Gestalt Therapy and the Empty Chair Technique

Running head: COUNSELLING
Counselling
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

COUNSELLING 2
Counselling
Introduction
Gestalt therapy is a counselling technique that focuses on helping the client become
aware of what they are going through currently (Latner, 2014). The goal is to make the client
self-aware of the negative impacts of negative thought processes and importance of positive
thoughts. The empty chair technique is usually a part of the gestalt therapy aimed at helping
the client become self-aware. Self-awareness is key to recovery (Wagner, 2004)
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is one of the psychotherapy techniques that uses a client centred
approach. The approach employed here is unique because it focuses on what the client is
experiencing at the moment rather than their past experiences (Watson and Greenberg, 2017).
Instead of just focusing in what happened in the past, the approach helps the clients
experience the events of the past through such processes as re-enactment. The main goal of
this counselling approach is to help a client become aware of the detrimental effects of
negative thought patterns. After appreciating the role of negative thoughts in making them
unhappy, then the counsellor may guide the client through becoming aware of importance of
positive thoughts. Gestalt therapy may help clients suffering from such conditions as anxiety,
depression and difficulties in relationship (Nevis, 2014). It may also help alleviate physical
problems such as migraines in cases where they are of psychological origin. The therapy is
best suited for people who are willing to solve the issue affecting them through but they are
not aware of what is causing those issues. The counsellor guides such persons through the
process of becoming self-aware.
Empty Chair Technique