The therapeutic process is useful for severe psychological suffering, and also for personal growth and for situations in which there is a psychological discomfort that, even though it is not interrupting the person's everyday life, it can be solved faster with the help of the therapist.
The psychotherapists goal is to support the person in order to find new solutions to old problems. Depending on the needs, the psychotherapeutic process can be done individually, in group, in couples therapy or family therapy. Although the structure of these different types of modes is different the purpose is very similar.
Therefore, in Terapiados, we orient the psychotherapeutic work toward regaining the ability and freedom to choose. This oriented therapy is sometimes called counseling.
The goal is to bring awareness to the clients process. Together we learn how the person arrived to the situation that s/he wants to solve and we learn how it´s affecting the present moment. In gestalt we use the term here and now. We try to widen the range of possibilities beyond options such as depression, anxiety , etc. To know ourselves better and regain lost creativity are both means and goals of a psychotherapeutic process.
Gestalt therapy is included in humanistic psychology. These theories are not made exclusively for treating diseases, they also deal with issues such as developing human potentialities.
Gestalt therapy focuses on the experience that the person is requesting help for in the present moment, also in how to relate to others as well as how to live our lives fully and the ability to self-regulate and make our own decisions.
This type of therapy focuses on the process more than content. It emphasizes what is happening right now, what the person is thinking and feeling in the present. We speak of the here and now, not ignoring the persons history. Experience and past events are not left aside because it´s important to know how these events are affecting the present, how the person lives, etc. Among other reasons we are who we are because of what we have lived. By looking at the past we understand our present. Our purpose is to resolve these situations that hold us back from the direction we want to take in the here and now.
From this perspective we pay attention to the persons perceptions, emotional impacts and how we deal with this. Our intention is that the person who comes to therapy is aware of how s/he is being influenced and has been influenced by their environment, becoming more conscious on ¨how we do,¨ and what happens when we do what we do. The aim will be to discern what has to do with the past and what today has no meaning. Thus, learning to adapt and adjust to each situation, we help the person discover and find more useful ways of doing things.
Gestalt therapy is also heir to the field theory of Kurt Lewin, who stated that the body (in this case the person) is inseparable, indivisible from the environment. This means the person is at the same time an organism and an environment. It affects and is affected. Gestalt therapy stops looking at the individual alone, it considers the person as an element of the situation. The person creates and is created by the situation.
The goals of Gestalt therapy and therefore our goals are:
Thanks to this, the person can know themselves better and regain lost creativity.
In Terapiados we have five psychotherapists, one naturopathist and a physiotherapist that also uses traditional Chinese medicine as therapy. The counseling service in English is only offered by two of our members. Check our site in Spanish if you want to learn about other members of our team
My first training, before studying psychology and gestalt therapy, was as a musician and computer scientist. My PhD in computer science was in the field of artificial intelligence and human language. As a musician (pianist and singer) I have always been keen about the difficulties in expression and how the body of the musician, and anyone’s responds to the emotional state. For these and other reasons I started to learn about different therapies. Gestalt Therapy interested me for its theoretical rigor, and its emphasis on creativity and spontaneity necessary for the artist and for everyone else.
I'm Spanish and I have lived and studied in the U.S. During this period I learned English. Now I speak the language in my work as a therapist and also for teaching purposes at the University.
The search to find other possibilities is what led me to study Psychology at the University and Gestalt psychotherapy training. Our life is created moment to moment due to the interaction with our environment. The relationship with family, friends, school, physical illness, or any kind of relation, can sometimes cause difficulties and the feeling of not living life as we would like to. Accepting ourselves as unique and unrepeatable we can regain the freedom to choose how we live our lives.
I was born in the U.S. and I've lived in Spain for many years. My family is both Spanish and American. I use English in my work as a therapist.
We would like to clarify sobre frequently asked questions just in case you need more information.
We deal with people who may be experiencing difficult life situations, such as: anxiety and stress, depression, panic attacks, fears and phobias, grief due to death of close people, break ups and losses, adolescents, parenting difficulties / education , family crisis, physical illness in need of psychological support, etc..
We offer our work in individual therapy and group therapy. We also have specialized professionals to provide psychological support in the following situations:
The benefits of psychotherapy are different depending on the person who comes to therapy and also depending on the needs they might have. In therapy sessions, both therapist and client decide the goals that need to be addressed. The therapist brings his/hers experience as an expert and the patient offers his/her personal life experiences. With these two elements, therapist and patient, will address the changes that are needed to improve the persons well being. To bring awareness to real needs we are going address is already in the persons benefit.
The duration of therapy sessions depends on the need the person has and his or hers involvement. There are processes that can be solved in a few sessions and others need more time. Client and therapist agree when it’s appropriate to finish therapy.
Usually therapy begins with a weekly session, unless there is some certain situation that indicates that frequency should be different. At a certain point of the therapeutic process sessions can be moved to follow-up sessions. fortnightly or monthly. This is agreed by therapist and client.
A therapist working one to one or in group therapy offers support so the person can find out what he or she really needs and how to satisfy this. Group and individual therapy are two forms of inclusive therapeutic work. In group therapy you can benefit from the different views, feelings, contributions from people involved in the group. In individual therapy issues usually have deeper and more private nature.
Choosing one form or other of therapy depends on the situation each person is.
In individual therapy a one on one relationship is established with the therapist and the attention is at all times focused on the persons psychotherapeutic process. However, in group therapy experiences are shared with others, so you can learn from others and their life experiences.
Online therapy is a resource that can help in specific situations and facilitate the beginning of a therapeutic process or its continuation once the therapeutic relationship has been established.
Anyone can request online therapy. The decision to conduct an online therapy, will be taken together and agreed between both parties (therapist and patient) depending on what is most convenient.
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