Therapists, counsellors and pastoral staff supporting teenagers, young people and adults can use this feelings check-in poster to make the start of a session feel less daunting. Choosing a chair offers clients a straightforward visual way to identify their current emotional state before deciding what they would like to discuss.
The nine-chair check-in activity uses illustrated seats as prompts for a therapy, counselling or emotional wellbeing conversation. Each chair names a different place someone may be in: ready, overwhelmed, stuck, uncertain, exhausted, disconnected, steady, curious or hopeful.
Short first-person statements explain each option in accessible language. The ready chair reflects feeling prepared to talk, while the overwhelmed chair captures having too much going on and not knowing where to begin. Other prompts recognise going round the same problems, feeling unsure of what is needed, low energy, numbness, calmness and the beginnings of hope.
In a one-to-one counselling session, a practitioner can invite a client to point to one or more chairs and use their choice as an opening prompt. It can also be printed for a school wellbeing room, pastoral check-in, youth work session or family conversation, helping a young person or adult communicate when finding the right words is difficult.
The poster is particularly suited to therapists working with teens and adults, school counsellors, social care professionals and support workers who want a gentle mood check-in tool. The curious chair also creates a useful bridge into exploring why a person feels, thinks or reacts as they do, without requiring them to give a full explanation straight away.
