What is Chairwork Psychotherapy?
In my journey as a Psychologist, I have been centrally focused on three questions:
- How do people change, heal, and transform their lives?
- What are the psychological processes that are involved? and
- How can I utilize them in my psychotherapeutic work?
In 2001, after years of searching, I discovered and fell in love with Chairwork – an intense, dramatic, beautiful, and highly emotional form of psychotherapy – and I immediately began a deep study of this therapeutic art form. Starting with its origins in Gestalt Therapy and Psychodrama, I have integrated the insights and practices of a wide range of integrative and experiential therapies – including Schema Therapy, Voice Dialogue, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
In 2018, I “discovered” the Four Dialogues – which is an elegant crystallization of sixty years of Chairwork practice. It both simplified and increased the power of the work; it is at the heart of what I do.
The actual therapy process focuses on the three core areas of difficulty that are at the heart of a great deal of human suffering – problems with self-hatred, inner conflicts, and problematic behaviors; being haunted by experiences from the past; and having painful relationships with other people – both past and present.
Using chairs as a guiding structure, patients are invited to:
- Give Voice to and create dialogues among their inner parts, modes, voices, or selves;
- Work through difficult or traumatic memories and experiences; and
- Engage in dialogues with people from the Past, the Present, or the Future and express their feelings of love, anger, fear, grief and loss, and betrayal – as appropriate.