Exaggeration Technique

PT: I am feeling angry.

TH: You don't appear to be angry.

PT: It makes me really mad (smiles and makes slight movement of arm and and limp fist).

TH: Can you show me with your fist how angry you are?

PT: (makes fist)

TH: And if you exaggerate that impulse what does your fist do?

PT: (softly bangs arm of chair)

TH: And if you allow yourself to feel the full experience of that anger what is it like?

PT: Shows more force in movement.

TH: And what does that impulse feel like?

PT: Like a volcano wants to explode in my chest!

Friedman^[1] wrote about empty chair work and has the following dialogue:

PT: My father never liked anything I did.

TH: What does that feel like?

PT: It feels like shit. I feel like shit.

TH: Could you tell him that now?

PT: "Dad, you're always criticizing me, always making me feel like I can't do anything right."

TH: (Pauses to see if she's with what she's seeing, then suggests): Switch over.

PT: (As dad): "Well, you know, honey, it's only because I love you so much that I want to see you shine."

TH: Switch back.

PT: "That's bullshit! If you love me so much, why are you always showing me my mistakes?"

PT: (As dad): "Well, someone has got to do it. How else will you learn to shape up?"

TH: What do you feel as dad?

PT: That she is a piece of shit.

TH: Could you tell that to her some more? Do it openly.

References

1. ↑ Norman Friedman, "Fritz Perls's 'Layers' and the Empty Chair: A Reconsideration." The Gestalt Journal, XVI(2), Fall '93, pp. 95-118.