Shane's thoughts as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor on "Empty Chair Technique"

The empty chair technique, if I understand correctly, aids a consumer to express their feelings directly to the person that the client associates a particular emotion or action without fear of reprisal.

I believe that aid would be a useful tool because it would help a consumer express their frustrations and allow them to reason within themselves as to why they feel and/of react to particular situations or encounters with particular stressors. In my experience with one of my consumers the chair technique was an extremely beneficial aid. My consumer was experiencing a stressful work-related issue that involved with a peer. My consumer was experiencing feelings of being treated unfairly and dreaded being around this particular co-worker. This consumer accepted my invitation to meet with me at which time I introduced the empty chair technique. I showed them the empty chair and asked if they would imagine their co-worker sitting in it, and if they would be comfortable talking to the chair and simultaneously imagining the dreaded co-worker seated in the chair. Once my consumer processed through the embarrassment phase, their talking to the co-worker was extremely beneficial. This exercise allowed the consumer to realize that it was their perception and that they may have been projecting their perception to the co-worker. Because of my first-hand experience using the empty chair technique, I feel it is a very useful tool. With this particular consumer, I observed a successful resolution and I would not hesitate to use it again.