Erving Polster

'''Erving Polster''' (13 April 1922 – 22 March 2024) was a Czech psychologist who was a pioneer in Gestalt Therapy.

==Biography== Polster born on April 13, 1922, in Czechoslovakia. He received his Ph.D. from Western Reserve University in 1950 where his early orientation was psychoanalytic. He first encountered Gestalt therapy in 1953. He subsequently joined the newly formed Gestalt Institute of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio and became its chairman in 1958. He later co-founded the Gestalt Training Center in San Diego, California. He wrote or co-wrote seven books on Gestalt therapy, including ''Gestat Therapy Integrated''. His first wife was psychologist Miriam Polster. They married in 1949 and moved to La Jolla, California in 1973. Miriam died in 2001, and he married his second wife Rose Lee in 2006. Polster retired from private practice in 1998, but continued writing and consulting work in psychology.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Light |first=Elisabeth Frausto Elisabeth Frausto is a reporter for the La Jolla |date=2020-10-02 |title=Three La Jolla neighbors 90 and older lend their lessons for longevity |url=https://www.lajollalight.com/news/story/2020-10-02/three-la-jolla-neighbors-90-and-older-lend-their-lessons-for-longevity |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=La Jolla Light |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Erving Polster Gestalt and Humanistic Psychotherapy Interview |url=https://www.psychotherapy.net/interview/erving-polster |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=www.psychotherapy.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Erving Polster {{!}} |url=https://catalog.erickson-foundation.org/speaker/erving-polster |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=catalog.erickson-foundation.org |language=en}}</ref> Polster died on 22 March 2024, at the age of 101.<ref>{{cite journal |title=British Gestalt Journal |date=2024 |volume=33 |issue=1 |journal=British Gestalt Journal |url=https://www.ganz.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/BritishGestaltJournal33.1Spring2024-DigitalIssue5805.pdf|access-date=3 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Erving Polster, Ph.D. |url=https://www.aapweb.com/memoriam/#polster |website=American Academy of Psychotherapists |access-date=29 September 2024}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polster, Erving}} Category:1922 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni Category:Czech men centenarians Category:Czech emigrants to the United States Category:Czech psychologists Category:Gestalt psychologists