Arnold R. Beisser

Arnold R. Beisser (born October 5, 1925 , † July 19, 1991 ) was an American psychiatrist and Gestalt therapist .

Arnold Beisser was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles . He was a student of Fritz Perls , the founder of Gestalt therapy.

At the age of 25, Beisser became seriously ill with polio and was almost completely paralyzed. His best-known work is the book Why do I need wings? A gestalt therapist regards his life as a paralyzed person (original title: Flying without Wings ). In it, Beisser describes how he tries to cope with this deep turning point in his biography.

The so-called “paradox of change” by Arnold R. Beisser became one of the most important core statements of Gestalt therapy : “Change happens when someone becomes what he is, not when he tries to become something he is not.” So Beisser has recognized that change happens when the client no longer compulsively TRIES to change, but first learns to accept himself as he really is - this is exactly where the healing change begins and this person becomes free. This in turn is reminiscent of the findings of Kentenich pedagogy .

Web links

• Literature by and about Arnold R. Beisser in the catalog of the German National Library