Thursday, 7:30 pm. Your client has spent half the session talking about his father, and you suggest he speak to the empty chair opposite, as if his father were sitting there. For twenty minutes nothing exists except that chair, his voice and what he is becoming aware of. Then the session ends and the usual jobs appear: writing down what came up, taking payment, confirming next Thursday and checking that Saturday's group still has a room. Software for Gestalt therapists is not going to do the awareness work for you. What it can do is take the admin off your plate so it doesn't eat into the attention you need in the room.

Gestalt therapy was developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s and 1950s, and was first described in the 1951 book Gestalt Therapy (the Wikipedia entry covers its history and techniques). The Spanish Association for Gestalt Therapy (page in Spanish) places it within the humanistic-experiential tradition. It is practised one to one, with couples and in groups, and that way of working leaves its mark on the admin: weekly sessions, groups, weekend workshops, notes that describe process more than diagnosis and, quite often, a tax question that other approaches never face. This guide goes through what a Gestalt therapy practice really needs from its practice management software, with a checklist at the end to help you choose.

What software for Gestalt therapists needs (and what it can do without)

Whether you call it software, a diary or a practice management system for Gestalt therapists, it comes down to the same thing: a diary, client records, notes, consent forms and invoicing. What changes from one approach to another is which part carries the most weight. In a Gestalt practice it tends to be these five:

  • A diary that keeps sessions and groups apart: each client's weekly session plus your groups, workshops and supervision, without clients being able to book over them.
  • Process notes attached to each session: what figure emerged, what experiment you proposed, what was left open.
  • A clear, signed frame: times, fees, cancellations and confidentiality, including confidentiality within the group.
  • Correct invoices, with or without VAT, depending on your qualifications, plus payment per session or with session packs.
  • Protected data, because what you work on in a session is health information.

What you can do without is just as easy to spot. A Gestalt therapist has no use for automatic "how are you feeling today?" messages, mood scores or a dashboard full of marketing charts. Good software is there when you open it and out of the way once the session starts.

A diary for Gestalt therapists: sessions, groups and workshops

Almost every Gestalt practice is built around the weekly one-to-one session, lasting 50 or 60 minutes depending on the therapist. A diary for Gestalt therapists has to show you that week at a glance and let you create each session without typing the same details again and again.

In My Psico Agenda, when you pick the client for a new appointment, the length, price and therapy type are copied from their last one. If the previous session was an hour at €60 marked as "Gestalt", the new one comes out the same and you only choose the day and time. Lengths are 30 minutes, 45, an hour, an hour and a half or two hours, so both the usual session and a long couples session fit. The weekly view draws each appointment at its real length and, if you try to put someone on top of another session, the app warns you that the slot is already taken.

Your working hours count too. In Settings ▸ General you mark which days you work and from what time to what time, and the diary shows exactly those hours: if you start at 8:00 or finish at 22:00, they are on screen. The same working hours are all your clients see as available when they request an appointment from their own space.

Groups, weekend workshops and training

It is worth being clear here: My Psico Agenda is built for one-to-one appointments, one person per appointment, and it does not manage groups with several participants in the same appointment. For your Tuesday group, an intensive workshop or supervision hours, the practical option is to reserve that time with a block. Blocks can cover a single day or repeat every week, and they disappear from the slots your clients can request.

If you work at weekends, turn on "Weekends" in Settings ▸ General. By default the diary shows Monday to Friday; with the switch on, Saturday and Sunday appear, you can give them working hours and your clients see those days in their space. If the workshop takes up all of Saturday, block it and nobody will be able to request a time that day.

The client space: bookings without late-night messages

A good part of a therapist's day goes on messages to find a time that works. In My Psico Agenda every client has their own space, which they open with a code and a PIN, where they see their upcoming sessions and the free slots within your working hours. From there they can request a time, adding a message if they want to tell you something, or cancel an appointment, and you deal with it from your diary when it suits you, not in the middle of a session.

It is a simple way to protect the frame: you decide your availability once, in your working hours, and clients can only request what you have left open.

Session notes in Gestalt therapy: the process, not just the data

Gestalt notes carry little diagnosis and a lot of process: what emerged, how the body responded, what happened with the empty chair, what was left for the following week. If you want a refresher on the usual resources, we have a guide to Gestalt therapy, its techniques and what it is used for. What matters for the admin side is that those notes don't end up in a notebook that gets lost or in loose files scattered around your computer.

In My Psico Agenda every appointment has its own notes field, so what you write on Thursday stays attached to that Thursday. The client record also holds the clinical history, attached files (a report, a scanned drawing, a letter the client wanted to leave with you) and signed consent forms. If you ever need to hand over or archive a summary, the record exports to PDF and you choose which details to include.

Custom fields for a Gestalt practice

The standard record asks for name, phone, email and ID number. You are probably guided by other details, and the software should have room for them. In My Psico Agenda you can create custom fields of seven types (short or long text, number, date, yes or no, list and multiple choice) and mark the ones that are required. A few that make sense in Gestalt work:

  • Format, as a list: individual, couple or also in a group.
  • Group they attend, as short text, if they combine one-to-one sessions and a group.
  • Agreed frequency, as a list: weekly or fortnightly.
  • Referred by, as short text.
  • Start of the process, as a date.

Informed consent and the frame in Gestalt therapy

Experiential work, body work or the empty chair can stir up a lot, and clients have the right to know how you work before they start. The same goes for the practical side: what a session costs, how much notice they need to give to cancel and what happens if they don't. If they also join a group, it is a good idea to put the commitment to confidentiality between group members in writing.

In My Psico Agenda the informed consent form is edited clause by clause, so you can add the way you work and your cancellation policy in your own words. The client signs it in the room or remotely through a link, and the signed PDF is saved in their record. If you see minors, the document includes the details of both mother and father.

WhatsApp reminders: fewer no-shows without chasing anyone

A missed session with no warning leaves a gap you can't fill. Automatic WhatsApp reminders go out 24 hours before the session (and, if you like, when the appointment is created), with buttons so the client can confirm or cancel. They can be switched off in a particular client's record without affecting anyone else. For a one-off message, the manual reminder opens WhatsApp with the text already written and you just press send; manual reminders are unlimited on every plan.

Payments and invoices for Gestalt therapists: with or without VAT?

This is the question that comes up most. In Spain, article 20 of the VAT Act (in Spanish) exempts healthcare provided by medical or health professionals, and it names psychologists explicitly. Many Gestalt therapists are psychologists; others come from education, social work or other professions after training at a Gestalt school. If you are not a recognised health professional, your sessions will usually carry VAT. Your accountant will tell you what applies to you; what the software has to do is allow both.

In My Psico Agenda invoices are created as drafts and each one has a "VAT-exempt (healthcare)" box. If you untick it in the draft, you choose the VAT rate (21, 10 or 4%; 21% is suggested), and in the billing settings you decide whether your invoices are VAT-exempt by default and what income tax withholding (IRPF) you apply. That way you can issue invoices with VAT if that is your case, with no spreadsheet templates or formulas.

Invoicing starts from the sessions themselves: the "Unbilled sessions" tab shows what is still pending, you select the ones you want and the wizard creates one invoice per client, with your own series and consecutive numbering. You can also create a blank invoice with any description you like, for example a workshop fee. For clients who pay in advance there are session packs, included on every plan, and everything is ready for VeriFactu, the Spanish Tax Agency system that becomes mandatory in 2027.

How much of your work is Gestalt and how much is something else

Many Gestalt therapists combine their approach with others: mindfulness, humanistic therapy, work with couples. For each appointment you choose the therapy type from 17 approaches, "Gestalt" included, and the statistics show a chart with the sessions of each therapy type. At a glance you can see how many of your sessions are Gestalt and how many belong to other approaches.

For each client you see sessions, hours, attendance, days since the last session and the next appointment, with a date filter. And when you open or create an appointment, the session number appears in grey next to the name, for example "(Appointment no. 18)", so you never have to count by hand.

Confidentiality and data protection

What is said in a Gestalt session is health information, and the GDPR protects it as a special category. In My Psico Agenda data is stored encrypted on servers in the European Union, with a daily backup. You can turn on two-step verification at login and a PIN that locks the sensitive sections, which helps if you share a computer at a centre. The details are on the security page, and there is a full guide to GDPR in a psychology practice.

If you work online, the app does not include video calls: you use whichever platform you already have, and the appointment, reminder, notes and invoice stay in the diary exactly as they would for an in-person session.

Software for Gestalt schools and therapy centres

Schools and centres with several Gestalt therapists have other needs: several diaries, a group room that can't be booked twice, fee sharing and a management team that needs to see the whole team's activity at a glance. The My Psico Agenda practice plan gives each therapist their own diary and gives management a panel with the diaries in real time, room management, commissions and VeriFactu invoicing for the centre and for each therapist.

Practice Mini costs €124.99/month + VAT for up to 5 therapists, and Practice Super €199.99/month + VAT for up to 15. There is more detail on the software for psychology practices page.

How to choose software for Gestalt therapists: a checklist

Before you decide, try the software with your real week rather than the demo, and go through these questions:

  1. Can I create each client's sessions without typing the same details every time?
  2. Can I reserve groups, workshops and supervision so nobody books over them?
  3. Can I work on Saturdays and Sundays if I need to?
  4. Do I get notes for every session as well as the clinical history?
  5. Can I write my frame into the consent form and have the client sign it remotely?
  6. Can I invoice with or without VAT depending on my situation, and is it ready for VeriFactu?
  7. Can I switch off reminders for a particular client?
  8. Can I see how much of my work is Gestalt and how much is other approaches?
  9. Where are the servers, is the data encrypted and is there two-step verification?
  10. Can I leave whenever I want, with no minimum contract?

If you want more criteria, the guide to software for therapists has its own list, and the page on scheduling software for self-employed therapists sums up how the app works in a private practice.

My Psico Agenda as software for Gestalt therapists

My Psico Agenda was not built only for Gestalt, and we are not going to sell it to you that way. It is software for psychologists and therapists that fits a Gestalt practice because it is simple, leaves out what you don't need and takes care of the admin. This is what it includes:

  • A diary in the browser and on your phone, with your working hours, weekends if you work them and blocks for groups and workshops.
  • Length, price and therapy type copied from the last appointment, and the session number always in view.
  • A space for each client, where they request times within your working hours.
  • Notes for every session, clinical history, files, custom fields, a client photo and a record you can export to PDF.
  • An editable consent form, signed in the room or through a link.
  • WhatsApp reminders you can switch off client by client.
  • Invoices with or without VAT created from your sessions, session packs and VeriFactu readiness.

If you are starting out or have a small caseload, the Semilla plan costs €4.99/month + VAT and includes up to 25 clients, 20 automatic reminders and 20 VeriFactu invoices a month. Júnior (€19.99) and Sénior (€29.99) remove the client limit and add more reminders, invoices and storage; everything is on the pricing page and on the software for psychologists page. The first month is free, with no card and no minimum contract.

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Frequently asked questions about software for Gestalt therapists

The questions that come up most often when a Gestalt therapy practice looks for management software.

What is software for Gestalt therapists?

It is practice management software (diary, client records, notes, consent forms, reminders and invoicing) that fits the way a Gestalt therapist works: weekly one-to-one sessions, groups and workshops, process notes and fees that sometimes carry VAT. It doesn't need to be built only for Gestalt. What matters is that it lets you reserve your groups, write up each session and invoice the way you should.

Is it for me if I am a Gestalt therapist but not a psychologist?

Yes. My Psico Agenda is for psychologists and therapists, and it works the same whether or not you are a recognised health professional. The difference is on the invoice: you can untick the VAT exemption, choose the rate that applies to you in the draft, and leave the exemption unticked by default in the billing settings. Check with your accountant which VAT you should charge.

Can I manage groups and weekend workshops?

The app works with one-to-one appointments, one person per appointment, so it doesn't keep a list of the participants in a group. What you can do is reserve the group or workshop time with a block, for a single day or repeated every week, so no client can book over it. And if you work at weekends, turn on "Weekends" in Settings ▸ General so Saturday and Sunday appear in your diary.

Do my invoices include VAT?

It depends on your situation. The Spanish VAT Act exempts healthcare provided by health professionals, psychologists among them; if you work as a Gestalt therapist without that status, you will usually invoice with VAT. In My Psico Agenda you choose on each invoice whether it is exempt or carries VAT, and you can set the default.

Where do I write down what comes up in each session?

Every appointment has its own notes field, so what you write stays attached to that session. The client record also keeps the clinical history, attached files and signed consent forms, and it can be exported to PDF with the details you choose.

Does it work for a Gestalt school or centre with several therapists?

Yes, with the practice plan. Each therapist has their own diary and management sees the whole team's diaries in real time, plus the rooms, commissions and invoicing. Practice Mini is for up to 5 therapists (€124.99/month + VAT) and Practice Super for up to 15 (€199.99/month + VAT).

How much does software for Gestalt therapists like My Psico Agenda cost?

The Semilla plan costs €4.99/month + VAT for up to 25 clients. Júnior (€19.99) and Sénior (€29.99) have no client limit. All plans are paid monthly with no minimum contract, and the first month is free with no card.