<P> The objective of Gestalt therapy is to enable the client to become more fully and creatively alive and to become free from the blocks and unfinished business that may diminish satisfaction, fulfillment, and growth, and to experiment with new ways of being . For this reason Gestalt therapy falls within the category of humanistic psychotherapies . Because Gestalt therapy includes perception and the meaning - making processes by which experience forms, it can also be considered a cognitive approach . Because Gestalt therapy relies on the contact between therapist and client, and because a relationship can be considered to be contact over time, Gestalt therapy can be considered a relational or interpersonal approach . Because Gestalt therapy appreciates the larger picture which is the complex situation involving multiple influences in a complex situation, it can be considered a multi-systemic approach . Because the processes of Gestalt therapy are experimental, involving action, Gestalt therapy can be considered both a paradoxical and an experiential / experimental approach . </P> <P> When Gestalt therapy is compared to other clinical domains, a person can find many matches, or points of similarity . "Probably the clearest case of consilience is between gestalt therapy's field perspective and the various organismic and field theories that proliferated in neuroscience, medicine, and physics in the early and mid-20th century . Within social science there is a consilience between gestalt field theory and systems or ecological psychotherapy; between the concept of dialogical relationship and object relations, attachment theory, client - centered therapy and the transference - oriented approaches; between the existential, phenomenological, and hermeneutical aspects of gestalt therapy and the constructivist aspects of cognitive therapy; and between gestalt therapy's commitment to awareness and the natural processes of healing and mindfulness, acceptance and Buddhist techniques adopted by cognitive behavioral therapy ." </P> <P> Gestalt therapy theory essentially rests atop four "load - bearing walls": phenomenological method, dialogical relationship, field - theoretical strategies, and experimental freedom . Although all these tenets were present in the early formulation and practice of Gestalt therapy, as described in Ego, Hunger and Aggression (Perls, 1947) and in Gestalt Therapy, Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality (Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1951), the early development of Gestalt therapy theory emphasized personal experience and the experiential episodes understood as "safe emergencies" or experiments . Indeed, half of the Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman book consists of such experiments . Later, through the influence of such people as Erving and Miriam Polster, a second theoretical emphasis emerged: namely, contact between self and other, and ultimately the dialogical relationship between therapist and client . Later still, field theory emerged as an emphasis . At various times over the decades, since Gestalt therapy first emerged, one or more of these tenets and the associated constructs that go with them have captured the imagination of those who have continued developing the contemporary theory of Gestalt therapy . Since 1990 the literature focused upon Gestalt therapy has flourished, including the development of several professional Gestalt journals . Along the way, Gestalt therapy theory has also been applied in Organizational Development and coaching work . And, more recently, Gestalt methods have been combined with meditation practices into a unified program of human development called Gestalt Practice, which is used by some practitioners . </P> <P> The goal of a phenomenological exploration is awareness . This exploration works systematically to reduce the effects of bias through repeated observations and inquiry . </P>

Which of the following is a leading figure in gestalt therapy