ABSTRACT
There is an ever-increasing trend within the field of counselling and psychotherapy to produce written contracts that therapist and/or client sign. Whilst a carefully constructed written contract can provide the ‘rules of engagement’, this needs to be balanced with the fact that therapists are invariably dealing with human suffering of some kind in a relationship based on trust. In the atmosphere between therapist and client hover a host of expectations shaped by a plethora of field conditions. Gestalt therapists need to share something of their therapeutic philosophy with clients seeking therapy. It is worth mentioning that some expectations may have emerged from generalised misconceptions about gestalt. The very nature of gestalt therapy is of unfolding awareness in relation to the client’s field of relationships. A hard and fast therapy contract that sticks doggedly to one agreed area does not fit with a gestalt philosophy or the twists and turns of human relating.
