This article offers a reflective review of Therapy for Perverts, Weirdos and Crazy Cat People: A Lived Experience Introduction to Gestalt Therapy by John Gillespie, an independently published introduction to Gestalt therapy rooted firmly in lived experience. I was tempted into reading this book, as the author is likely to feature in my training and I wanted to find out what sort of person was coming along.

Rather than presenting Gestalt therapy as a technical model or professional framework, the book invites the reader into the author’s personal journey. In doing so, it challenges many of the unspoken norms around who therapy is “for”, and gently but clearly resists the shame that so often accompanies difference, vulnerability, and non-conformity.

The Nature of the Book

This is not a textbook, nor does it claim to be. Gillespie describes the work as an “educated layperson’s introduction”, and that framing is important. Gestalt ideas are present throughout the book, but they are carried implicitly through narrative rather than formally explained or systematised.

The writing is accessible, personal, and at times deliberately disarming. The reader is not positioned as a student to be instructed, but as a fellow human being invited into reflection. This makes the book particularly approachable for people who may feel alienated by clinical language or by the authority often assumed in psychotherapy texts.

Honesty, Warmth, and the Reduction of Shame

One of the most striking qualities of the book is its honesty. Gillespie writes openly about experiences that are frequently hidden or sanitised in therapeutic discourse. In doing so, he offers something quietly radical: a refusal to collude with the societal norms that generate shame around difference, distress, or unconventional lives. He freely talks about BDSM/Kink, sexuality, addiction, sex work and so much more.

For readers who have felt “othered” — whether by mental health systems, social expectations, or cultural narratives of normality — this openness may feel deeply affirming. The book does not attempt to resolve or explain away complexity; instead, it stays with it, which is itself a recognisably Gestalt stance.

This quality gives the book an emotional warmth that is sometimes missing from more formally rigorous texts. It feels written from within experience rather than about it.

Strengths of a Lived-Experience Approach

The primary strength of the book lies in its relational stance. By foregrounding personal story, Gillespie models a way of speaking about therapy that is human, grounded, and emotionally honest. This may be particularly valuable for readers considering therapy for the first time, or for those who have previously felt judged or misunderstood within therapeutic spaces.

The book also broadens the implicit image of who belongs in therapy. By naming and engaging with experiences often kept at the margins, it contributes to a more inclusive and compassionate view of psychological work.

Limitations and Context

From a professional perspective, it is important to be clear about what the book does not attempt to do. It is not a clinical manual, and it does not offer a structured account of Gestalt theory, technique, or ethics. Readers seeking a systematic understanding of Gestalt therapy — including phenomenology, field theory, or clinical method — will need to turn to established texts within the Gestalt tradition. This book fills a hole at the other end of the academic spectrum – engaging with real people’s real lives as human beings, rather than subjects of an experiment.

At the time of writing, there is also little in the way of independent critical or academic review. This does not diminish the book’s value as a personal and reflective work, but it does place it outside the sphere of peer-reviewed psychotherapy literature.

Place Within the Wider Literature

Seen in context, Therapy for Perverts, Weirdos and Crazy Cat People sits comfortably alongside a growing body of therapy writing that prioritises voice, presence, and lived experience over formal authority. Its contribution is not theoretical innovation, but something arguably just as important: the normalisation of humanity within therapeutic conversation.

For practitioners, the book may serve as a reminder of the importance of humility, authenticity, and relational presence. For non-practitioners, it offers a welcoming and humane entry point into thinking about therapy and change.

Conclusion

This is a book that wears its heart on its sleeve. Its warmth, honesty, and willingness to step outside shame-based norms make it an engaging and refreshing read. While it should not be mistaken for a comprehensive guide to Gestalt therapy, it offers something valuable in its own right: a deeply human account of therapeutic experience that invites curiosity, compassion, and self-recognition.

Approached on its own terms, it succeeds in opening space — and that, in itself, is meaningful therapeutic work. In reading it, I felt I had a greater understanding of Gestalt therapy from the inside.

Here is a link to the author’s website: John Gillespie Therapy

References

Gillespie, J. (2025). Therapy for Perverts, Weirdos and Crazy Cat People: A Lived Experience Introduction to Gestalt Therapy. Independently published. ISBN 9798298797269.