Gestalt Psychotherapy is a holistic method that emphasises the client-therapist relationship and seeks to develop awareness in the here and now. It is experiential, laying the foundations of a safe environment for the client to grow and develop new ways of being and to integrate and carry these new ways into a whole self in the future. Taking meaning from the German word gestalt — a sum worth more than its parts — Gestalt Psychotherapy is a long-established practice that has evolved significantly from its initial foundations in psychoanalysis. Most notably, it has converged with methods as diverse as mindfulness, Taoism and psychodrama.

It has been studied and well evidenced across different schools of therapy that the relational aspect of healing is fundamental to change. The relational is a central pillar of Gestalt psychotherapy, alongside phenomenology, field theory and dialogic existentialism. At the core of gestalt lies the paradoxical theory of change. That is, the more one tries to be what they are not, the more one stays the same  (Ansel L. Woldt  & Sarah M. Toman. Gestalt therapy: History, theory, and practice. Sage Publications, Inc, 2005). When people identify with all parts of themselves, their whole self, when they acknowledge the aspects that arise at the moment, conditions for wholeness and growth are created. When we disown parts of ourselves inner conflict is created, which is not conducive to growth and change. Advocates of Gestalt say that it is not just a therapeutic method but a philosophy of being. 

From my experience, Gestalt lends itself greatly to group work. It encourages contact with others in a dynamic environment, and in doing so facilitates learning in a relational context, thereby promoting self-awareness and growth.