Integrative Techniques (Empty Chair)

Configuration and Purpose of the Empty Chair

The empty chair technique is the integrative tool par excellence in Gestalt, used to work on projections, unfinished business or grief.

The use of safe elements such as cushions, puffs or padded furniture is recommended instead of rigid chairs, to protect the physical integrity of the patient from possible aggressive discharges.

Spatial configuration is vital: the therapist should not stand behind the patient or the empty chair, but form an equilateral triangle that allows him/her to observe both positions.

The premise is that the patient places the element (cushion/chair) in front of him/her at the distance he/she considers appropriate, representing the person, situation or part of him/herself with which he/she needs to dialogue.

Dialogue and Working with Polarities

The procedure involves an active dialogue. First, the patient describes in detail who he imagines in the empty chair, both physically and personally, in order to connect with the projection. Then, he or she is invited to express what he or she feels or needs to say.

Crucially, the patient is asked to change places (role reversal), sitting in the empty chair to respond as if he/she were the other person or the other part of his/her personality (polarity).

If the patient is blocked ("I don't know what my father would say"), he is instructed to "invent" the response, which often unlocks projected unconscious material. This exchange makes it possible to integrate the alienated parts (e.g. the weak part and the strong part, the aggressor and the victim) and to close the open Gestalt.

Summary

The empty chair technique is fundamental to work on projections and unfinished business. Safe eleme