Therapists' experiences of chairwork with children and adolescents: A qualitative interview analysis

Chairwork describes a set of experiential techniques where different parts of the self or representations of others are placed into chairs and given a voice. Using chairwork, individuals can practice self-reflexivity, address internal conflicts, and develop greater acceptance of their self-parts. There is a dearth of research regarding chairwork with young people and little is known about how therapists perceive and implement chairwork with this population. This study aims to explore therapists' experiences of chairwork with children and adolescents.

Twelve qualified therapists from seven countries who were trained in and had facilitated chairwork with young people were recruited using convenience sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Six themes were generated: "Playfulness and Creativity", "Working with the Developmental Needs of the Young Person", "Contextualizing the Young Person in their Relational World", "Facilitating Insight and Integration of the Self", "Overcoming Fear of Failure- Therapists' Professional Development", and "Therapist Agency and Confidence".

Therapists should seek to facilitate chairwork more effectively with young people by incorporating playful and creative methods, tailor the work to the young person's developmental stage, consider those in their relational system, and address therapist hesitations through peer support and supervision.