Empty Chair Technique and Chair Work: an Online Stage for Therapy Sessions

A virtual room of chairs for chair work. Sit in a chair, speak from it, switch seats. Empty chair, two-chair inner critic, role reversal and schema modes.

Adults Groups Grief & loss Gestalt Games

15–30 minutesIn person and on videoFor clinicians

Free interactive tool

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Use with care

Chair work can raise strong feelings fast.

Use it in session, pace the turns, and stop if the client is overwhelmed. Do not role-reverse with an abuser without trauma training. Not for acute psychosis, frequent dissociation, or when self-harm risk is high. With a recent or traumatic loss, wait until the client is stable enough to settle after strong feeling.

For clinicians

Run chair work with a client in session. You pace the turns and stop if feelings get too strong. It is not a self-help exercise.

How to play

If asked, pick who is in the other chair. Other exercises are in Settings.
Tap a chair to sit in it. Speak out loud from that seat.
Switch seats and answer from the other chair. The prompt changes with you.
In inner-critic mode, rate how harsh the critic was after each turn.
Tap Finish. The summary shows at once; add what you need if you like, and copy it.

About the technique

Chair work gives each side of an inner or interpersonal conflict its own seat, so the client can speak from it and then switch. Its roots are in J. L. Moreno’s psychodrama, the source of role reversal, and in Fritz Perls’s Gestalt therapy, which popularized the empty chair (Kellogg, 2004). Leslie Greenberg turned two forms into researched procedures: two-chair dialogue for self-critical splits (Greenberg, 1979) and empty-chair dialogue for unfinished business with a significant other (Paivio & Greenberg, 1995). Schema therapy uses chairs to separate modes such as the punitive critic and the vulnerable child (Young et al., 2003).

The mechanism is enactment. Speaking to the critic or the absent person, rather than about them, brings emotion into the room where it can be felt, differentiated and answered, and switching seats lets the client hear the other side. Empty-chair work for unresolved hurt outperformed a psychoeducation group in a trial (Paivio & Greenberg, 1995), a pilot found two-chair dialogue reduced self-criticism and depressive symptoms (Shahar et al., 2012), and a meta-analysis of psychodramatic techniques found medium to large effects, with role reversal among the strongest (Kipper & Ritchie, 2003). Most studies are small, so the evidence is promising rather than settled.

Chair work raises feeling fast. Explain it first, pace the turns, and bring the client back to the present before ending. Avoid it with acute psychosis, frequent dissociation or high self-harm risk, do not role-reverse with an abuser without trauma training, and after a recent or traumatic loss wait until the client can settle after strong emotion.

For therapists: how to run it

Goal

Say what has gone unsaid, hear the other side, and leave with one clear need or message.

In session

In person: turn the screen to the client, or use a tablet, and set two real chairs facing each other. The screen keeps the prompts and the turn timer.
If the person hurt or frightened the client, choose Someone who hurt me – no appreciation prompts and no sitting as them.
On video: press Play together and send the link. The client taps the chairs on their own phone while you see the same room and the turn timer.
You direct: say “switch” when a turn lands, tap Another prompt to deepen, and slow down or stop if feelings run high.
Close with the last question on the screen and the copied summary. Typed lines stay on the client's device.

As homework

Not given as self-guided homework. Use it together in session.

With a group

Psychodrama groups: share your screen as host, one protagonist joins and moves between chairs while the group watches.
Group members can double the protagonist or, with consent, take the other chair – never for someone who hurt the protagonist.
Keep turns short (1 minute) and debrief with sharing, not advice.

Good to know

Chair work makes an inner conflict or an unfinished relationship visible. The client speaks from one chair, moves, and answers from another. The therapist directs the pace: one turn at a time, and stop when feelings run too high. Words typed here are not saved or sent: they stay on the screen where they were typed until the page is closed. Only seat moves and ratings are shared when you play together.

Worksheets that pair with this tool

Sources & credibility

Method: Chair work: Gestalt empty chair, emotion-focused two-chair dialogue, psychodrama role reversal, schema mode dialogues
Developed by: J. L. Moreno (psychodrama), Fritz Perls (Gestalt), Leslie Greenberg (emotion-focused two-chair), Jeffrey Young and Arnoud Arntz (schema modes), Scott Kellogg (Transformational Chairwork)
First described: 1940s–2015
Approach: Psychodrama, Gestalt, emotion-focused therapy, schema therapy
Evidence: Supported by studiesA meta-analysis of psychodrama found medium-large effects, with role reversal among the strongest techniques. Two-chair work for self-criticism and empty-chair work for unresolved hurt are researched parts of emotion-focused therapy; reviews of chairwork are promising but mixed.
Read more: Therapy Activities for Adults: A Therapist’s Guide by Approach

References

Kipper, D. A. & Ritchie, T. D. (2003). The effectiveness of psychodramatic techniques: a meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(1), 13–25. Source
Greenberg, L. S. (1979). Resolving splits: use of the two chair technique. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 16(3), 316–324. Source
Shahar, B., Carlin, E. R., Engle, D. E., Hegde, J., Szepsenwol, O. & Arkowitz, H. (2012). A pilot investigation of emotion-focused two-chair dialogue intervention for self-criticism. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 19(6), 496–507. Source
Kellogg, S. (2004). Dialogical encounters: contemporary perspectives on "chairwork" in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41(3), 310–320. Source
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S. & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide. Guilford.
Paivio, S. C. & Greenberg, L. S. (1995). Resolving unfinished business: efficacy of experiential therapy using empty-chair dialogue. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(3), 419–425. Source

How it was made

Built by the Mentalyc team from the original method and the published sources listed here. Nothing you enter is stored.

Questions people ask

What is the empty chair technique in psychology?

The empty chair technique is an experiential method where a client speaks to an imagined person, or a part of themselves, as if they were sitting in an empty chair. It comes from Gestalt therapy and is also used in emotion-focused and schema therapy.

How do you do the empty chair technique?

The client faces an empty chair, imagines who is in it and speaks to them directly; the therapist may invite them to switch seats and answer from the other side. This tool gives you a virtual room of chairs so the same moves work over video.

What is the 2-chair process in Gestalt therapy?

In two-chair work, the client moves between two chairs that represent conflicting parts of the self, such as an inner critic and the part that is criticized. Giving each part a voice can soften the conflict.

Does the empty chair technique work?

Research on emotion-focused therapy suggests chair work can help with unresolved feelings, grief and self-criticism. It can stir strong emotions, so it should be guided by a trained therapist.

Can the empty chair technique be used for grief?

Yes, it is one of its most common uses: the client speaks to the person who died, says what was left unsaid and may answer from their seat. Pace it carefully and leave time to settle, since strong emotion is expected.

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Your game designer

Michael Thompson, MSc

Michael's background combines doctoral training in clinical psychology with research on motivation, learning, and emotional regulation.

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Table Of Contents

About the technique
For therapists: how to run it
Worksheets that pair with this tool
Sources & credibility
Questions people ask

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