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.