Find the split and give each side a chair
Catch the moment one part of you is judging or pressuring another, and set the two sides apart in two chairs.
Why it works
Greenberg's method starts from a marker: a statement in which one part of the self evaluates or coerces another ("I'm so stupid for doing that", "I should be over this"). As long as both sides speak through one voice, the person only feels the bad mood the split produces. Putting each side in its own chair turns a single knot into two speakers who can address each other, which is what lets feeling and meaning move. Early studies found that two-chair work applied at such a split deepened experiencing more than empathic reflection or focusing did.
How to do it
- Notice the sentence that has a judge and a judged in it ("I'm pathetic for still being upset"). Write it down word for word.
- Set two chairs facing each other. Decide which chair is for the part that criticizes or pushes, and which is for the part on the receiving end.
- Before speaking, name each side in plain words: "the part that says I'm lazy" and "the part that feels tired and crushed".
- Start in the critic's chair, since in Greenberg's sequence the critic speaks first.
Evidence
Greenberg, Rice and Elliott set out two-chair dialogue at a self-evaluative split as a task in their 1993 manual, and Elliott and colleagues describe the conflict-split marker in their training text. In an analogue study with 16 participants acting as their own controls, the two-chair operation at a conflict marker produced deeper experiencing and more change in awareness than empathic reflection, with no difference in goal attainment; a second study with 42 counselling students found deeper experiencing than focusing plus empathic reflection. A 2026 systematic review of 22 randomized trials of chair work in many forms and therapies reported effects from small to large. (clinical)
The early studies are small analogue experiments that measured in-session depth of feeling, not lasting change. The 2026 review pools chair work of every kind (including empty-chair work), so it is evidence for chair work in general, not for this step.
Sources
- Greenberg, L. S., Rice, L. N., & Elliott, R. (1993). Facilitating Emotional Change: The Moment-by-Moment Process. Guilford Press. (Ch. 10, Two Chair Dialogue at a Self-Evaluative Split; Ch. 11, Two Chair Enactment for Self-Interruption Split.)
- Elliott, R., Watson, J. C., Goldman, R. N., & Greenberg, L. S. (2004). Two-chair work for conflict splits. In Learning emotion-focused therapy: The process-experiential approach to change (pp. 219-241). American Psychological Association.
- Greenberg, L. S., & Clarke, K. M. (1979). Differential effects of the two-chair experiment and empathic reflections at a conflict marker. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 26(1), 1-8.
- Greenberg, L. S., & Higgins, H. M. (1980). Effects of two-chair dialogue and focusing on conflict resolution. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 27(3), 221-224.
- Ottingerová, L., Halamová, J., & Szitás, D. (2026). Experiential therapies including Chairwork: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1692630.
Common mistake
Setting up a split that is really a disagreement with another person ("my mother thinks I'm lazy"). If the critic belongs to someone else, that is empty-chair work; two-chair work is for the voice that has become your own.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Two-Chair Dialogue: Working With the Inner Critic and Other Inner Splits
- Let the critic speak in full, to your face
Sit in the critic's chair and say its criticisms out loud, directly and specifically, to the other chair.
- Answer from the other chair with what you feel and need
Move to the criticized side's chair and tell the critic how its words land, then what you need from it.
- Stay with the dialogue until the critic softens
Return to the critic's chair and respond to the need, watching for a shift from contempt to care or fear.
- Soothe the hurting self from the other chair
When the pain is very raw, sit in the second chair as a caring presence and speak kindly to the part that is suffering.
- Use two chairs for a decision you keep going back and forth on
Give each side of a stuck decision its own chair and let them speak to each other until the deadlock shifts.
- Act out how you stop yourself feeling
When you shut down a feeling before it arrives, play the part that does the stopping, then answer it from the other chair.
Related concepts
- Shadow Work
Meeting the parts of yourself you have been ignoring
- The Empty Chair Technique: Finishing What Was Never Said
Speaking directly to the person you still carry, so the old feelings can finally move
- Working With Your Inner Critic
Practical methods for recognizing, understanding, and defusing the inner critic
- Compassion-Focused Therapy: Calming the Inner Critic
Evolutionary psychology, the three-circle model, and developing a compassionate self
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