Gestalt Therapy for Individuals in the Metropolitan New York Area

Experience | Now| Wholeness

Who is looking for gestalt therapy? People who want to change, who want their lives to be better. People who want to be more engaged with life, and become better able to find the excitement, meaning, and satisfaction that is part of healthy living.

“Gestalt” is a German word meaning form or structure, and it relates to wholeness. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts – as are we. And greater contact with and awareness of ourselves leads to our having a greater experience of wholeness.

At the Gestalt Therapy Institute, we believe that everyone seeks a sense of wholeness, and that this feeling of wholeness is what people associate with being alive or being human. People experience this awareness of vitality most powerfully when they are as fully present as they can be.

Our Individual Therapy Practice

As therapists, we are interested in meeting you and getting to know you: what needs, difficulties, or aspirations you experience. We know that each person is unique, and needs to be dealt with in their uniqueness. We are interested in helping you to expand your awareness of yourself in a way which will help you be present more fully, more effectively, and more choicefully in your life. We see mental health as our capacity to be present and aware of ourselves and our environment. Without being wed to pre-existing beliefs or pre-determined strategies, we are able to make choices in our lives that fit the situation, make use of our intelligence and creativity, and therefore work for us.

Paradoxically, as you strive to be in the present moment, feelings and thoughts from past experiences materialize and interfere. Our purpose is not to interpret, judge or evaluate your past. We invite you to look for yourself and discover how past memories and feelings are affecting your present moment. Your ability to address these thoughts, feelings, and reactions lies in increasing your awareness. During therapy, past thought remnants, old behavior patterns and unwanted images are noticed and addressed, in a way which allows closure of the unfinished business of the past. As a result, you discover the “now,” and feel more whole, fresh and alive.

At the Gestalt Therapy Institute, we’ve worked with many people over the last thirty years who have been looking for a greater sense of aliveness—a belief that they are creating their life, not just living it out, that the ways they live are touching, compelling, and important.

Rather than utilizing a pre-determined set of techniques, gestalt therapy takes a creative, fluid and spontaneous approach, geared to immerse you into the experience of this very moment.

We invite you to explore your feelings and thoughts, discover who you are and claim your wholeness in the here and now.

Set Up an Appointment

To learn more about Gestalt therapy, or to schedule a meeting with one of our therapists, contact our office online or call us in Scarsdale at (914)472-9878 or in New York City at (212)679-2424. Sessions can be scheduled day or night, in our Manhattan or Scarsdale locations.

Alan Cohen, MSW, LCSW, LP, ACSW, BCD | Connie Newman, MA, LCAT, LMHC, LP, NCC