GESTALT THERAPY IS A BORDERLANDS DISCIPLINE

Here I discuss the philosophical position underpinning gestalt therapy, which proposes a break from a centuries old tradition of European philosophy that posits separations between mind/body, perceiver and perceived. Instead gestalt proposes that experience/ing is primary and the separation into “I-not I” is derivative of and emergent of experience. This different view lends itself to a more visceral form of living - meeting each moment as a new experience in which I will find myself anew.

A DIGRESSION ON TRAUMA AND TRAUMA THERAPY

In this writing I draw out the similarity between trauma and great art in that both hold meanings that cannot be expressed through conventional language. People seek out therapy because language is not adequate to their experience. As therapists working with trauma we learn to feel into, and to move anew with pain that cannot be languaged via the paucity of the 2D world.

my intro to gestalt therapy

Here I share a bit about my discovery of gestalt therapy and how it first moved me. The radical challenge of gestalt is in the way it can destabilise rooted and fixed ideas of who we are. It offers a version of the self as always in relationship with an ‘other’ - the self as present centred, and thus as always ‘emergent’ of its context. I might argue the aim of therapy is to invite people’s interest beyond the past ‘fixed’ self that cannot be changed, towards this ever imminent experience of dancing with ‘other’ in the present.

LIFE AS FLOW VERSUS LIFE AS STRUGGLE

This piece of writing isn’t so much about therapy. Here I am musing on implications of gestalt therapy theory - which is really a way of seeing and understanding our world… On the nature of creation, the universe and humanity’s place in it. Beyond addressing imminent suffering, gestalt therapy can help people cultivate a personal understanding of what the world is like. Mine helps me to face the pain of living in the world.

Why do I hate myself? (And how can gestalt therapy help)

My inspiration for this writing comes from the ubiquitous nature of self-hatred among my clients. Also my own, and also that of my friends and colleagues who are therapists, and training to be therapists, sometimes enduring after years of therapy. Self-hating is not superficial, nor is it a correlate of psychological immaturity. Its roots are often deep and its effects visceral.

New Gestalt Voices

New Gestalt Voices is a community for people newer to gestalt psychotherapy and other applications of gestalt. We publish a twice yearly journal and offer networking and development opportunities.

pink therapy

The UK’s largest independent organisation working with gender and sexual diversity clients. Links to resources for LGBTQI clients.

The Centre for welfare reform

A citizen think tank working to create a world where everyone matters. Publications and a raft of ideas on welfare state reform, prioritising people with disabilities and others hardest hit by recent reforms.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT THERAPY COMMUNITY

A network of psychotherapists and counsellors and people accessing therapy who see the process of engaging with systemic inequalities as integral to personal growth and healing from trauma

I am a Friend member of BAATN (Black African and Asian Therapy Network), the UK’s largest independent organisation to specialise in working psychologically, informed by an understanding of intersectionality, with people who identify as Black, African, South Asian and Caribbean.