Gestalt Therapy Methods: What Can Happen During a Meeting

Anyone who is familiar with Gestalt Therapy and Its Fundamental Principles When someone is in therapy, they almost always end up at the empty chair first. That’s understandable. But that’s not what Gestalt therapy is. It’s just one of many doors leading into it.

This text explains the methods actually used, how a session might proceed, and what the limitations are.

Anyone looking for Gestalt Therapy Exercises If you search online, you’ll mostly find checklists to follow. That’s not how it works in practice. There are recurring exercises and interventions, but they are adapted to the situation, the goal, the client’s consent, and their resilience. An exercise that’s set in advance of the session can no longer respond to what happens during it.

There is a system to this because the Gestalt approach always links methodology to the attitude from which one works. Anyone who separates methods from this way of working is left with exercises that are of little value.

Four theoretical pillars are often cited: the phenomenological approach, the dialogical relationship, the field perspective, and the experiment. Other accounts summarize the fundamentals into three areas. The four-part classification is common, but it is not the only possible framework.

Phenomenological In other words: What matters first is how you experience something, not what it means. What a client describes is not immediately categorized, but is examined more closely. The interpretation comes later—or not at all.

Dialogic In other words: The relationship is not a framework for the method; it is the method itself. What happens between us can become the subject of discussion. In this way, the relationship is not discussed but experienced. Why it carries so much weight beyond the individual procedures is explained in my article on the subject, What Actually Works in Psychotherapy.

The Field Perspective stems from field theory, particularly as developed by Kurt Lewin. A client is not viewed in isolation but in relation to their environment. What appears to be a problem within a person is often a pattern between them and their environment. Thus, field theory has shaped Gestalt therapy from the very beginning, alongside psychoanalysis, existential philosophy, Gestalt psychology, and Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy.

The Experiment This is the guiding principle behind the individual exercises. The goal is to try out different ways of acting in a safe environment, without feeling pressure to succeed right away.

The starting point is the present experience. This does not exclude the past. It is simply approached differently: not as a historical explanation, but in terms of how it is remembered today, how it manifests physically, and how it influences current relationships. This is also where the Difference from Behavioral Therapy, which takes a different approach to the same symptoms.

The following is an example, not a protocol. Gestalt therapists work in different ways.

It usually starts with something specific: a situation from the past week, a feeling that won’t go away, an argument that keeps coming back. The client brings the issue to the session—not the treatment plan.

Instead of finishing the story, the listener interrupts at some point and asks what is happening right now as you're telling it.

Then we take a closer look at what stands out. A gesture, a hesitation, a smile in a place where it doesn't belong.

This can lead to an experiment: rephrasing a sentence, exaggerating a movement, or letting an inner voice speak for itself for once.

At the end, we look back. What just happened, what was new about it, and what aspects of it should find their way into your life. A session usually lasts between 50 and 100 minutes and takes place individually or in a group.

The most important fundamental principle is called “awareness”: the conscious perception of what is happening both internally and externally at any given moment. Awareness is less a single technique than the medium through which everything else operates in the first place.

It starts out very simply. What am I feeling right now? Where do I feel tension in my body? What do I notice about the other person? What am I avoiding, even though it’s actually important?

Mindfulness is more than self-observation. It helps us recognize automatic patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed. Some people only realize, upon closer inspection, that they are smiling while talking about anger, or that they hold their breath as soon as sadness sets in.

The body is not an optional extra here, but rather the second track of the session. One possible question is: What is happening in your chest right now as you talk about this? What matters is who interprets it—namely, no one from the outside. A twitching leg does not automatically mean nervousness. Only the person to whom the leg belongs knows what it means.

Language reveals when someone is distancing themselves from their own experience. „One should set more boundaries“ becomes „I want to set more boundaries“ in conversation. „It makes me sad“ becomes „I’m sad.“ This isn’t meant to correct anyone, as in a school lesson. It’s meant to make you feel how different a sentence sounds as soon as it’s spoken more directly.

A small gesture or a casual remark sometimes carries more meaning than is apparent at first glance. Someone who imperceptibly clenches their fist while speaking may be encouraged to make that movement more deliberate. Anyone who says an important sentence in passing is asked to repeat it until it carries more weight. Both require moderation. Exaggeration can come across as confrontational if used without preparation.

This includes staying with it: lingering on a sensation for a moment longer, as long as it remains challenging but still manageable. It is only by lingering in this way that a feeling can unfold, rather than being immediately pushed away.

In chair work, a second side is given its own place in the room. This can be an inner aspect—such as the harsh critic in contrast to the part that feels small. It can also be a person with whom something remains unresolved—someone who is absent, far away, or deceased. Whoever takes a seat on that chair is present only in the imagination. Nevertheless, what could never be said is finally spoken.

Perls adopted the concept of acting out conflicts from Moreno's psychodrama and popularized this approach in Gestalt therapy. Who developed the method first is a matter of debate in the literature.

Two things put this piece of furniture into perspective. First, the chairs aren’t the key factor. What matters is that the two sides are assigned different locations to help organize emotions. One side can be placed by the window, and the other in front of the door.

There is no fixed procedure. Hartmann-Kottek describes two steps for conflict work: first, getting to know the two poles; then, their brief internal coexistence. If this does not result in a „both-and,“ an „and-and“ is also a valid outcome: I love this and I hate that about the same person, and both coexist side by side. Other models, such as those in schema therapy or emotion-focused therapy, take a different approach. Neither resolution nor reconciliation is promised.

Variations, procedures, and precautions are described in detail in my article on Working with the Empty Chair.

Many internal conflicts can be described as a tension between two poles. A well-known pair is the demanding, driving part on one side and the resistant, procrastinating part on the other. Perls called them the „upper dog“ and the „lower dog“ and also described which one usually wins: the lower dog, with “yes, but” and “tomorrow.” The goal is not to declare one side the winner, but to make both voices heard.

When you have a particularly strong reaction to another person, you can explore together whether your own desires or traits—ones you haven’t fully acknowledged until now—might also be at play. This is a hypothesis, not an accusation that the other person’s perception is wrong. Sometimes a client is simply right about what they perceive, and that, in itself, is the answer.

In classical Gestalt dream work, it is tentatively assumed that figures and objects may express aspects of one’s own experience. A client can become the locked door or the threatening animal themselves, speak from that perspective, and explore what meaning emerges. This is not an objective interpretation of the dream and may not resonate with the person.

Depending on the therapist, creative methods may also be used: drawing, working with symbols, movement, imagery, and music. Such approaches are often helpful when language reaches its limits.

Claudio Naranjo, a student and colleague of Fritz Perls, has classified the many individual approaches within this system into three families. This is an influential historical classification, not a ranking.

Suppressive Procedures omit something that distracts from the immediate experience. Naranjo refers to this as “talking about something instead of experiencing it,” speaking in prescriptive terms, and what he calls “manipulation.” He is referring to ways of seeking reassurance, avoiding a direct request, or reducing uncertainty. No claims are made about the motive behind it.

When these movements pause for a moment, a sense of emptiness often arises at first. It isn't filled immediately. Something often emerges from it as soon as the old automatic patterns fall silent.

Expressive Methods We work on expression in three ways: initiating expression, completing it, and directing it toward where it is avoided. The linguistic experiments, repetition, and exaggeration mentioned above belong here.

Integrative Approaches bring together split-off or conflicting aspects. Chair work, polarity work, and dream work belong to this group.

Sometimes one reads about only two categories: enhancing and reducing approaches. Naranjo’s model identifies three. A classification is never the thing itself: what happens in the room is determined by the moment, not by the category. Nevertheless, the classification is worthwhile because it reveals how these methods structure Gestalt therapy in the first place. And it serves as a reminder that Gestalt therapy is both a method and an attitude.

Whether chair work or another intensive technique is appropriate depends, among other things, on stability, consent, the goal, the therapeutic relationship, and the ability to regulate strong emotions. In cases of acute crisis, pronounced dissociation, or rapid emotional overwhelm, a stabilizing approach may be more important initially. This is especially true if a trauma-related disorder is suspected; in such cases, a method specifically designed for this purpose—such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)—is often more appropriate. I describe how this works under Processing Trauma with EMDR. It must be possible to interrupt or modify any intervention at any time.

Some therapists use a distinctly confrontational style in Gestalt therapy. This doesn't work well for everyone. That's one reason to carefully choose the right therapist and, if in doubt, to switch therapists.

Pay attention to their qualifications. „Gestalt therapist“ is not a protected professional title. Ask about their primary profession, training institution, and professional association membership, for example, at the German Association for Gestalt Therapy.

Beyond individual sessions, the Gestalt approach is used in group settings, in couples therapy, with children and adolescents, and in addiction treatment, as well as in counseling, supervision, and coaching. Thus, Gestalt therapy has applications that extend far beyond the therapy room.