Finding Freedom
How Buddhist Wisdom and Gestalt Therapy Work Together
At first glance, the worlds of Gestalt therapy and Buddhism seem quite separate, one is rooted in modern Western psychology, the other in ancient Eastern philosophy. Yet look closer to discover they share significant common ground; both being fundamentally concerned with understanding why we suffer and how we might find greater peace, aliveness, and freedom in our lives.
Buddhism emerged some 2,500 years ago when the Buddha observed that human life inevitably involves pain, and that much of our misery comes not from pain itself but from how we relate to it. Gestalt therapy, developed in the mid-twentieth century arrived at surprisingly similar conclusions through a completely different route. Both traditions discovered that we spend much of our lives mentally elsewhere replaying the past, worrying about the future and that this disconnection from the present moment is itself a major source of our distress.
Fritz Perls’ famous instruction to "lose your mind and come to your senses" could easily be a Buddhist teaching. Both approaches invite us to pay closer attention to what's actually happening right now, in our bodies and in our immediate experience, rather than getting lost in the endless chatter of our thoughts.
One of the most liberating ideas shared by both traditions is that we are not as solid and unchanging as we believe ourselves to be. We tend to think of ourselves in fixed terms: "I'm an anxious person," "I've always been this way," "That's just who I am." But both Buddhism and Gestalt therapy see the self not as a thing but as a process—constantly shifting, forming, and reforming in response to conditions and circumstances. This isn't just philosophical speculation; it has real practical implications. If "who I am" is actually a fluid process rather than a fixed entity, then change becomes genuinely possible. We're not stuck. The patterns that cause us difficulty aren't permanent features of our personality but habits of mind and body that, with awareness, can shift.
Perhaps the most useful concept from Buddhist psychology is the teaching of the two arrows. The Buddha asked his followers to imagine being struck by an arrow - painful, certainly. But then imagine being struck by a second arrow in exactly the same spot. The pain would be far worse. The first arrow represents the unavoidable pains of life: loss, disappointment, illness, the death of loved ones, the simple fact that things don't always go our way. This is pain that comes with being human, and no amount of wisdom or therapy can eliminate it entirely. The second arrow, however, is optional. It represents everything we add to our pain through our reactions: the self-criticism ("I should be handling this better"), the catastrophising ("I'll never recover from this"), the resistance ("This shouldn't be happening"), and the endless mental replaying that keeps wounds fresh. In therapy informed by Buddhist principles, a practitioner might help the client distinguish between these two types of pain. And often clients discover something surprising: that the raw feeling of loss or fear, when simply felt without all the mental elaboration, is actually more bearable than they expected. Instead it can be the stories we tell ourselves about our pain that often hurt most.
Both Buddhism and Gestalt therapy place enormous value on present-moment awareness. This isn't about ignoring the past or failing to plan for the future—it's about recognising that the present moment is the only place where life actually happens, where change is possible, and where genuine connection occurs. In Buddhist meditation, practitioners train themselves to notice when their mind has wandered off into thought and gently return attention to immediate experience—the breath, bodily sensations, sounds. In Gestalt therapy, the therapist helps clients tune into what's happening right now: "What are you noticing in your body as you say that?" "What's happening for you at this moment?". This shared emphasis on presence has practical benefits. When we're fully present, we see more clearly. We notice things we'd otherwise miss. We respond to what's actually happening rather than to our assumptions and projections. And we often find that the present moment, even when difficult, is more manageable than our fears about it.
Buddhism teaches that we are fundamentally interconnected; not separate, isolated individuals but part of a vast web of relationships. Gestalt therapy, particularly in its more recent relational forms, emphasises something similar: we don't exist in isolation but are always shaped by and shaping our relationships and environment. This perspective proves remarkably healing. When people recognise that their struggles aren't personal failures but expressions of universal human tendencies, shame often loosens its grip. We all face loss. We all struggle with wanting things to be different than they are. We all get caught in patterns that don't serve us. Understanding this doesn't eliminate our difficulties, but it can help us feel less alone in them.
How might a therapist actually weave these traditions together in practice? The integration happens at multiple levels.
First, there's the therapist's own presence. A therapist can bring a meditative quality to their work; spacious, unhurried, able to be with whatever arises without immediately trying to fix or change it. This quality of presence is itself therapeutic; it creates a space where clients can slow down and make contact with their own experience.
Second, the therapist can help clients notice the difference between their immediate felt experience and the mental commentary that accompanies it. When a client says "I'm devastated and I'll never recover," a therapist might gently inquire about what "devastated" actually feels like in the body right now. Often, separating the physical sensation from the catastrophic prediction brings relief.
Third, brief moments of mindful attention can be woven into sessions as experiments. A client might be invited to close their eyes and simply notice what's present—not to achieve any particular state, but to gather information. What happens when we stop and actually feel what we're feeling? What shifts? What becomes clearer?
Ultimately, both Buddhism and Gestalt therapy point toward a similar vision of human growth. It's not about eliminating all negative emotions or achieving perpetual happiness. It's about something more subtle and sustainable: the capacity to meet our experience be it pleasant or unpleasant with openness and awareness rather than resistance and avoidance. When we can be present to our lives as they actually are, something shifts. We waste less energy fighting reality. We respond more skillfully to challenges. We connect more genuinely with others. And paradoxically, by accepting our pain rather than battling it, we often find that it moves through us more naturally, making space for whatever comes next.
This is the freedom both traditions point toward: not freedom from the difficulties of human life, but freedom in the midst of them. It's an ancient wisdom that still remains relevant—perhaps more so than ever in our distracted, fast-paced world. And it's available not just to Buddhists but to anyone willing to pause, pay attention, and turn toward their experience with curiosity and compassion.
Reference
Eva Gold and Stephen Zahm.Buddhist Psychology and Gestalt Therapy Integrated: Psychotherapy for the 21st Century (2018)
