Mechanisms V – other processes

This chapter summarises some of the additional mechanisms of action which are believed to play a role in chairwork. First, enacting distressing interpersonal and intrapersonal events encourages decentring by inviting individuals to ‘step into’ and ‘step back from’ such experiences. Second, movement between chairs may help disrupt maladaptive attentional processes and encourage focused attention towards adaptive representations. Third, chairwork supports the development of new behavioural skills through experiential learning. Finally, theories of embodied cognition suggest that enacting adaptive experiences of the self can, in itself, stimulate cognitive and emotional change.