History Overview

Gestalt Counseling was initially used in the 1800’s by a German philosopher, Max Werthimer and associates but they did not pursue to carry on with the theory or publish it. Gestalt therapy was born in New York in the 1940s by Frederick “Fritz” Perls and his wife Lore (Laura) Perls with assistance from Paul Goodman and others. Fritz, from Berlin then located to South Africa and later to the USA, was the main spokesman for Gestalt Therapy. He and Laura published many books and she did not come from behind the scenes until 1970 after Fritz passed away. It was originally inspired by German Perceptual Psychologists from the 1940s who taught that human beings actively organize what they see - that they add things (organizing principles) to the world that aren't present in the world itself. Basically - the approach proceeds from the idea that people are born to be spontaneous and whole in their beings but lose this awareness over time as they interact with others (and experience shame, guilt, etc.). The result of this loss of wholeness is a perception of the self as split (into mind and body, self and other, thinking and feeling, etc.). The Gestalt therapist works with his/her client to get back to a more holistic state of being. To do this the therapist frequently bypasses rational thinking processes and makes direct emotional appeals to the client who otherwise would be cut off from those emotions. One famous technique for doing this is called the "empty chair". Gestalt has been criticized for being descriptive, but it has formed basis for perception of objects and patterns.