Our Approach
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Both Fiona and Melissa used a Gestalt-based approach to therapy and are members of the Bay Area Gestalt Institute.
The therapist in Gestalt therapy works to help the client become aware of their thoughts and feelings and to explore how those thoughts and feelings are related to their current problems and relationships. The therapist may use various techniques such as role-playing, guided imagery, and body awareness exercises to help clients gain insight into their experiences and make positive changes in their lives.
What Is Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt therapy is a client-centered approach to psychotherapy that helps clients focus on the present and understand what is really happening in their lives right now, rather than what they may perceive to be happening based on past experience. Instead of simply talking about past situations, clients are encouraged to experience them, perhaps through re-enactment. Through the gestalt process, clients learn to become more aware of how their own negative thought patterns and behaviors are blocking true self-awareness and making them unhappy.
When It's Used?
Gestalt therapy can help clients with issues such as anxiety, depression, self-esteem, relationship difficulties, and even physical ones like migraine headaches, ulcerative colitis, and back spasms. Good candidates for gestalt therapy are those who are interested in working on their self-awareness but may or may not understand the role they play in their own unhappiness and discomfort.