Fritz Perls

by Petrūska Clarkson, Jennifer Mackewn

`A well-researched, clearly written book... Clarkson and Mackewn did a splendid job organising the theoretical material... Their judicious use of graphics enhances their discussions... The chapter on Perls′ contributions to practice is nicely peppered by samples of his actual therapy work and this is true for other chapters. This, I imagine, is how Fritz would have liked to let his work speak for itself... Clarkson and Mackewn have carefully crafted and produced a powerfully informative book. Its pages are crammed with up-to-date facts and issues relating to Perls... The work is lean, not one word is wasted. Congratulations!′ - The British Gestalt Journal Fritz Perls was the co-founder of Gestalt

Genres: Psychology

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 1993

Reviews

[Michael D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb overview of Perls' life and work and an excellent primer of Gestalt in general.

[anarcho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an honest look at the life, work, influences, and controversies of Fritz Perls. The chapters on Perls' major contributions to theory and practice are excellent and serve as a clear introduction to Gestalt therapy. The authors do well to make this an informative and illuminating book without shying away from the less palatable facts about Perls, such as his abusive, narcissistic, and anti-documentation tendencies.

I enjoyed the typeface, layout, and formatting of this book a lot more than the Carl Rogers book in this series. It was clear and pleasant to read.

Something kept coming up while reading is that the examples, quotes, and citations given are slightly repetitive, with the same ones used in multiple chapters or even within the same chapter more than once.

I think the authors could have done more to emphasise how unethical and damaging certain behaviours of Perls' were, especially when it came to sexual and harassment relations with his clients. To be fair, the authors make it clear that they do not condone it and it is not representative of modern Gestalt therapists, but I do think it could have been worded more strongly.

Lastly, I am very surprised that Perls' session in the infamous Gloria tapes (Three Approaches to Psychotherapy by Everett L. Shostrom) is not mentioned at all in this book, especially in the criticisms and rebuttals chapter.

[Patrick Butler]

I'm told it's very accessible