Abstract
Gestalt therapy creatively balances an emphasis on honesty within an empathic therapeutic relationship with the task-oriented style of clinical intervention. In this article, dialogical and experimental principles are depicted as mutually-connected polarities; one is in the foreground at a certain moment, and the other is in the background. These principles change their positions fluidly during the process of therapy. The article also deals with the experimental dimension of Gestalt therapy, which focuses on the task-oriented component of the Gestalt therapeutic approach. The text highlights the fundamental difference between experiment and technique in therapy; experiment is depicted as a creative adventure co-created by both therapist and client. A case study describes experimentation as a phenomenon of the field and attempts to illustrate how a therapist can work with her own awareness whilst “experimenting.”
