Gestalt Therapy
Are you struggling with relationship challenges or feeling stuck in your career? Gestalt therapy offers a powerful, present-focused approach that helps you develop deeper self-awareness and create meaningful change in your life. As a psychotherapist in New Canaan, CT, I combine Gestalt therapy with other evidence-based approaches to help you navigate relationship difficulties and professional challenges.
What Is Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt therapy is an experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses on your experience in the present moment. Rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, this approach helps you become more aware of how you're thinking, feeling, and acting right now.
The word "gestalt" means "whole" in German, reflecting a core principle of this therapy: you are more than the sum of your parts. I look at you as a complete person, examining how your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviors all interact and influence each other.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, Gestalt therapy is interactive and experiential. We work together as equals, exploring your experiences through meaningful dialogue and carefully designed exercises that deepen your self-awareness.
How Gestalt Therapy Can Help You
For Relationship Challenges
If you're dealing with romantic relationship difficulties, Gestalt therapy provides powerful tools for transformation. Many of my clients find themselves repeating the same conflicts with their partners, feeling disconnected, or struggling to communicate their needs effectively.
Through our work together, you'll develop greater awareness of how you show up in relationships—what patterns you bring to the dynamic, where you pull back, and how you protect yourself. This awareness allows you to make more conscious choices about how you want to relate to your partner.
We'll explore important relationship concepts like the balance between connection and independence, recognize when you might be projecting your own feelings onto your partner, and address any unfinished business from past relationships that's affecting your current one.
For Career and Work Issues
My background working in the business world before becoming a therapist gives me a unique perspective that 99 percent of other therapists don't have. I understand firsthand the pressures, politics, and complexities of professional life.
Whether you're feeling unfulfilled in your current role, struggling with work relationships, facing a career transition, or seeking peak performance, Gestalt therapy offers valuable insights and practical tools.
I help you clarify what you genuinely want from your career, manage work stress and anxiety more effectively, navigate career transitions with confidence, and achieve higher levels of performance by removing the obstacles you're placing in your own way.
Key Principles of My Gestalt Therapy Approach
Present-Moment Awareness - I help you notice what's happening for you right now—what you're feeling in your body, what emotions are surfacing, and what thoughts are running through your mind. This heightened awareness of the present moment is where real change begins.
Personal Responsibility - You'll learn to take ownership of your choices, feelings, and behaviors. This doesn't mean blaming yourself for your struggles; rather, it means recognizing that you have agency in how you respond to life's challenges.
Authentic Connection - I create a safe space where you can explore your genuine feelings and present your authentic self without fear of judgment. As you develop more authentic contact with yourself, your relationships naturally become more genuine and satisfying.
Body Awareness - Your body holds important information about your emotional experience. I help you notice physical signals—tension, tightness, or other sensations—that reveal deeper feelings and help you respond more effectively to what you're experiencing.
What Makes My Approach Unique
While I draw from Gestalt therapy principles, I don't practice it in isolation. I integrate Gestalt therapy with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy. This allows me to tailor my approach to your specific needs and what will be most helpful for you.
My business world experience sets me apart when working with career-related concerns. I've navigated corporate culture, managed work stress, dealt with difficult colleagues, and made challenging career decisions myself. This lived experience informs how I work with clients facing professional challenges.
I bring a balanced approach of warmth and confidence to our work together. I create a supportive environment where you can explore vulnerable feelings, while also challenging you when appropriate and encouraging you to take responsibility for creating the changes you want.
Issues I Address Through Gestalt Therapy
Anxiety - Rather than viewing anxiety as simply a problem to eliminate, we explore what it reveals about your needs and values. I help you return to the present moment, where you typically have more resources and capacity than you give yourself credit for.
Depression - We work on reconnecting you with your present experience and helping you direct energy toward what you want rather than turning it against yourself.
Work Stress - We examine how you're relating to your work situation and where you might have more power than you realize to set boundaries, manage overwhelm, and show up more authentically.
Career Transitions - I help you navigate uncertainty, let go of familiar identities, and step into something new with awareness and intentionality.
The Process of Working With Me
Initial Deep Dive
When you first reach out, I do a deep dive into your background during our initial session. This isn't a surface-level conversation—I want to understand your history, your current challenges, what you've already tried, and what you're hoping to achieve through therapy. This thorough process helps me tailor my approach to your specific needs.
Weekly Sessions
Once we establish that working together makes sense, appointments are scheduled on a weekly basis. Consistency is important for building momentum and creating lasting change. Our sessions will be interactive and experiential, going beyond simple conversation to include exercises that deepen your awareness and help you practice new ways of relating to yourself and others.
Between sessions, there might be some homework—practices or reflections to extend our work into your daily life.
Flexible Format
I offer both online sessions and in-person sessions to accommodate your preferences and schedule. Both formats are effective, and we can discuss which option works best for your situation.
Is Gestalt Therapy Right for You?
Gestalt therapy is particularly well-suited for people who are committed to self-improvement and willing to take an active role in their own growth. My ideal clients tend to have issues dealing with romantic relationships as well as their careers, and they make therapy a priority in their lives.
If you're ready to develop deeper self-awareness, take responsibility for your choices, and engage actively in the therapeutic process, gestalt therapy can be incredibly powerful. This approach works best when you're willing to show up fully, be curious about your own experience, and do the work required for meaningful change.
Begin Your Journey to Greater Self-Awareness
If you're struggling with relationship difficulties, career challenges, work stress, anxiety, or depression, Gestalt therapy combined with my unique business background and integrative approach might offer exactly what you need to create meaningful change.
I don't apply a one-size-fits-all treatment plan. Every person's situation is unique, and our work together will be a collaborative process tailored to your specific needs and goals.
Ready to take the next step? Contact me to discuss your situation, ask any questions you have about my approach, and learn about scheduling and other practical details. I'm here to support you on your journey toward greater self-awareness, healthier relationships, and a more fulfilling career.