A Gestalt Approach to Couples Therapy : The Dance of Difference

Author: Nicole Chew-Helbig

Publisher: Routledge

Publication date ‏ : ‎ February/March 2026

ISBN: 9781041051466

Readership :   Practitioners, Trainees and Trainers in the Social work and Mental health Fields

This book offers a framework for understanding and improving relationships through the lens of Gestalt therapy. It examines the paradox of intimacy--how genuine connection emerges from embracing individuality in a relationship--and how to navigate the dynamic tension between autonomy and togetherness.

Readers will benefit from practical tools, theoretical insights, and engaging case examples designed to deepen their understanding of relationship dynamics. Therapists will find innovative strategies to foster presence, differentiation, and creative transformation in their clients. Couples can uncover ways to turn conflict into connection, discovering how their differences can energize and strengthen their relationships. The book's unique integration of Gestalt therapy principles with cross-cultural perspectives makes it particularly relevant for navigating the complexities of modern relationships. With its theoretical rigor and practical applications, the book bridges the gap between research and clinical practice, offering fresh insights into the evolving field of couples therapy. By addressing pressing post-pandemic relational challenges and integrating diverse cultural perspectives, it provides a transformative guide for those engaged in understanding and fostering human connection. This approach enables readers to be able to reframe differences as opportunities for growth rather than sources of conflict.

This text is an essential resource for academics, researchers, and students interested in relationship science and therapeutic approaches. It is especially relevant for mental health professionals, including practicing therapists, counsellors, and social workers, as well as those in training programs.

A Gestalt Approach to Couples Therapy: The Dance of Difference explores how intimate relationships transform when difference is approached as a creative force rather than a problem to be solved.

Drawing on Gestalt field theory, phenomenology, and clinical practice, the book shows how couples struggle, connect, withdraw, and rediscover each other in lived contact—and how therapists are deeply implicated in that process.

This book is written for:

• Couples therapists and Gestalt practitioners 
• Therapists from other modalities working with relationships
• Supervisors and trainees
• Clinicians interested in experience-near, relational work
  It is equally suited for readers who want theoretical depth and those who value clear, readable clinical material.

Unlike technique-driven manuals, this book stays close to what actually happens in the therapy room.

It offers:

• Nine evocative clinical case studies, written as creative non-fiction
• Close attention to felt sense, atmosphere, and embodied interaction
• A sustained focus on dimensions often under-articulated in Gestalt couples literature, including shame, vulnerability, and relational impasses
• An understanding of the therapist as part of the relational field, not an external choreographer

The writing is intentionally concise, grounded, and readable—without sacrificing clinical rigor.

The book is firmly rooted in Gestalt therapy while remaining in dialogue with contemporary couples modalities.

Rather than positioning Gestalt as an alternative or competitor, it shows how Gestalt field theory complements existing approaches by focusing on:

• Presence over prescription
• Contact over correction
• Difference as the ground of intimacy

Written by a Singapore-based Gestalt psychotherapist trained in European and international traditions, the book reflects work with couples shaped by multiple cultural, relational, and intergenerational influences.

The case studies celebrate diversity without reducing clients to cultural categories, staying grounded in human experience rather than abstraction.