Laura Perls

Laura Perls (née Lore Posner; 15 August 1905 – 13 July 1990) was a German-Jewish psychologist and psychotherapist. She is most notable for developing the Gestalt therapy approach in collaboration with her husband and fellow psychotherapist Fritz Perls and the public intellectual Paul Goodman.

Life and work Lore was born in Pforzheim in 1905, the oldest of three siblings to a wealthy merchant family. Her mother came from an upper-middle class background, while her father had lower middle class roots

Lore's upbringing was strongly influenced by her mother's class background and her father's wealth. The large family home was equipped with full-time cooks, maids and a governess. and at various points considered becoming a professional musician. She was also taught by Edmund Husserl, Paul Tillich and Martin Buber By 1952, with the help of Paul Goodman, they had established The New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy (Fadiman & Frager, 2002).

Following relational difficulties between the couple, Fritz moved to Big Sur in California for a residency at the Esalen Institute. These difficulties coincided with Lore's increasingly equal professional success as a psychotherapist, and caused tension in the relationship. Lore stayed on in New York and continued to run the original institute for nearly 30 more years, long after Fritz's death. Throughout his life but particularly upon his move to California, Fritz had failed to be there for his children and grandchildren, which caused long-term emotional pain to his family.

Eventually, Lore took on the more American first name Laura.

From 1969 onwards, Laura began visiting Europe every summer, holding workshops in England, the Netherlands, Belgium and later also Germany. During this time she further developed her approach to supervision by shifting the focus from the supervisee's client to the supervisee's inner world. Her husband died in 1970.

Having moved back to her native Pforzheim to be closer to her daughter, Laura Perls died in Pforzheim in 1990 following complications with her thyroid. Having smuggled Fritz' ashes with her from New York, she was buried together with him in the Posner family grave in the Jewish cemetery in Pforzheim.

The English edition of her only solo book, Living at the Boundary, was published posthumously in 1992.