Article 53 Creating Connections and Fostering Self-Growth: Gestalt Group Counseling for Military Spouses Megan Numbers and Laura Bruneau Numbers, Megan, is a second-year doctoral student in counselor education and supervision at Adams State University. Her research interests include military spouses and children, creativity in supervision and counselor education, and play therapy. She counsels military spouses, children, and families on an Army installation. Bruneau, Laura, is a professor of counselor education at Adams State University. Her primary research area is creativity in both counseling practice and counselor education. She regularly teaches group work to counselors-in-training. Abstract Military spouses face unique concerns and challenges during wartime and at peacetime. Because of the distinct stressors military spouses encounter, the need for accessible mental health services is imperative. However, self-care and self- growth are often low priorities for this population. Group counseling provides a milieu for military spouses to support one another and to work through common issues. In particular, Gestalt group counseling provides an opportunity for creating connections, fostering self-growth, and learning coping skills. Gestalt group counseling may offer a space where military spouses feel supported and connected to other military spouses, as well as a venue to explore relational difficulties and foster self-growth. The purpose of this article is to describe a promising group counseling approach for military spouses. The authors will examine therapeutic factors of group therapy and specific Gestalt therapy interventions within the context of counseling this population. Keywords: group counseling, support group, military spouses, Gestalt therapy Military spouses experience a plethora of challenges unique to the military culture and often have little support to work through these issues (Rossetto, 2010; Skomorovsky, 2014). According to a recent survey, the top military spouse concerns are: (a) military pay and benefits, (b) military spouse unemployment rate, (c) changes in retirement and benefits, (d) impact of deployments on children, (e) instability of family life, (f) relocation, deployment, and redeployment, and (g) educational needs of children (Blue Star Families, 2016). Further, when military service members deploy at high rates, mental health needs for military spouses are abundant. For example, Mansfield and colleagues