Use of the Empty Chair Gestalt Counselling Technique in Helping University Students with Peer Relationship Challenges: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the use of the empty chair Gestalt counselling technique in helping students with peer relationship challenges by using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach. An expert purposive sampling method was used to select all 4 counsellors currently working at a public university and 16 students who had been counselled using the empty chair Gestalt counselling technique to inform this study. Semi-structured interviews and retrospective record reviews were used to collect data there after the data was analysed thematically. The findings indicated that most of the clients reported progress and were helped to resolve their relationship challenges while a few showed difficulties in engaging with the technique. Factors that positively contributed to the success of the empty chair technique included counsellor skills, the client’s ability to use their imagination, client’s willingness to engage in the empty chair technique. Where the technique did not work well, it was mainly in circumstances where clients felt some discomfort with the technique. The notable cases where the empty chair counselling technique was mostly used were rejection, unresolved relationship challenges, need for emoting, and intra and inter-personal conflicts. The study recommends that counsellors who use the empty chair technique need to have adequate training in its application to offer a more effective and comfortable experience for clients.