ABSTRACT
Prescriptive treatment planning does not fit with a gestalt philosophy but that is not to say that planning has no part in gestalt therapy. Treatment planning in gestalt considers the process of the therapy, hence, rather than prescribing a formulaic action derived from the therapist’s notion of what is health, plans emerge in dialogue with the client and their relationship with their field. Acknowledging and addressing risk issues together with an awareness of strategies of intervention for working with different presentations of risk is an area of particular importance. Forming a treatment plan in collaboration with a client to address their unique experience of an area of risk can provide a holding that minimises that risk. In making treatment planning a collaborative venture it is imperative that the therapist considers, as far as possible, his or her own cultural influences and prejudices that colour the way in which they use diagnosis, assess and plan ahead.
