Most simply, Gestalt therapy is one of self awareness and change dealing with the "here and now." Clients following this form of therapy will be expected to fully admit their true thoughts and feelings, assume ownership of and responsibility for these (i.e., the client will have to admit he is the source and originator of his cognition and emotions), and where needed, the client will be expected to change his cognition in order to change the feelings and behaviors they cause. This is a holistic theory, which means that every aspect of the client is equally involved in his psychological makeup. However, the client’s past should not be considered an obstacle to today, and if the therapist finds that the client is being held back by his past, the client will be asked to relive the past events or traumas so that they can be resolved in the present. In doing this, and in adjusting cognition to more productive schemes, the client goes through a process of self-regulation, restoring the equilibrium that the faulty cognition had distorted.

Perls states that in order to advance psychologically, one must remove five layers of neurosis. These are the phony (stereotypical and inauthentic reactions), the phobic (the fear of pain caused by being honest about ourselves and to others), the impasse (being stuck in our development, caused by the phobic), the implosive (by experiencing the impasse’s deadness, we expose our defenses, and begin to see ourselves as we truly are), and the explosive (the release of our authentic selves). All this is to be done while remaining in honest contact with the environment (this is a "field therapy") while at the same time not allowing the environment to rule who we are. Some ways we may resist an honest experience of our environment are introjection (accepting others ideas as our own without question), projection (falsely attributing our characteristics to our environment), retroflection (projecting inwardly what we should be projecting outwardly, i.e., anger), deflection (self distraction, such as humor) and confluence (a blending of self and environment). If the therapist can help the client uncover who he truly is, resolve issues with his past, and learn to live separate from while living in his environment, the client will be more internal in his view of self, not needing outside acceptance to be happy. The client must accept and succeed in these challenges; the therapist will push him towards these goals. Exercises and language are central focuses of therapy; personal language ("I") is important.