This site is a curated collection of notes and posts, an online resource for practitioners and enthusiasts of psychotherapy and counselling. Feel free to browse around and share. Don’t forget to cite whenever you repost!
Clients, visit my main website
Gestalt Therapy Resource
Psychotherapy Resource
What is really important to me, is to understand. For me, writing is the integral part of this process of understanding. […] writing establishes certain things. If I manage to process my thoughts adequately in writing, that satisfies me. […] I do not see myself as influential […] I see myself as somewhat of an onlooker. For if others understand the same way I've understood, that gives me a sense of satisfaction, like being among equals. Hannah Arendt in Arendt (1964)
My Recently Published Articles
Upcoming in 2023 : PhD Thesis
Title: Therapeutic Autoethnography Abstract Therapeutic Autoethnography is founded […]
Visit my Academia.edu
Academic articles that are easiest to read are the hardest to write. Writing creatively and reflexively is a humbling experience of introspection. For the researcher to be vulnerable to the work, it takes courage.
Search Category of Psychotherapy Articles
If you are looking for psychotherapy resources and articles, click here.
Contact Form
Numbers to call in case of emergency (in Singapore only).
What is Psychotherapy?
“Psychotherapy” is the treatment of the emotional, physical, and relational aspects (i.e. the bio-psycho-social parts) of an individual through the treatment of the psyche.
The word therapy is from the Latin word therapīa, from Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía, “service, medical treatment”), from θεραπεύω (therapeúō, “I serve, treat medically”). It is the attempted remediation of a health problem following a diagnosis, usually synonymous with treatment.
In therapy, also known as “people-making” according to Virginia Satir, the therapist views their client as a work of art. Just as a musician or painter uses their medium to create something beautiful, the therapist uses their client’s unique characteristics – both positive and negative – to help them grow and develop.
Gestalt therapy, in particular, encourages creativity in the therapeutic process. The therapist uses experimentation as a tool to explore new ways of thinking and behaving, even if it seems unconventional. This approach allows the client to break through any resistance they may have and transform their rigidity into a more flexible mindset.
The therapist takes on various roles during the therapeutic process, from historian to phenomenologist, choreographer to theologian. They guide their client through this creative journey, exploring the different parts of themselves that may have been hidden or repressed. The experiments used in therapy don’t have to be serious or precise, they can be lighthearted and playful or transcendent and profound.
In conclusion, therapy is a form of creative expression that allows the therapist and client to explore and discover new parts of themselves. Gestalt therapy, in particular, encourages experimentation and playfulness in the process, giving clients permission to be whoever they want to be.