Using chairwork to socialise clients to the cognitive-behavioural model and allied approaches

Socialising clients to the cognitive-behavioural model is an important task. This usually involves describing the client’s presenting problems in cognitive and behavioural terms, perhaps using a diagrammatic formulation (e.g. a five-systems model; Padesky & Mooney, 1990). This chapter describes how chairwork can be used to socialise clients to CBT more experientially. Ways chairwork is used to socialise clients to allied models of psychotherapy, including compassion focused therapy, schema therapy, and dialectical behaviour therapy, are also presented.