A Definition of Gestalt Therapy

I see gestalt therapy as a voyage of discovery. We are exploring how a person reaches out to their world, how they respond to their situation and how past and present situations impact up their (and our) process of reaching out in the here and now. We do so while actively engaging in the relationship with the client as part of their situation, paying careful attention to what happens in the dynamic interchange between us. We aim to increase awareness through embracing the totality of everything the person before us is, was and can become. Gestalt is exciting, vibrant and energetic.

 

Written by Dave Man.

Seeing clients grow and learn more about themselves is one of the best rewards a therapist can experience. There is something about watching the journey a client goes through from when they first come into therapy and when they are transitioning out of it. Like watching a ship thats so overladen with cargo it can't sail with the weight. It's on the verge of sinking, and each week in therapy, the client is unloading their cargo bit by bit. At the end of the therapeutic journey, still with some cargo, they leave sailing on the ocean, lighter and with more skills to handle the weight of the cargo and the skills to throw it overboard if it gets too much.

ANXIETY AND FIREWORKS

I was sitting on a balcony tonight watching the fireworks in Darling Harbour. I noticed I wasn't entirely enjoying the view, as I was also sitting with Anxiety, over nothing in particular, it was just there, with me. 

I thought, "I wish I could just be present with the fireworks with out the dancing of butterflies in my stomach". 

I then realized that wouldn't be presence anyway. How about I be present with my entire reality, the fireworks and the anxiety, hand in hand. I sat and breathed in, holding both the amazing view and the amazing dance within my stomach. 

It was then that the butterflies stopped. 

I was left, present and peaceful.