Two chair work

I have experienced two chair work in therapy and found it a powerful, effective and creative intervention for bringing about change. In Transactional Analysis, in redecision work, the client sits on one chair and has a confrontation with the parental figure from whom he or she took a limiting message. Using chairs and imagery, the client is brought back to a scene that connects to the original injunction and acceptance decision. The client now confronts the parent or parental figures and tells them that he or she will no longer accept the injunction and that he/her will now live his/ her own life, in defiance of the figure, if necessary.
The client is encouraged to express what he or she wants to the parental figure. The therapist plays an active role in the process, almost like a director, asking the client to express how he/she feels and asks for what he/she wants clearly. The client then physically moves to the other chair and responds as that parental figure. This physical movement is very significant. It allows the person to literally move into the world of the other. It allows for greater emotional arousal (cognitive shifts are more likely to take place if there are higher levels of affect). The dialogue between the Child Ego state of the client and parent continues till the client feels that he has let go of the original maladaptive decision and announced his or her voluntary adoption of a new decision, a healthier perspective on life.
Resolution can happen
1. As the client expresses the feeling which may have been repressed. Just the expression is sufficient to let go and open up options
2. As the client responds as his/her parent. Often resolution happens as the parent expresses he/her own helplessness or need. The client may begin to empathise with the other and yet claim his /her rights by saying, “you may want me to be more successful out of your concern for me, but I am going to celebrate my success and I am successful enough.”
If the resolution does not happen, then the therapist can step in with a process called the parent interview. In this the therapist then has a dialogue with the parental figure. If the client continues to be a victim, the therapist may also challenge the client by saying, “OK, tell your parent that you will continue to sulk and feel sorry for yourself all your life.” The client of course does not say this, but it makes them aware of their victim stance and encourages them to make the shift.