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    Empty chair technique

    空椅子技术

    Technique
    Also called
    empty-chair technique, empty-chair dialogue, empty chair work

    What is the empty chair technique?

    In the empty chair technique, a client imagines an important person, or a part of themselves, in an empty chair and speaks to them, then moves to that chair to answer in their role.[1] It comes from Gestalt therapy and has earlier roots in Moreno’s psychodrama.[1][2]

    In a session

    Origins

    Research

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    Schematic: how the empty chair works in a session, where it came from, and what the research shows; the bars in the last card are real dropout rates from one trial. Select a part for details. Select a part for details
    Schematic: how the empty chair works in a session, where it came from, and what the research shows; the bars in the last card are real dropout rates from one trial. Select a part for details. Save as image (PNG)

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    Key points

    • Emotion-focused therapy distinguishes two uses: dialogue with a part of the self, such as an inner critic, is two-chair work; with a significant other, it is empty-chair work for “unfinished business.”[2]
    • Unfinished business is lasting hurt and resentment toward a significant other, such as a parent. Process studies link better outcomes to expressing primary emotions and unmet needs and seeing the other differently.[2]
    • In a 1995 randomized trial on unfinished business (34 clients), the empty-chair group improved more than a psychoeducation group on every outcome, and gains held at one year.[3]
    • A review of 22 randomized trials calls the results promising, but most embedded the technique in wider therapy and only 2 had low risk of bias.[2] Used once, it matches other interventions.[4]

    An example

    As a child, Jay was often scolded by his father in front of others, and the memory still angers and saddens him. His counselor asks him to picture his father in the empty chair and say what he never said; then Jay sits there and answers as his father. He falls silent, and they talk once he settles.

    Misreadings and limits

    The technique deliberately stirs strong feelings such as anger and sadness, and not everyone can tolerate it. In one childhood-trauma trial, 20% dropped out of the group confronting the abuser in an empty chair, against 7% in the other group, and the reviewers advise checking a client’s readiness first.[2] In the research it is done in therapy sessions, guided by a therapist.[1][2]

    Sources

    1. 1 American Psychological Association (2018–2023). Empty-chair technique; Gestalt therapy; Psychodrama; Unfinished business; Emotion-focused therapy. APA Dictionary of Psychology (empty-chair technique and psychodrama updated November 15, 2023; other entries April 19, 2018). View source
    2. 2 Ottingerová, L., Halamová, J., & Szitás, D. (2026). Experiential therapies including Chairwork: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1692630. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1692630
    3. 3 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. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.63.3.419
    4. 4 Pascual-Leone, A., & Baher, T. (2023). Chairwork in individual psychotherapy: Meta-analyses of intervention effects. Psychotherapy, 60(3), 370–382. doi:10.1037/pst0000490

    Last checked against sources: October 28, 2026