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Gestalt Therapy

 

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.

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How Gestalt Therapy Works

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. 

Research-based, personalized therapy.

At My LA Therapy, our warm and experienced therapists specialize in anxiety, depression, trauma, & relationships.

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Gestalt Exercises and Experiments

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 is a gestalt therapy exercise that places you across from an empty chair. You are asked to imagine that someone (such as a boss, spouse, or relative), you, or a part of yourself is sitting in the chair. The therapist invites a dialogue between you and the empty chair, which can help you gain access to your suppressed emotions. Sometimes the roles are reversed and you assume the metaphorical person or part of a person in the chair. The empty chair technique can be especially useful for helping you become mindful of the whole picture of a situation and help you access parts of yourself and experience you may have left behind.
  • Another common exercise in gestalt therapy is the exaggeration exercise. During this exercise, you are asked to repeat and exaggerate a particular movement or expression, such as frowning or bouncing a leg, in order to make you more aware of the emotions that are being expressed through the behavior or movement.

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.”


Our Therapy Methods

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.

 

 Resources

  1. Psychology Today
  2. GoodTherapy
  3. Lumen
 

What Our Clients Say

"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."
Anonymous Client
"After every session I come away feeling better prepared to start shining light into shadows I've hustled past for a long, long time... some rational ones, but a lot more aren't. Shame is such a stealthy master; He's been the monkey on my back for a long time. You totally called it. I'm so grateful for your guidance and skill and although sometimes I may shuffle and others I may leap, after our sessions I always feel like I'm moving forward."
Anonymous Client
"I want to thank you again for your continued help and expertise, and more specifically for yesterday's learning opportunity about how I can communicate more effectively. After your ultimately appreciated prodding you made me feel comfortable with the idea that expressing confusion or even doubt can serve as valuable conversation-assets, and I look forward to moving forward without those those self-inflicted parameters."
Anonymous Client
"Just wanted to share that yesterday's session with you, and a long, productive dinner table conversation with my wife last night, started to uncover a huge gap between perception and reality in my understanding of the status I held in our marriage. Our session opened my eyes to the fact that the inequity I've long felt comes from a place of assumed unworthiness. I'm so thankful for this journey we are taking together, with your help, towards deeper, more productive understanding."
Anonymous Client
"I have worked with many therapists in the past, but this is the first time I feel that I am making changes that are deep and lasting. Her counseling has truly helped me become free, even from things I wasn’t aware were affecting me. Brooke integrates many different approaches to provide balanced and effective therapy."
Anonymous Client
"You are truly an amazing person. I am so grateful for your sincerity and kindness– big-hearted and deep soulfulness. You are incredibly intuitive, insightful and wise. You are a gifted listener and a powerful speaker, passionate and genuine."
Anonymous Client
"Brooke is kind and warm, but not afraid to challenge you. She is caring, authentic and compassionate as well as intelligent and clinically skilled. Brooke possesses great wisdom and intuition, which she balances with knowledge and skill."
Anonymous Client
"Brooke has really helped me to overcome the problems in my life that I was starting to believe couldn’t change. I now understand where my depression and anxiety came from and they are no longer a part of my life. I now feel a sense of peace and purpose."
Anonymous Client
"I’ve recommended Brooke to so many of my friends and colleagues, I’m starting to feel like her personal cheerleader. But it can’t be helped. When I look back on the past year, without a doubt the most difficult year of my life, I can’t believe how far I’ve come."
Anonymous Client
"Brooke has been an incredibly positive influence in my life. I first came to Brooke in the midst of a divorce from my high school sweetheart and best friend. With Brooke’s gentle guidance and supervision, I began the most intense period of personal growth in my life."
Anonymous Client

Gestalt Therapists

Sydney-Shaevel-Therapist (featured)

Sydney Shaevel
LMFT

Therapist
Tanya-Mailander-Therapist (featured)

Tanya Mailander
LMFT

Therapist

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My LA Therapy | Gestalt Therapy
Our warm and experienced therapists offer research-based, personalized therapy that addresses the root cause for your symptoms to create lasting change.
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My LA Therapy | Gestalt Therapy

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127 Broadway Suite 205
Santa Monica, CA 90401

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130 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90405


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16055 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436. 

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12100 Wilshire Blvd. 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90025

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10801 National Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064

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