Here is the long (professional version) of what empty chair means.

Gestalt Therapy: When the client expresses a conflict with another person, through this technique, the client is directed to talk to that another person who is imagined to be sitting in an empty chair beside or across the client. This helps the client to experience and understand the feeling more fully.

Thus, it stimulates your thinking, highlighting your emotions and attitudes. For example, the therapist may say, "Imagine your father in this chair (about 3 feet away), see him vividly, and, now, talk to him about how you felt when he was unfaithful to your mother."

There are innumerable other people, objects (your car or wedding ring), parts of your personality (critical parent, natural child, introversion, obsession with work), any of your emotions, symptoms (headaches, fatigue), any aspect of a dream, a stereotype (blacks, macho males, independent women), and so on that you can imagine in the empty chair.

The key is a long, detailed, emotional interaction--a conversation. You should shift back and forth between chairs as you also speak for the person-trait-object in the other chair. This "conversation" clarifies your feelings and reactions to the other person and may increase your understanding of the other person.

The short version: I will go into my session. She will have two chairs facing each other. We will discuss who I am going to talk to that day. She has suggested that I talk to my inner child (at the age of 16). I will visualize her sitting in the other chair. I will tell her how she has destroyed my life with her irrational decisions. I will tell her how angry I am with her. I will tell her that she has ruined my life, etc....

Then I will switch chairs and be Little Squiggle at the age of 16. I will tell Big Squiggle that I am sorry for what I did. I will tell Big Squiggle that I did not know that my actions would reap such long lasting consequences on my future, etc...

It sounds rather easy when I put it like this, but it is a very emotional, grueling thing to go through. I would think that I will be very emotional as I speak for Little and Big Squiggle. I really do not want to do this. Especially with my therapist watching me!

Maybe someone who has actually done this will jump in here and explain it better than I can.