Customer Reviews

Gestalt Therapy Integrated: Contours of Theory & Practice

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Erv and Miriam Polster were two major stars in the pantheon of psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy in particular. They were strongly influenced by the ideas of Isadore From and Lore Perls, with whom they studied at the Cleveland Institute of Gestalt Therapy and in New York City. For many years they trained practitioners in the methods of Gestalt therapy through their training center in La Jolla. They also did workshops across the US and abroad. This book is written in the 1970's and shows it, with its somewhat flowerly and gushy style. However it is probably the best book around for someone who wants to know a bit about the theory and practice of this approach first-hand, from two people who really knew what they were doing.

This basic introduction to gestalt therapy, first published thirty years ago, is relatively easy to read and covers quite a lot of concepts and practices. It also provides many anecdotal accounts of example cases to help illustrate its themes.

I agree with another reviewer that this text is somewhat dated, but it is still one of the "must reads" for a gestalt-literate therapist. Perhaps not as purely practiced as some of the major schools of psychotherapy, and unfortunately more often misunderstood to be a group of therapeutic techniques, the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of the Gestalt model will continue to form the gestalt of all good clinical practice!

This book really has what it offers: this is an integrated view of gestalt therapy, but not only that it gives a clear and very well explanation about the main concepts of Gestalt theraphy, I really recomend it.