ABSTRACT
The way in which a client organises themselves in relation to their situation can be challenged through the creation of what gestalt’s founders christened a 'safe emergency' in which the client can experiment with different ways of being in the therapy room. An experiment is designed to venture beyond the client’s familiarity boundary to break from the habitual by creating a supportive environment where the client can explore different ways of being. A gestalt experiment is underpinned by the belief that therapists learn at a deeper level and in a more embodied way experientially. Such learning might include taking what appear to be wrong turnings or blind alleys but this is all part of the process of active engagement in experimentation. Any experiment in gestalt therapy needs to emerge from the dialogue as a phenomenological exploration of the client’s field of relations.
