As psychotherapy training and practice have become both more focused and more flexible with new theories and techniques, there is a need for a model of therapy with integrative power, that describes and treats the whole person as an integral part of his or her interpersonal, social and physical environment. Gestalt therapy, with its post-Newtonian theory, facilitates the integration of a wide range of interventions into an approach that fits each individual client as well as the unique style of the psychotherapist.  After two decades of the assimilation of many Gestalt concepts into contemporary psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy is reemerging as a major force in current psychotherapeutic theory and practice. With roots dating back to the mid 1920's, Gestalt Therapy is historically grounded in psychoanalytic theory (Freud, Horney, Reich and more recently Mahler, Kohut et al.) while concurrently assimilating data from less speculative methods (e.g., Vygotssky and developmental neuro-sciences), social constructivism, and cognitive theory.  Gestalt Therapy is steeped in dialogic existentialism (Buber), phenomenology (Husserl) and field theory (Lewin). Its intellectual roots are deep and wide. As a process-oriented therapy, Gestalt Therapy maintains the flexibility to integrate new ideas and perspectives from many sources, thereby encouraging continual perceptual reorganization while maintaining its updated vitality.
			Board of Directors: Ann Bartelstein, MFT Brett Copeland, MA Mark Fairfield, LCSW Jeffery Marsh, PhD Pam Mullen, MFT Jan Ruckert, EdD Officers: President: Mark Fairfield, LCSW Treasurer: Ann Bartelstein, MFT Secretary: Pam Mullen, MFT Gestalt Salons and Forums: Brett Copeland, MA at (310) 422-8935 or brett.copeland@verizon.net Referral Service and Speakers Bureau: Jan Ruckert, EdD at (310) 478-3300 or DelilahR@aol.com Membership Information and Tax Deductible Contributions: Ann Bartelstein, MFT at (310) 474-5363 or abartelstein@yahoo.com