Friday, August 12, 2011

The client-therapist relationship in Gestalt therapy

Client and therapist work together on agreed goals.

The therapist has no agenda. His stance is one of curiosity and exploration without judgment. A stance of interest in what it is like to be the client and in how they organise their world.

He offers an authentic, accepting relationship with a real human bieng - fallible, imperfect, but strong enough.

He is not silent. Not a 'blank screen', saying little.

He is not a mirror - only offering back what the client has said.

He is not an expert with all the answers. His role is to be a partner in the client's self-exploration, to facilitate that.

He is a real presence in the room with the client - feeling, reacting, interacting, initiating. Available to really meet the client - wherever that takes them. Both may be changed by the encounter.

He is there to accompany them on their journey.

1 comment:

  1. Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy, based on the experiential ideal of here and now, and relationships with others and the world.

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