How to Use Metaphor An Easy Tool for

How to Use Metaphor An Easy Tool for Complicated Problems By Annette Mc. Lean MS ED LCPC CEDS

What is metaphor? A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable Something that is said that is symbolic of something else. Requires abstract thought. An implied comparison

Why Use Metaphor? Help an individual to understand their problem and recovery in a new way Metaphors affect us on different levels and all at once: 1. Mental-you understand your problem differently. 2. Emotional-you may feel surprise, a small emotional shift. 3. Imaginative-Carl Jung says that healing from metaphor occurs on imaginative level. Fairy tales are ancient and metaphorical. Visualizing is part of the healing. Using more than words. Thinking in pictures is a great way to unearth unconscious material. Effects the part of our brain above the right ear that achieves insight. Same part as when we “get” a joke.

More on Metaphor Helps us learn to not take every symptom too literally. How we do anything is how we do everything. Take ED for example. They just don’t restrict food; restrict relationships, restrict feelings, restrict experiences, etc. Helps us see the big picture. In what way is your relationship with pizza like your relationship with your boyfriend? Like an optical illusion; Once you see it, you cannot un-see it. And that is part of the value…. gives us a mental picture. Metaphor can help us learn to manage our emotions. Often time our clients need this. They need more than the mechanics of wellness and recovery. (Don’t drink. Don’t eat. Exercise. Etc. )

Metaphor and the Brain Metaphor does not effect us on the left hemisphere. Not the logical reasoning, analytical part. Effects our right brain. The place we can connect the dots, see how things are related and connected within our problems. Unfortunately, as a society we are continually left brain thinking dominant. Need both sides but helping clients access the right hemisphere through metaphor can help them achieve healing.

Left Brain Black and white thinking Sees details not big picture Not in touch with reality but its story about reality Builds its own conclusions Likes the familiar Easy access to anger

Right Brain Flow Open to possibilities Sees things as a whole Capable of more complex emotions Okay with the “gray”

Metaphor Examples Cant see the forest for the trees. ie. Lost in the details. ” Two sides of the same coin Wheelbarrow in the same groove to describe neural paths in brain “But I am not as bad off as others. ” Broken arm gets set same as a broken hip. Our role=coach, midwife, hiking guide. Hiking guide is expert of the mountain, not you. get better? ” With addictions, depression, anxiety, etc. “You are getting hijacked again. You need to be driving, not _____. You need to get into the cockpit. ” When they are defeating themselves with their self talk, ed, lack of self care. “No one can run on empty and not eventually stop. ” To explain metabolism: You have to keep adding water to the pot or it just burns. The “M” of SOFT AIM

Metaphors continued… The Log by Dr. Anita Johnston-good with addictions The three pix exercise-great because it is the client’s metaphor. Feel trapped? Who has the key? That said, listen for the metaphors your client is using in therapy. Bring them up. Ask about them. For ex: “hitting my head against the wall. ” Notice it. Reflect on it. How is hitting your head against this wall helping or hurting? What could you do differently? And so on. If your life was a book, what would the title be? What would the back cover say? For transitions: To someone getting a divorce: “This sounds like the end of a chapter for you. What if you could write the next part? OR… with an new diagnosis: “Seems like this is going to be a new chapter for you. What characters from your current life will be a help with this difficult chapter? ”

And More Group example: “ I am tired of getting walked on!” to which another participant yells, “Then get up off the floor!” Used again and again. “Painting yourself into a corner. ” My TPF as metaphor for recovery. Learned helplessness study If someone is very concrete, metaphor will not work. As always, be curious, not a know it all.

Guided Imagery Guides clients out of problem and into solution. Lets us know where they want/need to go. Guide clients through a story in the future. Example: Waking up and larger or conversely smaller on any given day. Examples: having difficulty making a vocational decision. Picture herself five years in the future on a typical day Example: A couple is asked to picture how their lives would be and each were treated as they wish on a typical day Example: The miracle question Can look in past too for origin of issues: Example: Looking for origin of ED in childhood

Visual Props Metaphorical Stems Great way to start groups If I were an animal today, I would be_____. Using Visual Props to Symbolize Issues-Transitional Objects Carrying around a guilt rock If I were a mode of transportation, I would be ______. Carrying an erase to remember it is ok to make mistakes If I were a food, I would be_______ Brene Brown post it notes Great when clients say they lose the insight between sessions.