Gestalt Psychotherapy Supporting Executive Mental Health

A seasoned commercial director in a fast-paced logistics firm, Richard was known for being calm under pressure and fiercely strategic. People relied on him—not just for answers, but for stability. Then his father died. Suddenly. Unexpectedly.

He took two weeks’ compassionate leave. Then, like many high-performers do, he came straight back into a packed diary and quarterly sales targets. But something was off.

He wasn’t making clear decisions. Delegation felt overwhelming. His temper flared in meetings. He wasn’t sleeping well. His confidence—usually unshakeable—started to crack.

His manager described him as “present, but not plugged in.”

When Grief Hijacks Performance

Grief doesn’t punch in at 9 and leave at 5. And for executives, it’s rarely given the space it demands. Richard wasn’t sobbing at his desk. He was showing behavioural symptoms executives often don’t link to grief:

• Snap judgements

• Avoiding emotionally charged conversations

• Perfectionism rising as control decreased

• Fatigue mistaken for disengagement

He didn’t need sympathy. He needed structure—a way to process what was happening without feeling like he was falling apart. Given that he had responsibilities he could not wait for months to go to therapy, something that he did not relish. He hoped things would get better. They didn't. It was when he burst out shouting at the new intern that he realised he needed help. That is where Richard reached out to a Gestalt psychotherapist.

Why Executive Gestalt Psychotherapy?

Richard didn’t want to “talk about his feelings.” He wanted to understand why he’d lost his edge, and what he could do to get it back. According to Perls, Hefferline & Goodman (1951), Gestalt Psychotherapy focuses on increasing awareness — of your emotions, your habits, your patterns under stress—and turning that awareness into behavioural choice.

In Richard's case, grief disrupted his ability to stay present and alert, affecting his team, thinking, and sense of purpose. By setting aside his grief, he hindered his executive function, the part of the brain that takes decisions. He worked on reconnecting with his inner signals, physical responses, emotional cues, and energy shifts. This process aimed to restore his full cognitive and emotional bandwidth, enabling him to lead effectively again.

The Business Impact: From Flatlining to Focus

According to the Awareness-Responsibility-Choice model (Polster & Polster, 1973), awareness is the necessary first step to agency. When an executive gains awareness of their behavioural and emotional patterns, they regain access to meaningful choice.

This is key in executive environments, where high-stakes decision-making is emotionally charged but rarely acknowledged as such.

Recent literature in organisational psychology supports the idea that emotionally intelligent leadership leads to higher engagement, trust, and performance outcomes (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013).

Richard didn’t need to be “coached up.” He needed to come back into contact—with himself, his grief, his purpose, and his team. Gestalt psychotherapy helped him do that by creating a space where:

• He didn’t need to hide or perform.

• He could understand the emotional impact of leadership.

• He could lead with full cognitive and emotional power again

This wasn’t therapy to soften him. It was strategic work to sharpen him—by aligning his internal experience with his external leadership role. By week four, Richard noticed:

• He was more emotionally available in meetings—able to hear concerns without shutting down.

• He had more clarity around what to delegate and where to step back.

• He re-engaged with a high-potential team member he’d previously avoided because the emotional load felt “too much.”

• His team described him as “more human—and still razor-sharp.”

And perhaps most telling? His sleep improved. His jaw unclenched. He started making decisions faster—and trusting them.

References

• Perls, F., Hefferline, R., & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality. Julian Press.

• Polster, E., & Polster, M. (1973). Gestalt Therapy Integrated. Vintage Books.

• Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press.