Rediscovering purpose and resilience in healthcare: The case for Gestalt training, *by Kathy clegg, Richard Hancock, Allison Bruce, and Alan Brenner
Every day, physicians, clinicians, nurses, technicians, and hospital staff operate under immense pressure: caring for patients with complex needs, making life-altering decisions, and shouldering the emotional burden of those they serve. High Reliability Organizations (HROs) like hospitals and health systems succeed by fostering vigilance against errors, prioritizing expertise, embracing complexity, and maintaining strong situational awareness. Yet, even in such well-designed environments, the human cost can be steep—stress, burnout, and disconnection often undermine the very performance they seek to protect.
The Human Challenge in Healthcare
Healthcare professionals frequently report:
Feeling emotionally and physically drained by relentless demands and the weight of patient care.
Growing isolated from colleagues and the deeper sense of purpose that brought them to the field.
Facing pressures for productivity and compliance that crowd out connection, creativity, and compassion.
Navigating changing teams, technologies, and patient populations with limited support for personal resilience and wellbeing.
These challenges don’t just impact individuals. They ripple across teams, patient outcomes, retention rates, and the core mission of healthcare itself.
The data supporting these points are compelling:
Burnout in Healthcare Workers: Studies consistently find high burnout rates among healthcare workers—recent U.S. medical center data shows burnout increased from 30% in 2018 to nearly 40% in 2022, with professional stress affecting 21% to 29% of workers. Meta-analysis data suggest overall burnout rates as high as 52% for all healthcare workers, and up to 66% among nurses and physicians(1).
Isolation and Loneliness: During the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 41% of health workers reported loneliness, and stress from social isolation was pronounced even among those working in-person on hospital teams, especially ICU staff and younger or minority professionals(2).
Emotional Exhaustion and Mental Health: In major surveys, 93% of healthcare professionals reported stress, 86% anxiety, 76% exhaustion and burnout, and 41% feelings of loneliness during the pandemic’s peak. Rates of anxiety and depression among healthcare workers ranged from 38% to over 86% in different studies(3).
Impact on Patient Care and System Performance
Patient Safety and Quality: Burnout is strongly linked to declines in patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of care. Meta-analyses show nurse burnout is associated with more frequent medical errors, patient falls, nosocomial infections, missed care, and a deterioration of teamwork and safety climate(4).
Workforce Outcomes: Burnout contributes directly to increased absenteeism, turnover, cynicism, and decreased job satisfaction. Nearly half of surveyed health workers in 2022 intended to leave their roles, citing burnout and mental health challenges(5).
Key Demographic Variation
By Age and Role: Burnout scores tend to be highest among workers aged 30–39, with nurses and physicians particularly at risk.
By Setting: Inpatient workers, women, persons of color, and frontline providers (such as nursing and medical assistants, social workers) report higher stress related to workload and mental health than others.
Why Gestalt Training Makes a Difference
Gestalt-based training, as offered by the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, provides a transformative answer. Unlike traditional staff development focused only on providing cognitive information and technical competence to address regulatory compliance, Gestalt training centers on whole-person awareness and human connection.
Learning experientially, healthcare professionals reconnect with themselves, their colleagues, and their calling, restoring the vital qualities needed to sustain excellence in care.
Key benefits for healthcare teams:
Restored connection and meaning: Healthcare workers rediscover the sense of purpose that brought them to the profession, fighting the isolation and depersonalization at the root of burnout.
Breaking the burnout cycle: Through Gestalt practices, participants learn to spot and disrupt draining patterns, replacing exhaustion with healthy engagement and emotional renewal.
Emotional and cultural resilience: Training builds the ability to work skillfully and compassionately in diverse, high-pressure environments, improving teamwork and cultural responsiveness.
Wider impact: When caregivers heal and recharge, benefits cascade—better patient experience, stronger morale, safer systems, and more sustainable organizations.
Healthcare Systems also benefit when staff are provided with Gestalt-based training.
Key benefits to Healthcare Systems:
Improved Staff Retention and Wellbeing: Reduced burnout and emotional fatigue lead to lower turnover and absenteeism, decreasing recruitment and training costs.
Enhanced Teamwork and Communication: Participants learn skills for interpersonal awareness and purposeful engagement, resulting in stronger collaboration, higher trust, and fewer medical errors.
Leadership Capacity and Adaptability: The program develops both self-awareness and systems thinking, preparing current and emerging leaders to thrive in complexity, manage change, and foster healthy workplace cultures.
Measurable Impact on Patient Care: Emotionally resilient staff consistently deliver more compassionate, safe, and effective care. Health systems benefit from better patient satisfaction scores, improved safety metrics, and a more positive organizational reputation.
Conclusion: Investing in Sustainable Healthcare
Healthcare institutions thrive when their people do. By investing in Gestalt-based training, organizations equip staff with the tools to rediscover meaning, navigate stress, and perform at their best—delivering not just better care, but a healthier, more resilient workplace for all. If your team is committed to healing, renewal, and the highest standards in healthcare, Gestalt training is an investment in both your mission and your people.
*Kathy Clegg is a psychiatrist working with adults at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. She serves as the Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry and Community Psychiatry and is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, providing education and training to medical students and psychiatry residents.
Kathy is on the faculty of the Gestalt Training Program (GTP) and has served as Co-chair of GTP. Her passion is working with individuals and groups creating space for people to become their authentic selves.
*Richard Hancock is Principal of Richard B. Hancock and Associates, an organizational development group based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. With more than 20 years of senior management experience, he applies the Gestalt approach to resistance to whole-system assessments, large-group facilitation, team development, conflict resolution, and executive coaching.
*Allison Bruce M.Ed, LPCC-S is a faculty member at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Adjunct Professor at Case Western Reserve University and private practitioner in the Cleveland area. Allison works routinely with individuals and couples, and is experienced with adults and adolescents in short term crisis management through long term therapy, psychoeducation, and personal growth. She has experience in teaching and facilitating within various systems including the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, and Kent State University. Allison has facilitated locally and throughout the nation on topics
*Alan Brenner, a former senior executive with Blackberry and Sun Microsystems, is currently the Interim Executive Director of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland(GIC) and a member of GIC’s Board of Directors. . His professional background includes extensive work and leadership in technical organizations in creating climates where innovation thrives and where financial results satisfy shareholders. He is a graduate of several programs in the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and is currently active in the Gestalt Institute Leadership Development (GILD) program.