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Where does Empty Chair comes from?
Although Gestalt therapists made the empty chair approach prominent, it was really invented and first used in 1921 by Sigmund Freud’s student Jacob Levy Moreno.
Moreno disagreed to psychotherapy’s tendency toward reflection and chose to create a method that was more proactive engagement-oriented. He employed the empty chair method in “psychodrama” group settings during the ensuing years.
The Gestalt school was established by Fritz Perls and is based on his views that emotional difficulties should be addressed in the “here and now.” These early psychologists thought that sometimes it was necessary to relive traumas in order to recover from them.
The empty chair method was first applied in a one-on-one setting by Gestalt therapists.
The following are the main elements of the empty chair technique:
Exploring emotions by moving between chairs and conversing with someone else while picturing a different person or a part of oneself.
The technique sometimes calls for using many chairs. If someone has habitual negative thought patterns about themselves, they can be placed into an empty chair as they come up, which will give them a fresh viewpoint.
Gestalt therapists stress that although feeling emotions in the time is important, the person is always comprehended in a context that includes their previous and present experiences and environments.
Reliving encounters and situations that may be the cause of emotional suffering is a key component of gestalt therapy. Those who might be open to a possibly intensive therapeutic experience make for the greatest candidates for this type of therapy.
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Where is Empty Chair technique used?
Empty Chair technique is used to resolve many of the unresolved issues one might have either with their loved ones like their family or partners. The person they want to resolve conflicts with or express their feelings to can either be passed away or not in the client’s life for them to have a proper heart to heart with.
Although the empty chair method may be useful in many situations, not everyone should use it.
According to two experts on the empty chair practice, Scott Kellogg & Amanda Torres, the technique may be most beneficial for those who have:
- Depression
- Disorders of Anxiety
- Bullying in relationships
- Grief
- Personality dysfunction
- trauma brought on by society
- internal struggle
- self-hatred
The efficacy of the empty chair method in particular use scenarios has been shown via research. In a 2020 study, the empty chair technique was employed by 12 depressed patients as part of compassion-focused therapy, and the results showed that it helped the patients’ relationships with themselves.
According to a research conducted in 2014, Gestalt empty chair treatment and group therapy significantly reduced the symptoms of some mental health issues in Bosnian women who had bereaved their spouses in combat.
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How is Empty Chair technique used?
Using the empty chair technique
The procedures for using the empty chair approach vary depending on the particular therapist and the client.
Ask the therapist how they generally run a session before beginning Gestalt treatment or participating in an empty chair session.
The majority of empty chair treatment sessions might be based on a few fundamental procedures.
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Finding the “object”
You may decide who or what to talk to in an empty chair dialogue through discussion with the therapist or counsellor.
For instance, your therapist might advise having a chat with a fictitious “emotional wall” that manifests itself occasionally. Or, they might advise speaking with a deceased loved one on or near their death anniversary.
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Having the conversation
You could converse with the part of yourself or with the person you picture sitting in the empty chair with the therapist’s assistance.
If the item is a facet, you may assume that position and provide the necessary information. Your therapist might inquire as to why you show up in the “emotional wall” scenario and what would occur if you did not.
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Changing roles
You frequently take on the opposite role from that of the person or thing you’re speaking to.
The way this shows up depends on the objectives you have for therapy. Some people could desire to:
- Working through lingering emotions
- After a tragic occurrence, find closure
- Managing grief
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Evaluation and conversation
Your therapist might want to have a post-empty chair debriefing conversation with you. You might be urged to talk about the dialogue and your feelings.
Some people believe that the empty chair technique provides a therapeutic experience which is more rigorous. However, this technique has the potential to be a potent tool in therapy for aiding clients in processing previous trauma, coping with sorrow, and coming to terms with emotionally upsetting events.
The first step to enhancing your well-being is frequently to seek support for your mental and emotional health.
The best way to start is usually by speaking with a therapist or counsellor who has been trained in and has used the empty chair technique.
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