THE AUXILIARY CHAIR TECHNIQUE

Abstract

The auxiliary chair technique has two aspects: I) the substitution of chairs for the subject or auxiliary egos, or for both-in a role playing or psychodramatic session; 2) the transfer of a behavior from the subject to the chair for objective analysis and clarification. Thus the role playing of an episode is done with chairs to represent the various characters or behaviors to be analyzed. Name tags attached to the chairs differentiate one role from another. The director or demonstrator stands behind the chair to facilitate the projection of words, feelings, actions and thoughts into the chair. It is difficult to communicate this technique without actual demonstration, for its great potency greatly depends upon the synchronization of graphic movements with tone, pitch, and rhythm of speech that transmits feeling from the director through the chair to the audience. It is, however, quite easy to use.