with Gloria, the concepts make sense, particularly awareness and responsibility. In this video Perls' confronts the client with the first layer of neuroses, the phony layer. The client is clearly offended, yet engages in the dialogue with present language and behavior, which eventually leads to the fifth, explosive layer. It's evident that while the theory is controversial, the techniques have made it popular. Perls' approach seems risky in terms of building a therapeutic alliance, yet it is unlikely that the client will forget phony versus real forms of being. Was Gloria's awareness in that session with Perls useful in terms of integrating the knowledge and achieving wholeness?

Explained quite well. Thank you for the clarification. Gestalt therapy reminds me of Constellation therapy. They are both beneficial in terms of their techniques.

I found the theory to be interesting. I wish there was more evidence to support it. Even though there isn’t much empirical evidence to support the theory, I’m not surprised that the techniques are so widely used. They are centered around awareness, and can be personalized to fit the need(s) of the client.

Thanks again Dr. Grande for clear explanations on concepts. If someone comes up with a model of Gestalt therapy that could be tested I hope it is based on the idea of first making sure that all of the participants understand it to be only a form of play instead of the actions that take place during the therapy being done for a cause since in the past I have seen the unintended tragic consequences for the participant with that kind of attitude which could happen otherwise.

I'd argue that Gestalt theory is arguably still very mainstream in group counseling. Also, its components of here-and-now awareness, role-play, enacting the feelings in behavioral expression, and empty chair are ubiquitous among therapists who don't accept the cold, worksheet-prone mechanistic CBT routines (I am exaggerating my biases here). When you say there is not a lot of evidence for Perls' version, that is true- but that was true of his contemporaries at the time, with the exception of Rogers' early advocacy for research- but I'd argue that theories are only efficacious through their techniques. So your conceptual separation of techniques from theory is in my opinion perhaps more reductive than is necessary. I'd rather say that techniques are both inseparable from their theories, and inherently transtheoretical as well: and I am giddy about the paradox. As you talk about science-based theory, I am reminded of two truths: 1- psychology and its affiliate fields are plagued by publication bias and a replication crisis. So people with bad results aren't publishing, (or they're getting rejected from journals, and pre-registration data research is not a band-aid) and the groundbreaking studies aren't replicating when others try to repeat them. 2- Norcross and Wampold remind us of the power of the therapeutic alliance. Eclecticism is chapter 10 or 13 or whatever in every theories text, and it's previewed in chapter 1, because techniques when embedded in a therapeutic alliance are effective. And thank goodness, because the dynamics of a therapeutic alliance are also mediated by the history that the client and the counselor bring to the relationship. And to the degree that eclectic techniques are incompatible with the identities' experiences of help and relationship, theory doesn't matter. Theory is a way to cluster human outcomes and make predictions about the interventions that predict such outcomes- and it is clear that critical identity theories are barely scratching the surface. For that reason, I believe that theories are wonderful sources of information and creativity- but that a responsive relationship and a coherent array of client-responsive techniques are going to be proven with such predictive power that theoretical backgrounds become obscure, irrelevant, and sunset- and while I feel that pain as a teacher of counseling theories, I can understand. Every year that I decide whether it's relevant to cover the history of Gloria, and to watch the theorists themselves demonstrate their technique-sets, I am struck more deeply that people of color, and most people experiencing life after .. (checks Cengage...) 2012 .. won't relate to this silly reductionist history anymore. Norcross and Wampold should have knocked CBT from its smug, lazy perch, but it has not. My hope is in here-and-now, role-play, and enactment techniques such as what Perls brought forth, will return us to experiential counseling for our hearts, because if our brains were making fully empirical decisions, we wouldn't need counseling. *puts soap box away* ... Nice video, I appreciate the organized fashion in which you break down the qualities and limitations of Gestalt theory and offer some opinions on it. I think CBT is out of hand, however, and the only solution is to get back to human experience and therapeutic relationships. Gestalt is not *the* answer, but it certainly contributes. In my opinion. Ok, I'm still on the soap box. Thanks for the video as always! :-)

Very comprehensive video, thank you so much Doc. I'm from the Philippines...

Cognitive behavorial therapy is a problem solving approach and thus there are numerous papers about that. It is similar like explicit teaching, Gestal therapy is about dialogue and contact with our emotions - it is like inquiry based teaching using dialogue. I would also include TRE as a useful approach.

Could you make a similar video like this about Transactional Analysis?

I would think that the result speaks for itself, i.e., what the patient concludes & what the therapist concludes

Very interesting and informative

So wonderfully explained. Thank you 🌸

Fascinating! Actually sounds fun❗

Thank you. As far as Gestalt goes what I understood as a small is it's about the parts working together to make the whole. So, enough to think about it, kind of sort of, as a loose and probably inaccurate allegory. The chair exercises sound EXTREMELY helpful and far simpler than the "oversoul conversations" whilst meditating that I've been putting off for literally years. But Clint Eastwood, am-I-right?

Absolutely fantastic, spot on !!!!!

It depends on the personality which therapy works best. Working with people high in conscientiousness may have trouble with this method, when you make the assumption they are out of touch, since they have anxieties about their responsibilities, and surroundings. With such people, CBT is best, since they would be willing to put in the work. Gestalt may be the avenue to go, if they fail to follow through with CBT.

That's why the Doctor asked me why I keep looking to the left when broaching a certain subject.

Really great description.

This is my report in Guidance and Counseling, it helps me a lot!! Thank you very much😊😊

Your claim that gestalt is fragmented with no solid theory backing it up is to me incorrect. It is a process oriented relational therapy thus more complexity and more variables involved and thus more costly to research. Yet qualitative research is gaining momentum. See Doharty's gestalt fidelity scale, neorotic contact styles and interruptions and so much concrete theory!!! Standardization in training variables is lacking but could catch up with more incorporation of above. Authentic creative aware relational and field oriented gestaltists working in supportive community will ultimately advance gestalt theory and therapy.

I watched a video of Fritz Perls in a client session. He was almost combative to the client at one point. It was painful to watch. The early days of Gestalt were very different from what current Gestalt techniques are used. Thankfully.

Thank you for posting this! Definitely needed to understand gestalt therapy more in my masters counseling course 😭

This sounds a lot like Emotion-focused Therapy. Are they coincidentally similar or does one borrow from the other? Very helpful video, thank you

How can something essentially valued for its creativity and vivid expression arouse scepticism because it does not fit into a testable standard? I would understand the scepticism if something creative and vividly expressive were to fit a standard, with the potential for a hollow product that this would entail.

My therapist has been using these techniques on me. They are triggering, but do work.

Thank you, lovely video.

Thank you that was interesting. As a Hypnotist I found having a person in trance works very well. I don't think much of Cognitive behavior therapy. I find that to be too near conscious level of mind. Somewhat deeper is better. It touches an area of insight by the client that is a wonder to behold and of course if it is because of another individual an astonishing breakthrough of forgiveness is very profound. We call it chair therapy. The first time I ever used it was with an individual who had panic attacks. Janie

A family member taught me gestalt therapy in the 70’s- As regards self awareness is concerned I feel the 2 chair method was helpful. More recently I use puppets that represent the side of my personality society beat up on.

In my opinion, Gestalt techniques can enrich a psychodynamic or person- centered Session as well. Would you agree Dr Grande?

I should have paid Dr. Grande my grad school tuition

Hello, Dr.Grande.Please do a videon on ACT Theory of Counselling.

Thanks a lot for your video!

Thank you Thank you Thank you 💛❤️💜

Always interesting Thank you

Excellent!!! 👏

Thanks for sharing

Awareness of senses, emotions, body sensations, environment and boundaries problematic. Five layers of neurosis. Explosive could also be a layer of inauthenticity; one would often think that our reactions are authentic but even anger could be unauthentic (just ready to be authentic?). Perhaps as expressing it appropriately and at appropriate times and not festering. Cool information.

We do this in groups in a organization I'm a member of called The Mankind Project.

So was Clint Eastwood’s empty chair speech some attempt at Gestalt theory ?

Thanks for this. Very helpful.

Thank you for explaining this! Very helpful.:)

It's like screaming at a chair but pretending it's your mother.

Doctor asks: what do you feel? Where in your body do you feel it? What are you feeling right now and where does it come from? Well Doc I don't know...

But what is the basis for believing that Gestalt Therapy would ever be successful ? Is it simply that the patient - in the presence of their therapist who, we presume, directs the process - becomes more aware of their own feelings and reaction sequences and can then more objectively evaluate - and perhaps work to correct - their behavior ? In everyday life we sometimes see people - sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously - restage in a new human context some past traumatic event, e.g. someone accuses them of doing something wrong, they are completely innocent of course, they exonerate themselves, then the tables are turned and their accuser is emphatically exposed as a wicked schemer. In such cases, the re-enactments only serve to consolidate the underlying anxiety (perhaps a fear of criticism?) and no therapeutic release is effected. It seems to me that this kind of therapy could only be successful if (a) the therapist not only closely "directed" the re-enactment but (b) that the patient has and retains a keen sense of self-awareness even in the midst of traumatic emotion - something that might well have prevented them succumbing to this neurosis in the first place. You yourself speak of a need for an accepted theoretical modality for GT . . . I'm not in psychology, I'm just an engineer. But maybe we both recognize the same lack of solid foundation with this therapy . . .

Gestatl should be called Blind Side therapy. Once you become aware of believing falsehoods, you can resolve the energy blocks to wholeness.

I can't keep my attention for long time (even some minutes) focused on a single subject. For example this video right now. Although I really want to learn about gestalt. Just wondering what do I do. How do I calm my attention?

The empty chair technique is so cool!! As the the 2 chair!! Never heard of it!! Is this effective with patients with serious medicated disorders?

Are they been forced to be conscious and by forcing the issue, not allowing the natural sub-conscious processes to take place?

That therapy sounds helpful to me.

Very interesting!

I believe gestalt psychology is relative. But it is real...

I think it's kind of a shame that everyone credits Gestalt therapy to Fritz Perls... If anyone is interested, please research Erving and Miriam Polster-- two other pioneers of Gestalt therapy and much-beloved people. Especially Erv's "Every Person's Life Deserves a Novel". Their work is so much more nuanced and less showy. Very much focused on the humanistic.

Could you talk about the therapeutic relationship please 🙏🥺🙏

The lecture will be more enriching with slides

This sounds like Shadow work.

Peeling Onion 🧅 I remember from College ....longtime ago ....

Love it

this video is 6 years old , is it more standardised now ? particulalry in the UK if you know ?

So basically he came up with Somatic therapy? With awareness and body focus

Really interesting!

Has Dr. G parsed or reviewed anything regarding the history and current opinions on psychoanalysis ???

Is the 2 chair dialogue compared to the results one is accomplishing with NLP Parts Integration? One is addressing this subconscious part by consciously separating it and having it speak?

Gestalt therapy is beneficial to people like me very high on neuroticism. Is that correct?

Is the lack of feelings (awareness) dissociative disorder?

What psychological history of Pearl for identification of therapy? Awareness of the resolution of ones history is considered incorrect?Introspection vs Missunderstanding?

This is a good video but I think Todd shows a general misunderstanding of the humanistic psychotherapies and compares them directly to CBT, which is measurable. This is not comparing apples with apples, I'm afraid. To apply the scientific method to psychotherapy of all modalities, is impossible. For Psychotherapy to be considered a science, it must be observable, measurable, and make future predictions. This is not possible is any form of Psychotherapy and therefore it will remain an art form, not a science. Hearing Todd say that his concerns with Gestalt are the lack of a formal framework is odd because I would also say exactly the same thing about Existential therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, and even the Psychodynamic school.

Let's say I was raped in my childhood, for example. So if that would've happened I'd say "he caused me psychological trauma, so because of him/this situation I'm afraid of my sexuality now" I don't think it's correct to say "I'm causing myself to suffer because of a rape I've survived." That is madness to me. I was abused by rejecting and a bit narcissistic mother in my childhood and my gestalt therapist said something similar. I hate it. I'm not responsible for things that have happened in my childhood. Maybe I wanted to be nurtured a little by the therapist and he has just ignored and did not respond at all to this need. Maybe that's irrational and subjective but I dislike it cause of unnecessary pain I've gone through. And btw F. Perlz has died of cancer. I don't think gestalt helps you to be very conscious.