About Therapy
What is a typical session like?
Therapy provides a safe, focused space for you to explore and reflect on current challenges or goals. While no two sessions will be alike, a typical session may include:
-
A short mindfulness exercise to begin
-
Space for issues, reflections, questions or challenges to be voiced
-
An organic flow of focus while remaining curious about the data received from our senses and sensations
-
Intentional pauses or slowing down to further explore a strong or interesting emotion or a surprising insight.
-
When it seems useful, you might be invited to experiment with role plays, exaggeration or another creative method of inquiry, like exploring your 'parts'.
-
We might talk about the past and future but will always come back to the lens of the present.
-
Sometimes there might be homework! But if you don't get around to doing it we would simply try a different approach instead.
What is Gestalt Therapy?
-
Gestalt Therapy was developed in the 1940s by Fritz and Laura Perls and their friend Paul Goodman - and is considered a humanistic and existential form of therapy.
-
Gestalt is a German word for form or essence - the concept of 'the way a thing is put together'. A bit like the saying 'the sum is greater than the parts', it is based on a holistic understanding that people are intricately linked to, and influenced by, their environments and history.​
-
Gestalt practioners were early adopters of Eastern mindfulness techniques to bring non-judgemental attention on the present moment, including body awareness - similar to what you may find in somatic therapies and yoga.
-
This approach can help you to gently reconnect and integrate aspects of yourself into a whole, an idea closely aligned with more recently-developed approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS).
-
Gestalt takes a relational, creative and organic approach to the therapy process using 'experiments' and other tools of enquiry like drawing or writing which can be surprisingly useful and even quite fun!
How long are sessions?
Standard sessions go for 60 minutes, however longer or shorter sessions can be arranged.
In the initial session, we look at your goals and intentions and estimate a suitable time commitment. ​We will revisit this goal to check it is still right for you, along with the timing and approach, so you can make sure you get the best value from your efforts.