Gestalt Therapy Sydney,
Present-Focused
and Relational
Gestalt therapy is a present-focused, relational style of psychotherapy offered by Chauncey Sjostedt in Surry Hills and online. Rather than analysing you from a distance, we work together in the moment, noticing what is actually happening in your body, emotions and relationships right now.
PACFA Certified Practicing Member #29367 · Surry Hills & Online
What is
Gestalt therapy?
Gestalt therapy is an in-depth, experiential form of psychotherapy developed by Fritz and Laura Perls in the mid-twentieth century. The word "Gestalt" is German for "whole" or "shape" and the approach is built on the belief that we can only understand any experience by seeing it as a whole, in its full context, rather than as isolated parts.
Present-Moment Awareness
Gestalt therapy works in the present tense. Rather than spending sessions talking about your past from a safe distance, we focus on what is alive for you right now: what you are feeling, noticing, avoiding or drawn toward in this very moment. This is not about ignoring your history; it is about exploring how the past shows up in the present, which is the only place change can actually happen.
The Therapeutic Relationship Matters
In Gestalt therapy, the relationship between you and your therapist is considered central to the work, not just a backdrop for it. What happens between us in the room is treated as meaningful data about how you relate to others in your life. I bring myself genuinely into the work rather than maintaining a blank professional distance.
It Is Not About Analysing You from a Distance
Many therapy approaches position the therapist as expert analyst and the client as subject of study. Gestalt is different. It is collaborative and exploratory. We are both attending to what arises between us and within you, following curiosity rather than a predetermined framework. You are not a problem to be solved.
How Gestalt therapy
works in practice
A Gestalt session does not follow a script or a fixed agenda. We begin with whatever feels most alive for you and follow where it leads. The skill is in staying close to your direct experience rather than moving into abstract analysis or problem-solving. This can feel unfamiliar at first, particularly if you have been in more structured forms of therapy, but most people find that they settle into it quickly. Here is what a session typically looks like in practice.
Noticing Patterns and Feelings as They Arise
I will often invite you to slow down and notice what is actually happening, not just what you think about a situation, but what you feel, sense and experience in this moment. Over time, recurring patterns become visible. Not because I tell you what they are, but because you see them yourself as they emerge in real time.
Tracking Experiences in the Body
The body is always present in a Gestalt session. I might ask where you feel something physically, invite you to stay with a sensation rather than moving past it, or notice what your body is doing while you speak. This is not bodywork or massage. It is simply bringing the body back into the conversation, because the body often knows things the thinking mind has not yet articulated.
Creating Space for Fresh Awareness
Much of what keeps us stuck is not a lack of information but a lack of fresh perspective. We tend to see our situations through familiar lenses shaped by our history and our ways of protecting ourselves. Gestalt creates conditions where something genuinely new can be seen: a felt shift, a moment of recognition, an awareness that was not available before.
Making Different Choices
Fresh awareness creates the possibility of different action. When you can see your patterns clearly, and when you have developed a more compassionate relationship with them, you are no longer compelled by them in the same way. This is the change that Gestalt therapy aims for: not compliance with a new set of rules, but genuine freedom.
Gestalt therapy
vs other approaches
Understanding how Gestalt relates to other approaches can help you decide whether it is the right fit for you. Each modality has its strengths and the best approach depends on what you are looking for, what you have tried before and what feels most alive to you. The table below gives a broad overview. These comparisons are necessarily simplified, and the reality is more nuanced.
| Approach | Focus | How Gestalt Differs |
|---|---|---|
| CBT | Identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns. Structured, goal-oriented, technique-driven. | Gestalt is more relational, exploratory and body-focused. Rather than applying techniques to thoughts, we work with your whole present experience. Better suited to people who want to explore rather than follow a protocol. |
| Psychodynamic | Exploring unconscious patterns and early relationships. Past-focused, interpretive. | Gestalt also works with patterns and history but does so through present experience rather than interpretation. The therapist is less of an analyst and more of a genuine relational partner. |
| Counselling | Shorter-term support for a specific current concern. Practical strategies and guidance. | Gestalt goes deeper and is typically longer-term. Rather than advising or guiding, it supports you to develop your own fresh awareness and capacity for change from the inside out. |
Other modalities
I integrate
While Gestalt is my primary foundation, I draw on a number of complementary approaches that deepen and enrich the work. These are not add-ons applied mechanically to fit a presenting problem. They are genuinely integrated into how I think about human experience and how I show up in the room with clients. Each modality below informs my work in a different way.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS works with the idea that we all have multiple "parts" within us, often in conflict with one another. Some parts protect us by keeping painful experiences at bay; others carry the pain itself. IFS offers a compassionate framework for understanding these parts, building a relationship with them, and helping them find resolution. Combined with Gestalt's present-moment focus, it supports deep and lasting inner reconciliation.
Somatic Experiencing
Developed by Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing focuses on how trauma and stress are held in the body and how they can be gently discharged through body awareness. This approach is woven into how I track sensation in sessions and supports nervous system regulation alongside emotional processing. Learn more on the somatic therapy page.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness practices support the present-moment awareness that is central to Gestalt work. I draw on mindfulness not as a formal technique to be learned or practiced at home, but as an orientation toward experience that we cultivate together in sessions: slowing down, noticing without judgment, and staying with what is actually here rather than rushing toward analysis or resolution.
Polyvagal Theory
Developed by Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory provides a framework for understanding how the autonomic nervous system shapes our experience of safety, connection, threat and shutdown. It informs how I pace sessions, read the body cues in the room and support clients in building a greater sense of inner regulation over time. Understanding your nervous system responses can be genuinely liberating. Learn more on the trauma-informed therapy page.
What people find
in Gestalt sessions
Both Grounding and Energising
The experience of Gestalt therapy is difficult to describe in the abstract, because it is fundamentally experiential. The best way to understand it is to experience a session directly. That said, here is what clients most commonly share about how Gestalt feels.
Many people describe Gestalt sessions as both grounding and energising. Grounding because the present-moment focus brings you out of the swirl of worry and abstraction and into contact with what is real and immediate. Energising because something genuinely new becomes available: a perspective, a feeling, a possibility that was not there before.
Lasting, Meaningful Change
Change in Gestalt therapy is not about acquiring new techniques or replacing unhelpful habits with better ones. It is about developing a more spacious, compassionate and curious relationship with yourself and your experience. This kind of change tends to be lasting because it comes from within rather than being imposed from outside.
People often notice shifts not just in their presenting concern but in how they relate to themselves more broadly, how they show up in relationships, and how much room they have for the full range of their experience.
This kind of change is not always fast. Gestalt does not promise quick fixes. But it does tend to produce change that lasts, because it works at the level of who you are rather than simply modifying what you do. Many people find that after a period of Gestalt work, they feel more themselves, more resilient and more capable of navigating whatever life brings.
Book a sessionIs Gestalt therapy
right for you?
Gestalt therapy tends to suit people who are looking for more than symptom management. If you want to understand yourself at a deeper level, break patterns that keep recurring across different areas of your life, or develop a more genuine and compassionate relationship with yourself and others, Gestalt is likely a good fit.
It also suits people who are drawn to an approach that works with the body as well as the mind, who value a genuine and human therapeutic relationship, and who want to be active participants in the work rather than passive recipients of advice or techniques.
Gestalt may be less suited to people who are looking for a very structured, short-term, protocol-based approach, or who specifically need a diagnosis-focused or medically oriented treatment. In those cases, I am happy to discuss what might be a better fit and point you in a useful direction.
If you are unsure, the best thing to do is simply reach out. A first session is a conversation and not a commitment. You can experience the approach directly and decide for yourself whether it feels right. You are also welcome to request a free introductory call beforehand via the contact form.
Frequently
asked questions
Common questions about Gestalt therapy. More detail on the full FAQ page.
Book a session
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Gestalt therapy is a present-focused, relational style of psychotherapy developed in the mid-twentieth century. Rather than analysing you from a distance or applying predetermined techniques to your thoughts, it involves working together in the moment, noticing patterns, feelings and body sensations as they arise in real time. The aim is fresh awareness and the ability to make genuinely different choices in your life. It is experiential, collaborative, relational and body-inclusive.
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CBT is structured, goal-oriented and focused primarily on changing thought patterns. Gestalt therapy is more relational, experiential and body-focused. Rather than applying techniques to your thoughts, we explore what is actually happening in your whole present experience. Gestalt tends to go deeper and is better suited to people who want to explore rather than follow a protocol. Both can be valuable depending on what you are looking for.
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Yes. There is a growing body of research supporting the effectiveness of Gestalt therapy for anxiety, depression, interpersonal difficulties and trauma. Gestalt is recognised by PACFA as an accredited modality for psychotherapy practice in Australia, and Chauncey holds Certified Practicing Membership #29367. The approach draws on decades of clinical development and is practised by thousands of therapists worldwide.
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This varies considerably. Some people find significant benefit in six to twelve sessions; others find longer-term work more valuable. Gestalt suits both short-term focused work and deeper, open-ended exploration. We discuss this together and adjust as we go. You are never locked in.
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Yes. Gestalt therapy is particularly effective for anxiety because it works with the body and nervous system as well as the mind. Rather than trying to reason away anxious thoughts, we slow down and explore what the anxiety is actually expressing and where it lives in the body. Over time, clients develop a more spacious relationship with their anxiety rather than being at war with it. Many people find this approach more sustainable and more transformative than purely cognitive methods.
Take the first step
towards feeling better
Book a session in person in Surry Hills on Saturdays, or online on Wednesday afternoons (Glebe) and Saturday mornings (Surry Hills). Sessions are 50 minutes. No GP referral required. I respond to all enquiries within 48 hours.