ABSTRACT
Gestalt therapy was developed nearly fifty years ago by a group of theorists based in New York: Fritz and Laura Perls, Paul Goodman, Paul Weisz, Elliot Shapiro, and Isidor From. Early in the history of the spread of Gestalt, a group of mental health workers from Cleveland, Ohio, went to New York and trained with Perls, Jim Simkin, and others. The issue for orthodox Gestalt theory in working with people with fragile self-process is one of grading contact to keep the level of the encounter within a sustainable anxiety range for the client. Much has been written in 'new Gestalt' about 'resistance' as a form of contact. This seems to have become, for some British Gestaltists, a touchstone of difference from 'old Gestalt'. In Gestalt therapy, which combines a paradoxical approach with a methodology which distinguishes direct and indirect suggestions and an emphasis on boundary conditions, the logic of the therapist's stance is very different.
