And some more

• criticisms of gestalt therapy by elle fitzgerald, 8/16/97
  • A Start by Brian O'Neill, 8/21/97
    • A Little More by Phil Brownell, 8/23/97
      
      

Perhaps it is worth mentioning that some eminent exponents of academic Gestalt psychology (like Rudolf Arnheim, Mary Henle and others) took a very critical stance about Gestalt therapy. Their criticism was directed against the quite sloppy use of Gestalt psychology concepts and terms by Fritz Perls and other exponents of Gestalt therapy (see for example the thorough critical review of some of Fritz Perls' writings by Mary Henle at http://rdz.stjohns.edu/~gerhard/gta/henle.html ; but also some of the replies to this by Gestalt therapists in the archives of the Gestalt Therapy Journal at http://www.gestalt.org ). They thought that Gestalt psychology and the Gestalt theory of the Berlin school (Koehler, Koffka, Wertheimer, Lewin, Goldstein and others) had much more to offer to psychotherapy than some metaphors and general holistic ideas. The critical remarks of Mary Henle may go too far in their overall denial of the positive aspects of Gestalt therapy but as a matter of fact most of the Gestalt psychologists' work on personality development and change, on the social identity of man, on behavior, on psychopathology and so on were ignored by Gestalt therapy for a long time and this should be overcome.

Gerhard

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