Metaphors in Therapy
Metaphors can be powerful tools in the therapeutic space. They offer an alternate and sometimes easier way to conceptualize abstract therapy concepts. Further, they can make overwhelming thoughts or emotions more accessible. The following blog post will be a deep dive into 4 metaphors I’ve found the most relevant in my work with clients that you might find thought-provoking too! Metaphors can be useful in working towards building improved emotional regulation skills, as well as depression or anxiety management.
Emotional Regulation
Metaphors have specific applications to emotional regulation skills because they promote emotional reflection, and healing through narratives.
Grief as a Wave Metaphor: The grief as a wave metaphor compares the experience of grief to waves from a body of water. This imagery represents that like waves, grief can be unpredictable in nature. Sometimes the waves of grief can feel manageable, and other times they are larger, overwhelming, or all-encompassing. Just as do the waves of the ocean, these grief waves come and go and can look different each time. The usefulness of the grief as a wave metaphor in therapy is to normalize the range of emotions and experiences that accompany grief. When acceptance is built upon the nature of grief, time can be spent focusing on how one can care for themselves when they are experiencing a strong wave of grief and how they will ride out the wave until it softens back.
Beach ball Metaphor: The beach ball metaphor is used to demonstrate the effects of emotional suppression and prompt exploration of alternate responses that support healthy emotional regulation. The metaphor compares the act of suppressing or ignoring emotions to holding an inflated beach ball underwater. It is intended to show that the harder you push down on the beach ball (emotions), the stronger it will bounce back on you when you let go. It’s impossible to hold a beach ball (emotions) down forever, so the focus becomes safe ways to gradually explore and process feelings at a comfortable pace. I have found that the beachball metaphor is often useful when acknowledging or validating experiences.
Depression or Anxiety
Conveyor Belt of Thoughts Metaphor: The conveyor belt of thoughts metaphor is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles of thought defusion or unhooking from unhelpful thoughts. It encourages one to visualize their thoughts as if they were different boxes on a conveyor belt, constantly coming and going as they pass by our consciousness. There are various applications that this metaphor can have in therapy. A significant one is normalizing that thoughts both positive and negative are constantly moving through our minds. Once we realize this, the focus can become upon accepting thoughts as they are and letting unhelpful ones pass rather than becoming hooked onto them.
Drop the Rope Metaphor: The drop the rope metaphor is another metaphor based rooted in the framework of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It compares the experience of struggling with difficult thoughts or feelings to being in a tug of war. The visualization consists of imagining a rope between these thoughts that depicts the experience of being hooked on a thought or fused with a thought. The idea is that one is pulling on the rope to get rid of it, but the more that you pull, the harder the other side pulls back and keeps you hooked. Essentially, the harder you fight against the unhelpful thought, the more entangled you get in the struggle. The usefulness of this metaphor in therapy is to work towards what dropping the rope would like, and tools for defusion to break the cycle of struggle.