Is this the one with the empty chair?

The empty-chair exercise is one of many Gestalt experiments. It can be useful when it fits the work, but it is not the focus of Gestalt therapy, and you will never be expected to do it if it does not feel appropriate for you.

Do we talk about my childhood?

When your history is relevant, we can explore it. The emphasis, though, is on how those experiences continue to shape your life now: your relationships, emotions, body, patterns, and the way you experience yourself in the present.

Why does what happens between us matter?

Because the way you relate to your therapist can offer valuable insight into how you relate to other people. The therapeutic relationship gives us an opportunity to notice patterns as they happen and, when appropriate, to explore different ways of relating in the moment.

Is this where your somatic work comes from?

Yes. Gestalt therapy’s phenomenological approach — paying close attention to what is happening in the present moment before rushing to interpret it — has strongly influenced my somatic way of working. That attention to lived experience, including what happens in the body, became an important part of my path into somatic psychotherapy.

← All services

Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt attends to what’s happening between us in the present moment, because relationship patterns tend to show up in the room rather than only get described in it.

This might be your door if

You can describe your patterns accurately, and nothing about them has changed.
You do fine in therapy and then find the same difficulty waiting outside it.
You’d rather work with what’s alive now than build a chronological account of your history.
You lose track of what you want in the presence of what other people want.
There’s unfinished business that still feels heavy: an old conflict, unexpressed grief, something that stayed with you.
You want to deepen your awareness of what is actually alive in your mind and body right now.
You want to reclaim your agency — to inhabit your choices rather than feel like a passenger to circumstances.
You want to weave mind, body and emotion back together, and return to your own capacity to heal.

How we explore it

Much of the work is simply noticing what happens between us as it happens: the moment you soften, the moment you brace, the sentence you start and don’t finish. That’s not a detour from the real material. It usually is the real material. We notice how you relate to yourself and how you relate to others, and that creates room for awareness and for new choices.

Gestalt therapy is an experiential and relational approach developed by Fritz Perls that focuses on what is happening here and now in your body, emotions, thoughts, relationships and environment. Rather than focusing only on understanding why you are the way you are, it invites you to become more aware of how you experience yourself and the world in the present moment.

The goal is not to “fix” you or tell you how you should feel. Therapy creates a space where you can become more aware of your patterns, needs, emotions, boundaries and ways of relating, so you can develop greater choice in how you respond to life. Your inner wisdom and your own experience guide the work.

Alongside that, a few experiments earn their place:

The empty chair: a gentle experiment where you speak to a person, or to a part of yourself, as if they were present — giving a voice to what never got said.
Experiential practice: movement, art or creative role-play, so unconscious habits and hidden emotions can surface in the room rather than stay described.
Body connection: noticing the braced shoulder, the breath, the sensation — finding where your history has organised itself in your body.

None of it is compulsory, and none of it happens because a method says so. We use an experiment when it fits and when you want to.

The four foundations of Gestalt therapy

Relational. Gestalt therapy recognises that we are shaped through our relationships, and that healing can also happen within a genuine therapeutic relationship. The relationship between therapist and client becomes part of the work: together we can notice what happens between us — moments of connection, distance, trust, discomfort or uncertainty — and use that awareness to understand your patterns in relationships.

Phenomenological. Rather than assuming what your experience means, we start with your experience as you are living it. We explore what you notice in your body, emotions, thoughts, sensations, impulses and perceptions in the present moment. This lets us become curious about your experience without immediately judging, analysing or trying to change it.

Experiment. Gestalt therapy is not only about talking about change; sometimes we explore it through experience. A therapeutic experiment might involve noticing a body sensation, trying a different way of expressing something, exploring a boundary, or bringing attention to something that is happening between us. These experiments are collaborative and tailored to you. They are invitations to discover something new, never something you are forced to do.

Field. Gestalt therapy understands you within the context of your whole environment. Your experiences are influenced not only by what happens inside you, but also by your relationships, family, culture, work, community, history and the circumstances around you. Instead of asking “What is wrong with you?”, we can ask “What is happening between you and your environment, and how are you adapting to it?”

Becoming more aware, becoming more able to choose

Through Gestalt therapy, greater awareness can create new possibilities. You may begin to recognise patterns that once happened automatically, understand your needs more clearly, notice where you lose contact with yourself or with others, and explore different ways of responding.

Gestalt therapy is ultimately about developing awareness, choice and contact: becoming more present with yourself and your life, while discovering what you need to move forward in a way that feels more authentic and meaningful to you.

What this isn’t

Gestalt isn’t a set of dramatic exercises, and I won’t put you in an empty-chair experiment because the method says so. It’s attention to the present moment, and most of the time that looks quiet.

Common questions

Is this the one with the empty chair?: The empty-chair exercise is one of many Gestalt experiments. It can be useful when it fits the work, but it is not the focus of Gestalt therapy, and you will never be expected to do it if it does not feel appropriate for you.
Do we talk about my childhood?: When your history is relevant, we can explore it. The emphasis, though, is on how those experiences continue to shape your life now: your relationships, emotions, body, patterns, and the way you experience yourself in the present.
Why does what happens between us matter?: Because the way you relate to your therapist can offer valuable insight into how you relate to other people. The therapeutic relationship gives us an opportunity to notice patterns as they happen and, when appropriate, to explore different ways of relating in the moment.
Is this where your somatic work comes from?: Yes. Gestalt therapy’s phenomenological approach — paying close attention to what is happening in the present moment before rushing to interpret it — has strongly influenced my somatic way of working. That attention to lived experience, including what happens in the body, became an important part of my path into somatic psychotherapy.

Before we start, one important thing

This therapy is not a substitute for crisis or safety intervention. It isn't appropriate if you are currently in an unsafe or dangerous situation, or if you are at immediate risk of harming yourself or ending your life. In those circumstances you need crisis, emergency or specialised support first.

Somatic psychotherapy is also unsuitable for people who have recently faced, or are currently facing, legal allegations.

You might also be looking at

Somatic Counselling

Talking helps, and it has limits. Here we also listen to breath, posture and sensation: the parts that never learned words. It supports behaviour change, relationship skills, coping and decision-making. This is not for those who want to process trauma.

Somatic Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy

For a single traumatic event — surgery, an accident, an assault — or the cumulative weight of complex and childhood trauma. We work gently, at a pace your nervous system can safely hold, so you can reconnect with your body, with yourself, and with your capacity to move forward.

Ready to start?

Book a first session, or write to me if you'd rather ask something before you do.

Book a session Write to me instead