The Adult Chair: Get Unstuck, Claim Your Power, and Transform Your Life

Therapist and podcaster Chalfant (The Michelle Chalfant Show) expands on earlier books related to the Adult Chair model she conceptualized, which interprets how one develops into who they are. She describes three chairs (child, adolescent, adult), developmental phases whose particular energies influence one’s life and beliefs. The child chair serves as the source for emotions and creativity; the adolescent chair represents ego formation, which can keep individuals safe but may lead to inaccurate assumptions or exhausting people-pleasing; the adult chair allows one to respond rather than react and to live with intention. The adult chair is the ideal chair, but most people spend little time in it due to occurrences during their formative years that play an integral role in shaping their future selves. An easy, salubrious transition to the adult chair phase is rare. Chalfant provides five pillars that denote healthy adulthood: acknowledging one’s reality, practicing self-care, feeling emotions fully, owning triggers, and establishing boundaries. This guide provides useful exercises to strengthen these pillars and enlighten readers about each chair’s qualities so they may remain more frequently in the adult chair.