History of Chairwork
Chairwork, or imaginal psychotherapeutic dialogues, was a technique that was created by Dr. Jacob Moreno, the creator of Psychodrama. In this tradition, it was called Monodrama.
It was further developed, however, through its use by Dr. Frederick “Fritz” Perls, one of the founders of Gestalt Therapy. Dr. Perls first studied with Dr. Moreno in New York in the 1950’s; he would later become famous for his use of this therapeutic approach during his years at the Esalen Institute during the 1960’s. Actual transcripts of his sessions can be found in his book, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim.
Over time, many therapists from both within and outside the Gestalt tradition have also been inspired by Perls’ work and have adapted chairwork to fit their own vision of therapy and change. These include such figures as: Claudio Naranjo, MD; Robert Goulding, MD, and Mary Goulding, MSW; Leslie Greenberg, PhD; Marvin Goldfried, PhD; Jeffrey Young, PhD & our Creative Director Dr. Scott Kellog, PhD who developed The Four Dialogues Model
Chairwork Psychotherapy is built on the foundation of the Four Principles. These are:
It is clinically useful to understand people as containing different parts, modes, voices, or selves.
It is healing and transformative for people to give voice to these different parts.
It is also healing and transformative for people to enact or re-enact scenes from the past, the present, or the future.
The ultimate goal of Chairwork is the strengthening of the Ego, the Healthy Adult Mode, or the Inner Leader (Kellogg, February 22, 2020).
The Four Dialogues can be understood as a “psychotherapy DNA.” They are four basic dialogue stances that encompass all of Chairwork practice. These are Storytelling, Giving Voice, Internal Dialogues, and Relationships & Encounters.
TCPP seeks to build upon the best of this rich legacy to create an effective and clinically-informed way of healing patients.
In the years since its creation, Chairwork has traditionally been practiced as a transdiagnostic and integrative therapeutic technique. TCPP has now established it as a standalone therapy modality; a Chairwork Psychotherapy.
Chairwork Psychotherapy is centered on the belief that there is a healing and transformative power in: (1) Giving voice to one’s inner parts, modes, and selves; and (2) Enacting or re-enacting scenes from the Past, the Present, or the Future. In 2018, we discovered the Four Dialogue Matrix – which is a crystallization of over 50 years of Chairwork practice and exploration; this is now the foundation of the approach. Chairwork psychotherapy is informed by the traditions of Gestalt Therapy, Psychodrama, and a range of integrative psychotherapies. It may be applied as a transdiagnostic therapeutic technique or employed as a standalone psychotherapeutic modality– useful for any clinician regardless of theoretical orientation, niche, clinical focus or career stage.
Chairwork takes two basic forms. To start, two chairs are placed several feet apart – each facing the other. In the “Empty Chair” version, the patient sits in one chair and tries to imagine an important person or figure in their life – past, present, or future. They then talk to this person as if he or she were actually there. For example, a patient who has been grieving over a loss can “speak” to the person who is no longer in their life and express their love, anger, and grief.
In the “two-chair” version, the patient will shuttle back and forth between the two chairs. In this way, they can have a conversation with an imagined person or they can have a dialogue with different parts of themselves. For example, they can speak from the part of themselves that wants to look for a new job and, switching chairs, from the part that is afraid of change.
We believe that Chairwork provides therapists and patients with a new way of understanding and experiencing psychotherapy. This practice provides perspective, space, freedom to grapple with challenging things, and, from a clinician standpoint, a more empowering way to do therapy. We believe that when therapists feel confident and courageous, they can have a profound ability to support the therapy healing process.