Individual Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
Therapy that pays attention to what is happening right now, in the room, between us. In Boulder and online anywhere in Colorado.
Most therapy is a conversation about your life. Gestalt therapy adds something to that conversation, attention to what is happening while we talk. The sentence you swallowed. The feeling that arrived as you said something safe instead. The way your breath changes when a certain name comes up. Awareness of what you're doing, while you're doing it, is where real choice begins.
I teach Gestalt at Naropa University, and it shapes how I sit in the room with everyone I see, whatever else we are working on.
Where it comes from
Gestalt therapy was developed in the 1940s and 1950s by Fritz and Laura Perls and Paul Goodman. At its center is an idea that still surprises people. You don't change by trying harder to be someone else. You change by becoming more fully aware of who you already are and what you are already doing. Force tends to create resistance. Awareness tends to create movement.
What it looks like in the room
It can look like slowing down on a moment you rushed past. Noticing what your body does as you tell a story you've told a hundred times. Trying a small experiment, saying the thing out loud to the person it is really meant for, instead of explaining it to me. None of this is a technique done to you. Experiments are invitations, and you can always say no. It's direct, sometimes playful, and honest in a way that keeps us both fully in the room.
Who it's for
People who understand their patterns perfectly well and are still stuck in them. People who can talk about feelings easily but have trouble actually feeling them. Anyone tired of therapy that stays in the head. Gestalt pairs naturally with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, since both are ways of training attention, and with depth psychology and parts work when something in the present opens onto an older story. It also shows up in couples work, where what happens between two people in the room is often more telling than any account of the week.
Common questions
What is Gestalt therapy?
An experiential, present-centered form of psychotherapy. Rather than only talking about your life, we pay attention to what is happening in the moment, your words, your body, what happens between us, because awareness of what you are doing is where real choice begins.
Is Gestalt therapy evidence-based?
Gestalt has a smaller research base than approaches like CBT, mostly because it has been studied less. Emotion-focused therapy, which grew partly out of Gestalt methods, has solid research support for depression. I often combine Gestalt with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which has a strong research base of its own.
Will I have to talk to an empty chair?
Only if you want to. Experiments are always invitations, never requirements, and many sessions are simply a close, attentive conversation.
Can we do this online?
Yes. I see clients in person in Boulder and by secure video anywhere in Colorado. This kind of attention works well on video, sometimes better than people expect.
What does it cost?
Individual sessions run on an income-based sliding scale with no verification required, and the first 30-minute consultation is free. Out-of-network superbills are available for private insurance.
Ready to go deeper?
Start with a free 30-minute consultation, online or in person in Boulder.
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