Gestalt Therapy was developed by psychotherapist Fritz Perls on the principle that humans are best viewed as a whole entity consisting of body, mind, and soul.
Gestalt is a German word referring to the character or essence of something.
Gestalt psychology believes that the best way to alleviate unresolved anger, pain, anxiety, resentment, and other negative feelings is to not just discuss them, but to actively express and experience these emotions in real time—in the here and now.
Without allowing emotions to be experienced and released, both psychological and physical symptoms can arise.
Gestalt therapy is based on the set of principles or “laws of grouping” that explains “the whole is different from the sum of its parts.”
When we perceive something as whole, we are perceiving it as something that is much more than all the individual parts.
We’re so confident in our extraordinary therapists that we guarantee you’ll love your match – or your money back.
At My LA Therapy, our highly-vetted Anxiety experts are selected not only for their clinical acumen but for who they are.
Through Gestalt Therapy, you can learn to release feelings that may have been suppressed or masked by other feelings, which alleviates symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms.
As you connect with and release your feelings, you gain greater access to your authentic self, can become more assertive about your needs, and can hone and trust your intuition to a greater degree.
In other words, you will develop greater self-awareness, self-trust, and self-worth.
Your goals, as you become more aware of yourself and your senses, are to take more responsibility for yourself, accept the consequences of your behavior and choices, and learn to satisfy your own needs while still respecting the needs of others.
As you make contact with your deeper feelings and take responsibility, you will restore a sense of hope, freedom, and vitality and discover newfound peace and possibility.
Gestalt therapy is practiced using exercises and experiments, allowing you to understand different aspects of a conflict, experience, or mental health issue.
The empty chair technique and the exaggeration exercise are two of many gestalt therapy techniques used to help you increase awareness of your immediate experiences. Through these exercises, gestalt therapy also allows you to regain access to parts of yourself that you may have minimized, ignored, or denied.”
Therapy can successfully improve your life by helping you minimize the anxiety in your life, identifying and changing underlying thought and behavioral patterns that contribute to your struggles, and providing you with strategies to decrease discomfort while restoring an overall sense of peace.
Our evidence-based, scientifically proven interventions are demonstrated by research to be effective in addressing a wide range of psychological and mental health issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, and relationship issues.
Learn more about our empirically based therapy modalities by visiting our Methods page.
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I am blown away! I don’t write testimonials, unless I have been extremely moved by something. I was blessed to work with Brooke on a single session, and before this I was in therapy on and off with multiple therapists for the last 20 years of my life. Brooke was able to do more in one session than many years of work with my previous therapist. She has the true gift of great insight and compassion while also getting straight to the heart of your blind spots and unconscious issues in a way that has truly changed my life.
Skyler J.
There are people who are good at their work there are people like Brooke: who are born to do it. I cannot recommend Brooke more highly. I can only imagine where I would be today if I had started working with her years ago. From the beginning of our session, she knew exactly what tools and questions that would work for my particular psychology and my personal experience. No other therapist has been able to do that or anything close.
What I also really appreciate from our session is Brooke's ability to go directly to the source of the issue while also keeping a very gentle and kind energy with me. I felt very seen, understood, and supported. Everything and more that I could have ever asked for from a therapist. I have a severe trauma history and complex issues she was able to immediately identify and help. If she could help me, I know she can help you too.
Taylor E.
You did more in 45 minutes than my last therapist did in a year.
Jamie
With your help, I've finally started to understand that while my vivid imagination often wants to create terrifying monsters under the bed, in a lot of cases those monsters are nothing more than a heap of decidedly less-terrifying laundry I've avoided for too long that just needs to be aired out and put away. Which is definitely a lot easier than monster slaying. Thank you for shedding light in the dark places I was too afraid to face alone.
Morgan B.
I am extremely fortunate to work with Sydney, who is helping me create real internal change. The talent to listen well is Hall of Fame stuff, and she has that. She then follows with questions, strategies that are organic to the moment. I have come to believe that deep, radical, if occasionally deeply painful change ... and, then, healing can happen. I'm just at the lip of that last part - but would not have gotten there, AT ALL, without Sydney
Ric K.
The best therapist ever! Life-changing 🙂
Catherine H.
Right now, the work is changing my life, sometimes in inches, sometimes in miles.
Ric K.
