Final answer:
Gestalt therapy, stemming from Gestalt psychology, is best characterized as an experiential therapy (option d). It is holistic, focusing on present experiences and perceptions, and less on unconscious motivations or empirical validations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gestalt therapy is best characterized as an experiential therapy. This form of therapy emerged from Gestalt psychology. Gestalt therapy takes a holistic approach to an individual's experiences and focuses on the client's perspective in the present moment rather than analyzing past experiences or historical causation. It emphasizes personal responsibility and experiencing the present moment fully, with a particular focus on how the individual perceives and interprets their thoughts and feelings.
While Gestalt therapy involves insight into one's situation and experiences, it is not primarily an insight therapy, which typically focuses more on understanding the unconscious motivations that drive behavior. Nor is it mainly an action-oriented therapy, which often entails direct interventions aimed at changing behaviors. Although modern iterations of Freud's clinical approach, which can be insight-oriented, have shown empirical effectiveness, Gestalt therapy itself is not characterized by empirical validation as its primary feature.
Hence, the answer is option d.