Gestalt therapy in and around Nijmegen

Introduction

Gestalttherapy is a form of psychotherapy, which was developed by Fritz and Laura Perls in the 1940’s as a counterpart of the psycho-analysis. In the psycho-analysis approach, your complete history will be analyzed from A to Z; however, in Gestalttherapy we focus on those past experiences, which seem to cause complaints in the here and now. It often occurs that someone doesn’t know his complaints are caused by something from his or her past. With certain Gestalt exercises you usually find out soon enough. The core rule for this is: if your reaction to a current situation is a lot more severe than seems “logical”, there’s often “old wounds” involved.

There is also a chance that your complaints aren’t being caused by “old wounds”, but by a habitual pattern of behaviour, which isn’t effective (anymore). Everybody develops (survival)strategies as a child or adolescent to cope with situations. For example; you were always the sweet little girl or the studious young boy. This strategy was undoubtedly of great use to you then, otherwise you would have thought of a different one. However, your situation has since changed; you are not a child anymore. These old strategies often cease to work once we reach adulthood. They can even work adversely for you. The Gestalttherapist checks, along with you, which strategies you wield and whether they are still useful to you.

Of course not all concerns are being caused by your past; it can also be that your recent situation is too demanding and you need support to be able to cope.

Gestalttherapy is the practical application of Gestalt psychology, which used to have great influence on general psychology. A Gestalttherapist however is not a psychologist by definition. To be registered at the professional association of Gestalttherapists, the Nederlands Vlaamse Associatie voor Gestalttheorie en Gestalttherapie (NVAGT, Dutch Flemish Association for Gestalt theory and Gestalttherapy), a Gestalttherapist needs a completed academic education in the direction of human sciences, a recognized training as Gestalttherapist and sufficient working experience under supervision. For my education and working experience, please see my CV.