Gestalt therapy is a collaborative experience designed to help couples focus on awareness within their relationship. In doing so, they can recognize any underlying and unresolved issues that could be causing trouble.
Awareness includes focusing on the present. Far too often in relationships, we spend a lot of time holding grudges over past hurts, or worrying about the future. That’s not fair to yourself or your partner. Gestalt therapy harnesses the power of the present through sensation, perception, and emotion.
Let’s take a closer look at what to expect from Gestalt therapy in couple’s counseling, and how it can have a positive impact on your relationship.
Bringing the Parts of Your Relationship Together
You’ve likely heard the expression that something is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt therapy uses that approach when it comes to relationships. For example, your personalities are two parts of your relationship, and they might be very different. This approach takes the different parts of your relationship and helps you see things as a whole, so you can form a stronger, better connection.
Individual Awareness
Your everyday actions and behaviors have a direct impact on your relationship. This type of therapy can help you become more aware of those actions, including the choices you make that could have an effect on your partner. You might be behaving in ways that are detrimental to your relationship without really realizing it. Honing in on that idea will make you more cognizant of the choices you make and the way you behave each day. You can start to choose things that will help foster a better connection with your partner.
Gestalt therapy will also help to bring awareness to negative, harmful patterns within your relationship.
Bringing the Past to the Present
Negative relationship patterns are often fueled by past issues. Because one of the goals of this type of counseling is to help you focus on the present, you’ll work on examining past experiences together.
By working through past experiences in the present, you have the opportunity to see them from a different perspective. You can share your thoughts and feelings about what happened in the past and bring them to the present to work through them with fresh ideas and behaviors. Gestalt therapy can help you better understand your options for dealing with those issues, as well as any problems that might occur in the future.
Speaking of the future, this type of counseling is designed to deepen your connection with your partner. You’ll learn more about yourself and how your feelings, sensations, and behaviors directly impact your relationship. You’ll also learn more about why your partner behaves the way they do.
When you develop a better understanding of one another, it’s easy to feel your emotional bond start to strengthen.
This type of therapy is meant to be used as a launching pad for a new chapter of your relationship. You’ll learn the techniques needed to stay in the present and share your ideas, feelings, and opinions for years to come.
Is Gestalt Therapy Right for You?
If you’re considering any type of couple’s counseling, it’s likely that you want to form a deeper connection with your partner. Maybe you’re going through a rough patch. Or, you might simply feel like there’s been too much space between you lately.
Whatever the case, the collaborative experience found in Gestalt therapy is something that can help you let go of past hurts, communicate more effectively, and understand yourself and your partner better than ever.
If you’re interested in learning more or you’re ready to set up an appointment for couples therapy, don’t hesitate to contact me soon.
