Connection between Gestalt Therapy and
Horse guided Empowerment®

Gestalt Therapy shapes large parts of the process that occur in Horse guided Empowerment® sessions. This form of therapy was developed in the 1940’s by Fritz and Laura Perls.

According to Perls, people are not made up of separate components (mind, body and soul), but function as a whole. It was developed as a revision to psychoanalysis and focuses on an experiential and humanistic approach, where "Gestalt" (from German) refers to the whole, and asks client to look at their sense of self.

Change in Gestalt Therapy

The most important goal of Gestalt Therapy is that Gestalt Therapists do not aim to change their clients.

The therapist’s role is to assist clients in developing their own self-awareness of how they are in the present moment.
This will therefore allow them to rectify issues affecting his or her life.

Perls believed that when an individual develops an awareness of their own feelings, reactions, and thoughts, the individual is then able to find ways to resolve their personal difficulties.

Gestalt therapists believe that people have the ability to solve their own problems and that every individual is able to take charge of their actions when they are then aware of what is happening.

This is the same approach we take in Horse guided Empowerment®.

Horses let the clients become aware and see the truth, the reality. 
As horses themselves live 100% in the moment, they are not interested in making contact with us on a deep level if we are absent-minded, dwelling in the past or future. 
However, the moment we start to become present, a shift happens.
Coming from such a big and beautiful animal, the client reaches increased awareness about his or her own presence. 

One of the beneficial features of the horse is that they are non-judgemental. The horse mirrors and gives feedback, without caring about the person's background, history, job title, etc. The horse only cares and reacts to the person that is in front of him in that exact moment, and will change and react differently when the person changes.