Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


gestalt therapy

a form of psychotherapy in which the central focus is on the totality of the client’s functioning and relationships in the here and now rather than on investigation of past experiences and developmental history. One of the themes is that growth occurs by assimilation of what is needed from the environment and that psychopathology arises as a disturbance of contact with the environment. Gestalt techniques, which can be applied in either a group or an individual setting, are designed to bring out spontaneous feelings and self-awareness and promote personality growth. Examples of such techniques are role play, the empty-chair technique, and the hot-seat technique. [first proposed in the 1940s by German-born U.S. psychiatrist Frederick (Fritz) S. Perls (1893–1970)]

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

deadly nightshade

deadly nightshade

see belladonna alkaloid.