An educational page
What is Relational Gestalt consultation?
A way of working that treats the relationship itself as the most important instrument we have — for the clients we serve, and for our own ongoing formation as therapists.
Relational Gestalt is a contemporary evolution of classic Gestalt therapy, rooted in the understanding that growth happens in the alive, dynamic space between people. We don't change in isolation; we change through contact.
In consultation, this means a few things in practice. We move slowly. We notice what's present in the room — including what's stirring in you as we talk about a case. We trust that the way you experience a client may be a window into something the client cannot yet put into words. And we treat your own felt sense as clinical data worth attending to.
01
Relationship
The space between us is the working ground. Most clinical insight emerges from contact, not from instruction.
02
Awareness
Noticing — without rushing to fix — opens room for what is already wanting to be known.
03
Presence
Being here, fully, with what is. A practice for the consultant, and one we cultivate in you.
04
Creativity
Trusting the felt sense, the metaphor, the image — all the ways meaning arrives sideways.
05
Curiosity
Questions instead of conclusions. Wondering instead of explaining.
06
Authentic contact
Meeting one another honestly, including the moments that surprise or unsettle us.
"The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
— Fritz Perls
You don't need to be Gestalt-trained.
Many clinicians worry that working with a Relational Gestalt consultant means they'll be asked to adopt a new theoretical orientation. They won't. Sarah works with therapists grounded in CCPT, Theraplay, Synergetic Play Therapy, attachment-based modalities, EMDR, IFS, and many others.
What you'll find here is an orientation toward how we think together, not a prescription about what you should think. The Relational Gestalt frame offers a way of attending — to presence, to process, to the space between — that strengthens whatever theoretical home is yours.