# Clients’ subjective experiences of navigating challenges in Gestalt therapy: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

## TL;DR

This study explores how clients with mental health issues experience Gestalt therapy, focusing on emotional regulation, self-concept, and relational dynamics.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into how varying levels of personality integration affect client experiences and outcomes in Gestalt therapy.

## Key findings

- Clients with low-integrated personality structures struggled with emotional regulation and self-concept stability.
- Clients with moderate integration showed better emotional regulation but still faced challenges with self-agency.
- Therapeutic interventions should be tailored to clients' structural integration levels to foster agency.

## Abstract

This study explored the lived experiences of four female clients with common mental disorders and suboptimal structural integration after 30 sessions of Gestalt therapy, navigating emotional and relational challenges, bodily awareness, and agency.

Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), we analyzed four semi-structured interviews, followed by a cross-case comparison.

Two experiential patterns emerged. Clients with low-integrated personality structures faced significant difficulties with emotional regulation, self-concept stability, and relational dynamics. They relied heavily on external validation and struggled to develop cohesive internal processes. While they described increased awareness of emotions and bodily sensations, these experiences remained fragmented and did not translate into broader self-integration. In contrast, clients with moderate-integrated personality structures demonstrated greater emotional regulation and a more stable self-concept. However, despite engaging in reflective processing and linking past experiences to present challenges, they continued to struggle with self-agency.

Findings highlight the distinct ways in which clients with varying levels of personality integration experience Gestalt therapy and suggest that while emotional and relational growth occurred, deeper structural transformation remained limited. This study underscores the need for tailoring therapeutic interventions to clients’ structural integration levels, particularly by addressing the challenges of fostering agency in structurally vulnerable clients.