Psychotherapeutic Technique: Empty Chair

I’d like to introduce a very unique and influential therapeutic practice in gestalt therapy. Empty Chair technique is effective “when a client is stuck, either in an internal or external conflict or not knowing which of two options to choose” (Rock & Page, 2009, p. 294). A part of the process in this technique is below; the situation is that it seems difficult for a client to complain about his or her subordinate because the client is too kind to people to reproach for the subordinate’s neglect of duty.

Coach: Let’s say that your subordinate is sitting here in this empty chair. What would you say to him?

Client: Why don’t you perform your duty? Are you really a professional consultant? What’s your motivation to work? If you don’t have passion, quit right now!

Coach: Now, please stand up and move over to the empty chair and when you sit in it, please become him having heard all that you said right now. What’s your response as him?

The dialogue goes on, and the empty chair technique is performed in that way. In my view, this technique is helpful for clients to take the other person’s perspective and to change behavior and thinking patterns. To explain a therapeutic effect in more detail, clients can re-organize his or her perceptions and experiences and create a new gestalt through this exercise.

Reference

Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations for Practice

Fully Functioning Person?

I’d like to highlight the three characteristics of the fully functioning person based on Rogers’ theory. First of all, Rogers defines the fully functioning person as “a person who is completely aware of his or her ongoing self” (Farger & Fadiman, 2002, p. 328). In other words, the fully functioning person can be described as a person who continually evolves. The first characteristic is an openness to experience. As Cain (2010) points out, the person who is open to experience tends to take in information produced from within or from the external environment without defensiveness. The second quality is living in the present. The person who is living in the present is likely to directly engage with reality, and his or her self and personality emerges from experience in that moment. The last property is trusting in one’s inner urging and intuitive judgments. According to Rogers’ idea, the person who has self-trust would make a mistake through erroneous information, not erroneous processing or misperceptions (Farger & Fadiman, 2002). Consequently, the person who has the above three characteristics is regarded as the fully functioning person, and the person continues to walk a way to self-actualization.  

Reference

-Personality and Personal Growth
-Person-Centered Psychotherapies