Gestalt therapy intends for the client to gain greater awareness of their experience of being in the world. Gestalt therapists do not have a goal of changing their clients. In fact, clients are encouraged to focus on becoming more aware of themselves, staying present, and processing things in the here and now. The working, collaborative relationship between therapist and client is powerful to the healing process in Gestalt therapy.

It is suggested that the way we learn how to survive experiences, particularly painful experiences, is to create blocks or push things out of awareness so that we can move forward. As effective as it may seem, it can create trouble for us as we become more compartmentalized and fragmented in our sense of self and our experiences. The very techniques we once used to help ourselves become blocks to self-awareness and growth. Increasing client awareness allows for these blocks to be identified, properly challenged, and moved out of the way so we can find healing and personal growth.

A key goal in Gestalt therapy is to allow clients the opportunity to own and accept their experiences. In blaming others, we lose our sense of control and become victim to the event or the other person involved in the event. Gestalt therapy encourages clients to challenge those old ways of how we may have created meaning about an experience. Learning how to accept and embrace personal responsibility is a goal of Gestalt therapy, allowing clients to gain a greater sense of control in their experiences and to learn how to better regulate their emotions and interactions with the world.

Gestalt therapy suggests that, inherently, people strive for self-regulation and growth. However, we sometimes develop techniques to emotionally survive unfortunate and painful experiences. Some of these techniques feel helpful in the short-term because they can help minimize our pain or distress. However, over the long-term, they leave us is more emotionally shaky places, unable to express ourselves. We may find it hard to interact with others, and difficult to learn how to effectively regulate ourselves and be whole, responsible beings.

We tend to mentally close the contours to simplify reality. If we see a slightly curved curve that is practically closed, we will notice a circumference. It is also possible to apply this law to verbal messages.

The elements closest to each other tend to form a group as if they were one set. If you look at three piles of candy, you’ll notice three groups instead of seeing all the candy separately.

Similarity occurs when forms, colors, sizes or objects look enough alike to be perceived as a group or pattern in the viewer’s mind.

Figure-Ground refers to the relationship between an object and its surroundings. Do you see the figure in front of you or the background? Sometimes, it’s easy to pick out the Figure, which is the object (the positive space) from the Ground, which is everything else (the negative space). But it can be difficult, at other times, to pick out the figure from the ground. It’s important to keep a balance between the negative and positive space as well as making the figure a quick read. In other words, be sure to make a clear distinction between the figure and the ground. We have all seen Rubin’s glass at one time or another; it is the best-known example of this phenomenon. We will have realized that it is impossible to perceive the faces and the cup at the same time.

The law of simplicity indicates that our mind perceives everything in its simplest form. Mastering design simplicity requires you to balance two often competing considerations: the use of uncomplicated shapes and objects and the need to produce striking design effects.

The Law of Symmetry is the gestalt grouping law that states that elements that are symmetrical to each other tend to be perceived as a unified group. Similar to the law of similarity, this rule suggests that objects that are symmetrical with each other will be more likely to be grouped together than objects not symmetrical with each other. This is a lawful statement of the role of symmetry in determining figure-ground perception.

We prefer to ignore the abrupt changes in an image we are seeing. Generally speaking, we pay more attention to the characteristics of a stimulus that allow us to perceive a smooth continuity. One example is that if we are walking around and notice on a poster an A covered in half by a street lamp, we will continue to know that the letter is A and read the text without difficulties.