In the quiet space between words, in the moments we pause to listen more deeply—this is where the soul of therapy often speaks. Here we discuss the empty chair as mirror, messenger and portal.
One of Gestalt therapy’s most evocative techniques is the empty chair. Traditionally, it invites a client to engage in a dialogue with someone who isn’t physically present—perhaps a parent, partner, or part of the self. The therapist may set up a literal empty chair and ask the client to speak to that presence as if it were seated there. Sometimes, they switch seats and respond as that presence, creating a dynamic inner conversation.
But for those of us working at the intersection of psychotherapy, intuition, and soul work, the empty chair can become something more. It can be a tool not only for our clients, but for ourselves—a mirror for reflection, a messenger of insight, even a portal into deeper dimensions of the therapeutic encounter.
Here are three ways to work with the empty chair metaphor as a reflective exercise for your own practice:
✴️ Prompt 1: The Classic Revisited
Begin by recalling a client session that lingered in your awareness. Perhaps there was a moment of tension, a missed opportunity, or an emotion that felt just out of reach.
If you had introduced the empty chair in that session, who or what would have occupied it?
What dialogue might have emerged? What felt truths or unfinished business might have been voiced?
How might that have shifted the energy or illuminated the process?
Let this reflection unfold without judgment. You’re not rewriting history—you’re expanding your interior landscape as a guide and witness.
✴️ Prompt 2: The Chair Reversed
Now, flip the scene. You are no longer the therapist—you are seated in the client’s chair, looking across at yourself.
What do you notice about the therapist across from you?
What do you, as the client, long for in that moment? What do you wish to say, feel, or be seen in?
What unmet need, overlooked cue, or deeper resonance reveals itself from this angle?
This exercise invites you into the relational field with fresh eyes and a softened heart.
✴️ Prompt 3: The Portal Chair
And now, we stretch the veil just a little thinner.
Imagine the empty chair not just as a seat—but as a threshold. A portal. A liminal space through which guidance might come.
What—or who—steps through this portal?
An archetype? A spirit guide? The client’s future self? Your own inner healer?
What message is offered? What symbols or sensations accompany it?
You don’t need to believe in anything specific for this to work. You only need to listen with the ears of the soul.
The third prompt weaves a Neo-Jungian perspective to Fritz Perl’s empy chair exercise and even suggests the empty chair can serve as a seat for the Oracle.
These contemplative prompts are a beautiful way to prepare for supervision, deepen your presence in session, or simply realign with your purpose as a healing practitioner.
Because sometimes, the chair isn’t empty at all.
