Origins and Development

By Carol Swanson, LCSW

The theory of Gestalt therapy has its roots in many disciplines, including psychoanalysis, humanistic and existential
philosophies, Eastern spiritual practice, and Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt, a German word, which translates to "whole," points to the central theme of the therapy, which is the tendency to see and act in unified wholes, instead of parts. Hence the expression: the whole is larger than the sum of its parts.

The characteristics that make Gestalt therapy unique are the following:

  • It is a field-theoretical holistic orientation that sees the individual as an integration of mind-body-spirit, in the
    process of contact with, and creative adjustment to his/her
    environment.
  • It respects the individual’s defenses as the process of
    creative adjustment.
  • It defines health as the ability to experience vividly in
    the present.
  • It employs present-centered awareness as a means of
    integrating a person’s history, present experience, and
    movement into the future.
  • It is an interaction that is both therapist and client.
  • It is inherently ethical and respectful of the client.

Brief History of Gestalt Therapy

Frederick (Fritz) Perls and Laura Perls are often credited as the cofounders of Gestalt therapy, though there were others who were influential in its beginnings. Fritz trained as a psychiatrist in Germany in the 1920’s and also trained with Karen Horney, Otto Rank, and Wilhelm Reich. Laura Perls studied with Martin Buber and Paul Tillich and with Gestalt psychologist Max Werthheimer.

Development of Gestalt Therapy

Ego, Hunger and Aggression: A Revision of Psychoanalysis, by Frederick Perls, lays down some of the concepts that later develop into Gestalt Therapy. In this initial text Perls has chapters from holistic and existential perspectives, along with a reevaluation of the analytic viewpoint on aggression. Frederick and Laura Perls fled Nazi Germany, in the 1930’s, to Holland, then to
South Africa and then emigrated to America.

Ego, Hunger and Aggression: A Revision of Psychoanalysis, by Frederick Perls, lays down some of the concepts that later developed into Gestalt therapy. In this initial text Perls has chapters from holistic and existential perspectives, along with a re-evaluation of the analytic viewpoint on aggression. Frederick and Laura Perls fled Nazi Germany in the 1930'’s to Holland, then to South Africa, and then emigrated to America.

The seminal text, Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality, by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, and Ralph Heffereline was published in 1951. It continues to be the definitive text on Gestalt therapy.

Isadore From

Isadore From was one of the original group of intellectuals in the early 1950’s who met and contributed to the creation of Gestalt therapy. Isadore tells of his needing therapy, which would have been called analysis then, of being desperate for therapy, and not having the financial means to pay for it. He was referred to Fritz Perls who lived in a cold water flat on the upper east side. Perls needed paying patients at the time, and was going to refuse Isadore therapy. Fritz asked Isadore what he was studying at the New School for Social Research, and Isadore replied: phenomenology, to which Fritz said, “lie down on the couch”. Fritz was interested in phenomenology as this is part of what informs Gestalt therapy.

Isadore became known as the dean of Gestalt therapy, training hundreds of therapists in the USA and Europe.

Current Trends In Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy has continued to flourish over the past decades and has an international presence around the globe. It is at the forefront of the new integrative models of psychotherapy, while still remaining true to its philosophical and theoretical foundations.