17180. GESTALT THERAPY. This paper provides a brief overview of the background, central principles, and distinctive features of Gestalt therapy. In looking at the background of Gestalt therapy, the analysis considers the extent to which Gestalt therapy emerged as a response to perceived problems or shortcomings in classical (Freudian) psychoanalysis. The analysis also considers the strengths and weaknesses of Gestalt therapy and looks at how the Gestalt approach to psychotherapy has changed and evolved in the decades since the death of its founder, Fritz Perls. Keywords: Gestalt psychotherapy psychoanalysis Perls. Written 2004. 11 pages; 23 footnotes; 8 bibliographic sources. 2,565 words.