Gestalt therapy is a type of therapy that is humanistic, existential & phenomenological in nature, it focuses very much on the 'here and now' and as such is experiential. The initial goal is for the client to gain an awareness of their experience and what they are doing now. Obviously there involves talking but gestalt therapy is not just about talking; it is about experiencing; for example instead of just talking about being bullied as a child, a gestalt therapist will ask you to try to BE the bullied child. Also s/he may encourage you to express the experience from a different perspective to gain a greater understanding.

This form of therapy can be very powerful in helping with issues such as relationship problems, childhood abuse, 'anger issues', grief, for people who find that negative patterns have evolved in their lives and want to understand and change these.

Primarily gestalt therapy does not pathologise you and by that it means that even behaviours or ways of life that now appear destructive must at some point in your life have worked for you and helped you survive. Of course those behaviours may now be un-wanted, outdated or obsolete however sometimes we benefit from a therapy of this nature to help us to change and 'creatively adapt' in other ways that are more appropriate for our current lifestyles.