When psychodrama's empty chair becomes the "self-care chair"

Today's guest blog article is written by Linda Ciotola, M.Ed., TEP, who is the author of "Healing Eating Disorders with Psychodrama and Other Action Methods: Beyond the Silence and the Fury" with Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP. They frequently co-present at various online and in-person trainings.

By Linda Ciotola, M.Ed., TEP

The use of the empty chair was one of the first things I learned early in my training to become a psychodramatist.  
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J.L. Moreno, M.D., the originator of the action method of psychodrama, pioneered the use of the "empty chair" in his first public psychodrama  on April 1, 1921 in Vienna, Austria, when he placed an empty chair on stage and asked for a person to 

take leadership in post-war Austria. He later brought the concept to United States on to the therapeutic stage in Beacon, N.Y. 

Fritz Perls, the developer of Gestalt psychotherapy, was once Moreno’s student and adapted Moreno's empty chair as part of Gestalt Therapy, calling it the "hot seat."

The empty chair – a prop that is literally an empty chair – concretizes concepts and roles. And often, two or more chairs are used to allow the client (or protagonist, as the person is called in psychodrama) to express different roles or different points of view. 

Recently, I have had the opportunity to co-lead a series of “lunch and learn” presentations for health professionals in the local health department in Grasonville, Md., and was looking for a theme for the presentation.  Gazing at an old-style bentwood chair in my office, it struck me that the components of the chair could be a wonderful teaching tool that could represent essential elements of self-care.

Starting with the four legs of chair, each of the four legs could represent the physical needs of a person:

• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Exercise
• Stress management

The seat of the chair could represent:

• Spiritual practice of the person’s choice

The back of the chair could represent:

• Support group or support network

This self-care chair presents a visual metaphor for clarifying and identifying the essentials of self-care.  If one leg was broken — or if there was no seat, or all or part of the back is missing, the chair cannot support whoever tries to there. 

During a recent "lunch and learn" session, one of the attendees – let’s call her Maria – took her turn to sit in the chair and portrayed the role of “the reluctant exerciser."
She intellectually understood that exercise was an important component of her self-care and health but admitted that she had great difficulty in following through with exercise and physical activity on a regular basis.

Maria began by sitting in the chair, speaking her soliloquy, the psychodramatic term for thinking and speaking one’s thoughts out loud. 

I asked her to place a scarf to represent a strength she has that has helped her move through difficult challenges in the past. She chose a blue scarf to hold the role of her determination. When she switched into the role – and chair – of determination, she was able to remind her "reluctant exerciser" self that, "You can do hard things! You took good care of your newborn baby while finishing your master's degree." 

After a few role reversals, moving between the “reluctant exerciser” and “the determined one,” again and again, her "reluctant exerciser" was transformed into the "confident exerciser." 

From the psychodrama director's role, I made a doubling statement, speaking as her inner voice, "I am proud — I can do hard things."  She repeated the statement in her own voice: “I am proud – I can do hard things.”

With this short dramatic vignette, we can see that the brain and the body are intimately connected. Current research confirms the interplay between gut health and brain function. All parts of “the self-care chair” are essential for both.
By using psychodrama techniques like doubling and role reversal with the components of the chair, clients can explore strengths, challenges and action interventions.

About Linda

Linda Ciotola, M.Ed., TEP, is a board-certified trainer, educator and practitioner of psychodrama, group psychotherapy, and sociometry, and a Certified Health Education Specialist (retired) with 50-plus years experience in education, group facilitation and lifestyle counseling. Also a Certified Usui Reiki Master Teacher and Certified Lightarian Reiki Master Practitioner and Interfaith Minister, her areas of expertise include nutrition, exercise, stress management, trauma, eating disorders, women’s health, body image, mindbody wellness.  Learn more at her website here.