The empty chair technique is used in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) to work on unfinished business. It has roots in Gestalt therapy and was developed further in EFT. Unfinished business refers to lingering, unexpressed feelings or unmet needs, such as resentment, hurt, guilt, or grief, connected to an important figure like a parent, partner, or friend. The chair lets the client speak directly to an imagined version of that person, bringing the past relationship into the present session. The aim is not simply to vent. It is to help the client recognize and express their emotions, state the needs that the other person never met, and develop a more balanced, less blaming view of themselves. This can bring a sense of closure or resolution even when the real person is not present, or is no longer alive.
Procedure
- Select a specific issue. The work begins with a specific interpersonal issue involving the other person, not a vague general complaint.
- Evoke the relationship. The relationship is brought to life through vivid recall, such as a recent memory or a recurring interaction.
- Place the other person in the empty chair. The client is invited to speak directly to them in the second person, for example, “I felt angry when you said…”. This helps the client express emotions and needs.
- Use enactment and role reversal with care. Sometimes the client moves to the other chair and responds as the other person. This lets them experience that person’s perspective, which can bring out criticism, but also sometimes understanding or compassion. The therapist should use it carefully, as it can be distressing.
- Work toward resolution. Resolution is marked by further emotional expression, a shift in how the client sees the other person, and a more self-affirming sense of self.
The technique should be experiential rather than intellectual. The client stays with their bodily felt emotion, speaks in the present tense, and avoids drifting into detailed accounts of the past. It also differs from the other two-chair dialogues in EFT, which work on self-criticism and self-interruption. In empty chair work, the client addresses a significant other, not a part of themselves. Research suggests that clients who express previously unmet needs and shift their view of the other person tend to have better outcomes.
Example
A client, Meera, is still hurt that her father rarely showed approval when she was growing up. She imagines him in the empty chair and says, “I feel sad when I think about how you never came to my school events. I needed you to be proud of me.” As she speaks, she tears up and her voice softens. When she switches chairs and answers as her father, he is awkward and says he never learned how to express affection. Back in her own chair, she says, “I wish you had told me, but I see now that it wasn’t about me not being enough.” The shift from self-blame to a more self-affirming view is the kind of movement the technique aims for.
