Some gestalt contributions to psychiatry.

Gestalt theory and methods support significant behavioral change and personal growth, yet they have not been widely incorporated into modern psychiatric practice. Challenges to employing Gestalt principles in psychiatric practice exist, such as focus on diagnosis to guide treatment planning, key elements of psychiatric training, primacy of medication management in psychiatric practice, and financial pressures. However, the concepts of the co-created relational field in the here and now, the paradoxical theory of change, the cycle of experience, and the use of experiment are Gestalt concepts and methods that can be effectively applied in the modern practice of clinical psychiatry and psychiatric education.