Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Gestalt Therapy are often considered to be very similar psychological approaches. While both focus on the importance of investigating behaviour and learning strategies for dealing with negative thinking and conflict, there are some important differences in the techniques used to help clients reach their goals.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is a short term, goal-orientated approach to therapy. It has been shown to be successful in the treatment of a range of mental and emotional issues, including anxiety and depression. The aim of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is to identify thoughts that are negative and unhelpful to you, and challenge them in a way that encourages more positive thinking.
CBT practitioners focus on teaching practical self-help strategies to clients, giving them the tools to make changes when they identify negative thoughts. This can be helpful for people who are struggling to live happily or to reach specific goals due to damaging self-talk. The basis of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is that negative thinking is a bad habit, but like other habits, it can be broken through hard work.
Anyone that struggles with negative thought patterns and mental health issues can benefit from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Practitioners use a range of strategies, such as thought monitoring and challenging, to help clients alter their negative thinking habits. Issues that can be effectively addressed by CBT include depression, anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, stress, anger management problems, and phobias.
What is Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt Therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the experience of the individual in the present moment. The primary focus of the therapy is on the process itself. Gestalt Therapy emphasises the importance of personal responsibility, encouraging clients to focus on what is actually happening in their lives in the moment, rather than what their past experience may lead them to believe is happening.
The goal of Gestalt Therapy is gaining better self-awareness and making positive changes based on this improved understanding of the self and our own ways of thinking. Often, our sense of fulfilment and personal growth is diminished by the way we interpret events and the actions of others. Reaching your full potential depends on living in the moment and not focusing on a negative interpretation of what is happening.
Gestalt Therapy is a very gentle form of therapy; often, people who are sceptical or intimidated by the idea of therapy find Gestalt to be an easy and supportive method that works well for them. Gestalt can be used to address a multitude of issues, including depression, anxiety, chronic stress, family conflict, martial and couples’ conflict, grief and trauma. Anyone who has trouble identifying their problematic behaviours or owning their emotional responses can greatly benefit from the techniques used in Gestalt Therapy. Additionally, Gestalt Therapy can be used with children.
Why Choose Gestalt Over Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
While both forms of therapy have their merits, Gestalt Therapy is ultimately the best type of therapy for addressing issues and living more positively.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy operates on the premise that all emotional responses are due to the way that a person thinks, and that therefore changing our thinking can solve any emotional difficulties. Gestalt Therapy takes a far more nuanced approach, recognising the complexity of human emotion and realising that while some emotional responses are irrational, that does not mean they are not truly occurring. CBT will teach you strategies to think differently so as not to feel negatively about yourself. In contrast, Gestalt will assist in unearthing buried emotional reactions to people, situations and events and will help clients to accept their role in conflicts and learn new ways of being.
Gestalt is a more creative and free method of therapy, which is why it is often seen as very accessible. The techniques commonly used in Gestalt – including the ‘empty chair’ experiment, role playing, and movement – encourage creative expression and looking at things from a different perspective. Gestalt practitioners believes that doing things which can bring joy heightens the sense of experiencing the present moment.
While Gestalt is a free-flowing therapeutic approach that deals with issues as they arise, CBT is far more rigid. CBT is often considered a short-term approach, and clients are encouraged to discuss a specific issue. A time-frame is agreed upon to tackle a particular problem. Part of the CBT process is dependent on measuring your progress so that you can gauge whether you are improving. This can create the sense that the therapy is “not working” and be disheartening for clients, especially those who were counting on the short time frame espoused by CBT for quick results.
There are many similarities between Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Gestalt Therapy, but Gestalt is the better option for people hoping to explore their internal selves in a freeing and creative environment, and looking for long term solutions to deep and complex issues.
