Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy is a psychological approach that, in my view, aligns best with the needs of modern individuals. Often, we fail to recognize our true needs, emotions, or fears of being authentic. A Gestalt therapist engages in dialogue with the client to help them become aware of unresolved life moments. The process may include various exercises and techniques. For instance, during a session, a client discussing her relationship with her husband might unexpectedly recall her childhood and father, revealing deeper layers of her experiences.

Olha Volodymyrivna Lazarenko

I knew about the Gestalt approach from reading, but I truly understood it only through personal experience. It’s hard to put into words what it is without trying it yourself. For me, it’s not just a set of techniques (that would be too narrow), but rather a worldview—or, if you will, a philosophy—that led to profound changes in my life. The shifts weren’t always easy, but they became irreversible and necessary. I believe the therapist’s greatest tool is their own personality, and above all, it must be a living one—capable of being present alongside another living person, the client. I’ve come to think of it this way: when a broken radio plays music but static drowns it out, we can’t fully enjoy the melody. Similarly, our lives—filled with unresolved situations, fears, and hurts—prevent us from living fully because the unfinished lingers like static in a radio. Gestalt therapy, in my view, is the best way to address the unfinished, bring it to completion, and process it in the present moment with the support of a genuine human connection with the therapist.

Alina Firsel

И

I’ve been studying Gestalt therapy for two years now, and for me, it’s become a way of life. It’s also what I’ve long sought—a practical tool for providing psychological support to clients and myself. What’s fascinating is that Gestalt therapy isn’t just a set of techniques, though it now has a solid theoretical foundation. It’s life itself—with all its experiences, emotions, and expressions. The key difference lies in how, in everyday life, we often unconsciously or consciously suppress what feels painful or irrelevant, adopting a habitual (sometimes dysfunctional) way of communicating and interacting with others. In therapy, however, the client in a safe space, with the therapist’s active support, can reconnect with those forgotten or once-forbidden feelings, revisit unresolved experiences, and address what’s been holding them back. Anyone striving for harmony between thoughts and actions will find their way. The therapist must be qualified, with deep personal insight and the right knowledge—but they don’t need to be older than the client. What matters most is the shared desire for change.

Ирина Викторовна Калёва

Ю

For me, a practicing Gestalt therapist, Gestalt therapy is more of an art form than a science or medicine, though modern Gestalt therapy is grounded in a robust, ever-evolving theory. Why art? Because the therapist doesn’t assume an expert stance, offer advice, or diagnose. Instead, they co-create with the client, shaping a shared reality in the present moment. It’s like embarking on a journey through unfamiliar terrain, where the therapist acts as a seasoned guide—or a dance partner, where the therapist leads with more experience. Why does this matter? Because it gives the client a fresh experience of relating. After all, we’re wounded in relationships, but we heal, change, and grow only in them too. That’s why the therapist offers themselves as a close witness to the client’s life. The therapeutic relationship becomes a space for exploration, experimentation, and lived experience. Here, clients can process complex emotions, uncover recurring struggles, recognize ineffective patterns in relationships, and try living and acting differently. Gestalt therapy nurtures the client’s spontaneity, freedom of choice, and sensitivity to their needs and context. It offers both freedom and support, but the client shares responsibility for the process just as much as the therapist does. If you’re looking for a quick fix with no effort, this isn’t it. Gestalt therapy doesn’t numb pain—it brings life to it. Living fully is challenging and sometimes unsettling, but it’s also remarkably rewarding :)

Юлия Борисовна Белькина

А

Gestalt therapy is my primary approach. It’s the framework in which I completed my training and personal therapy. To me, Gestalt feels like a journey where you vividly sense every pebble underfoot, every sound, and become fully aware of your mood and state in the moment. Each session is a deep connection because this approach centers on the immediate experience of the present—"here and now."
How does it work?
By bringing awareness to your feelings in the present, you naturally start to treat yourself and your life with greater care and responsibility, which ultimately enhances your quality of life. Gestalt therapy is grounded in its own principles, methods, and traditions. It’s one of the most recognized and effective approaches in psychotherapy today—ecological and results-driven.

How can you spot a Gestalt therapist?

When you meet a therapist, it’s not always obvious which approach they use unless you’ve researched their background. If during a session a long-buried childhood hurt resurfaces—something triggered by a specific phrase—your Gestalt therapist will likely guide you through an exercise: they’ll place a chair opposite you, ask you to sit in it, and imagine yourself as that child. They’ll help you relive that moment, then invite you to return to the present and support the "child on the chair."

Алла Викторовна Сагайдак

М

For me, Gestalt is, first and foremost, an Encounter. We live trapped in various stereotypes and outdated defensive reactions, which often make it difficult to see ourselves, let alone others. I love the classic metaphor of the onion—peeling away the unnecessary, the years of accumulated, unnecessary husks. Even if tears flow in the process, you can’t help but admire the beauty you discover inside: a soul that isn’t afraid to be childlike, sincere, and radiant. This is how the first encounter happens—with yourself. And once you notice yourself, you begin to see others, with their uniqueness and differences. You open up to and understand the feelings they evoke in you. The taste of life takes on new, brighter shades. So, during work with a therapist, between two chairs, you gain an experience that you then carry with you into the Big Life.
Why I Love Gestalt Therapy in Working with Clients:

For its safety for the client: The client decides what and how they bring to therapy, and I respect their choice.
For its focus on feelings and emotions, for the opportunity to rediscover them within yourself, experience them, and become aware of them.
For the opportunity to be in healthy contact with another person.
For its high effectiveness in solving my clients’ problems.
For the fact that Gestalt is alive, democratic, and sincere.
With respect,

A Gestalt Therapist

Мария Петрусь

А

A defining feature of the dialogical-phenomenological approach in Gestalt therapy is its focus on the phenomenology of experience rather than abstract theoretical constructs. It’s far easier to build layered theoretical frameworks than to grasp the structure of an experience that seems self-evident yet lies just beneath the surface. The trap lies in our tendency to impose mental stereotypes on what we call reality, explaining it away (as M. K. Mamardashvili might say) before we’ve truly understood what we’re dealing with. As a result, life itself—something that, according to Mamardashvili and J. Bugental, resists rigid definitions and categories—gets squeezed out of reality. It slips through the cracks of logical schemas, revealing itself as it is, irreducible to generalization.

Антон Владимирович Федорец

Gestalt therapy offers a holistic way to view life, helping you understand yourself better and recognize what truly troubles you and how to address it. It’s like self-reflection—but far more engaging and effective!

It helps you realize that your favorite dish isn’t pizza, you don’t actually like rock music, and a Dyson vacuum isn’t as essential as you thought. Gestalt therapy opens new dimensions of your personality, removing rose-tinted glasses and broadening your perspective on the world.

This approach helps manage depression, anxiety, and emotional trauma by offering a fresh, mindful, and present-centered view of life.

Andrii Bessarab

I believe that effective Gestalt therapy is built on four key pillars: (1) Focusing on the present moment. This is achieved through mindfulness, phenomenology, and the paradoxical theory of change. (2) Inviting dialogue. The therapist and client develop a special relationship rooted in openness, where what matters isn’t just the content of the conversation but how we perceive the world and ourselves within it. (3) A holistic approach and field theory. A person is a whole being, where the body and mind are inseparably linked. Our nervous system strives to maintain homeostasis—a balance where all needs are met. When there’s an excess or deficit, the system reacts to restore equilibrium. Emotions serve as markers of this balance being disrupted. (4) A creative attitude toward life, the therapeutic process, and experimentation. I work with repressed impulses, exploring the client’s unmet needs—those they can’t articulate but that seek recognition and fulfillment. To do this, I use questions, reflecting emotions, observing bodily reactions, and noting contradictions. The therapist’s three key positions are: 1) full identification with the client, immersing myself in their experience; 2) recognizing my own feelings in the relationship with the client; and 3) the meta-position—observing the dynamics of the relationship from a distance. I also keep in mind the philosophy that what we call "illness" or a problem is simultaneously a way for the person to organize contact and a way to interrupt it, as well as a means of satisfying a specific need.

Yelena Moroz