Fritz Perls
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Fritz Perls' photo on the cover of an Hungarian edition of his book The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (originally published 1973) |
Friedrich (Frederick) Salomon Perls (
1893 -
1970), better known as
Fritz Perls, was a noted
German-born
Psychiatrist and
psychotherapist of
Jewish descent.
He coined the term '
Gestalt Therapy' for the approach to therapy he developed with his wife
Laura Perls from the
1940s, and became associated with the
Esalen Institute in California in
1964. His approach is related but not identical to
Gestalt psychology and the
Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy of
Hans-Juergen Walter. His ideas were also used to develop
new age human potential concerns such as
neurolinguistic programming NLP.
He has been widely evoked outside the realm of psychotherapy for a quotation often described as the "
Gestalt prayer". This was especially true in the
1960s when the version of
individualism it expresses received great attention.
In 1933, soon after the Hitler regime came into power, Fritz Perls, his wife Laura and their first child fled to the Netherlands, and one year later they emigrated to South Africa, where Fritz Perls wrote "Ego, Hunger, and Aggression" in 1941 (published 1942). His wife Laura contributed to the book, but she is usually not mentioned. Then in the early 1950s, the Perls moved to New York, where Fritz Perls wrote "Gestalt Therapy" (with
Paul Goodman and
Ralph Hefferline) in 1951. (Paul Goodman did most of the actual writing). Fritz Perls moved to California in 1960, where he continued to offer his workshops as a member of the
Esalen Institute in
Big Sur, until he left the USA to start a Gestalt community at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Canada, in 1969. Fritz Perls died almost a year later in March 1970 in Chicago.
Ego, Hunger and Aggression (
1942) ISBN 0-939266-18-0
Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality (
1951/
1977) ISBN 0-939266-24-5
The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (
1973) ISBN 0-831400-34-X
Gestalt Therapy Verbatim (
1968) ISBN 0-939266-18-4
In and Out the Garbage Pail (
1981) ISBN 0-553202-53-7
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Existentialism*
Gestalt therapy*
Paul Goodman*
Phenomenology*
Wilhelm Reich*
Jack Lee Rosenberg*
IBP Integrative Body PsychotherapyBiographical:*
A Life Chronology, by Frederick Perls
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Frederick Perls: A Son's Reflections, by Stephen Perls
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Growing Up Rugged: Fritz Perls and Gestalt Therapy by National Book Award winner Ernest Becker. Delivered as a talk shortly after Perls's death in 1970.
Writings and Lectures by Fritz Perls:*
Psychiatry in a New Key from the Unpublished Manuscripts of Fritz Perls
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Finding Self Through Gestalt Therapy, a transcript of a talk given at the Cooper Union by Frederick Perls in 1957
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Planned Psychotherapy by Frederick Perls. A talk given in the late 1940s at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City, "Planned Psychotherapy" predates the articulation of Gestalt therapy by a few years. Perls discusses in detail his developing use of focusing on the "here and now."
Interview with Fritz Perls:*
Fritz Perls: Gestalt Therapy A nearly forgotten interview with Fritz Perls (the co-founder of Gestalt Therapy) by Adelaide Bry
Other LinksLinks previously listed here have been moved to the
Gestalt Therapy page.
