Qualification standards and tasks of the German Association for Gestalt Therapy

Therapists who are accepted as an ordinary member of the German association for Gestalt therapy, the Deutsche Vereinigung für Gestalttherapie (DVG), must fulfil the following requirements:

Training: at least 3 years; at least 960 training hours or 762 clock hours

Training content:

Self-encounter (group): 165 clock hours

Theory, practise, supervision: 307 clock hours

Personal Gestalt training therapy: 60 clock hours

Treatment practise: 110 clock hours

Collegial tutorials: 120 clock hours

The Deutsche Vereinigung für Gestalttherapie e.V. is the umbrella organisation for Gestalt therapy in the Federal Republic of Germany, and currently has around 1,000 members. To these are added the training institutes for Gestalt therapy as institutional members.

The DVG has developed the following binding training standards at a national and European level:

A part-time course of training (usually four years), in which the theory and methodology of Gestalt therapy (including thorough diagnostic knowledge and special competences for different areas of application) are taught. Furthermore, the training therapy and supervision of work with clients are key elements of the training.

The purpose of the DVG is to promote competent psychotherapeutic and psycho-social services to the general public and to the public health system on the basis of Gestalt therapy, in particular in the fields of psychotherapy, prevention, rehabilitation, education, counselling and supervision.

The DVG offers Gestalt therapists a framework for exchange and cooperation. The DVG also supports scientific research into Gestalt therapy and debates with other psychotherapeutic approaches.