In psychotherapy it is very common to use metaphors for the patient to connect with their problem and understand what the therapist wants to transmit. The metaphors of acceptance and commitment therapy (TCA), in particular, are a very valuable resource because they are very informative and enlightening.
One way or another, simple storytelling encourages understanding and a different perspective from what happened, however, before we continue to talk about metaphors and their therapeutic power, let’s explain what these types of therapies are all about.
- Acceptance and commitment therapy is based on two fundamental principles: acceptance and activation.
- So.
- From this point of view.
- The goal is not to avoid suffering or pain.
- But to accept them.
However, this does not mean that the person should renounce themselves, but rather commit to their personal values and pursue them despite the suffering they may experience along the way, so activation and action acquire a very important value.
In this sense, the metaphor helps a lot, because through it is transmitted to the patient a similar experience in which he feels identified and understood, of course, it is important to know what metaphor to use to propose a alternative solution based on the person himself. values, let’s go further.
Acceptance and engagement therapy metaphors can be adapted to different types of problems, which is important to make them useful to the patient and facilitate the therapeutic change they need.
In addition, it is important that the metaphor used is effective and not a simple narrative in which the patient is not reflected, so the following conditions should be respected:
Here are some of the most interesting metaphors for acceptance and engagement therapy.
Imagine sitting on the edge of a tank full of sharks and connected to an extremely sensitive polygraph.
Your task will be to avoid showing signs of anxiety at all costs. If you feel anxious, the seat you’re sitting in will look and you’ll head straight for the shark tank. What do you think’s going to happen?
As you may have imagined, you may end up feeling anxious
This metaphor is very appropriate for those who suffer panic attacks, you start to feel a little anxiety that you are not prepared to tolerate and, when you try to avoid it, because you think it is terrible and you should not feel anxious, you end up feeling it even more When you realize, you have already fallen into the shark tank.
One morning you wake up and find an adorable tiger on your doorstep, adopt him and keep him at home.
Your precious tiger is starting to meow and you can smell like he’s hungry. You give him a piece of minced meat and repeat the same action every time you hear him cry.
Over time, your pet begins to grow. You can no longer feed it with a small burger, but with whole ribs and large pieces of meat.
Here’s what happens with thoughts: they grow and grow like the tiger when you feed them. In other words, you value them more. So, you give them more power and they end up controlling much of your life.
If you’ve used the Chinese finger trap, you’ll know it’s a woven straw tube the thickness of your index finger, when you insert the two indicators, one at each end, and remove them, the straw shrinks and squeezes.
Therefore, the stronger you pull, the narrower the tube becomes and the more it holds; However, if you push your fingers, you will have more freedom of movement.
Now think that life is like a Chinese trap, the more you fight, the more limited your movements will be. If you stop fighting, you’ll have more freedom to make new decisions.
You fall into a hole deep enough and all you have to get out is a shovel, and since you don’t know what to do and you’re desperate, you start using your shovel.
Gradually you’re sinking deeper into the hole, because when you pull the earth out it gets deeper and harder to get out, so wouldn’t it have been better to use the shovel differently?Couldn’t you have waited for someone to come and help you?
This is exactly what happens in the experience evasion, the need to get out of discomfort causes us to sink further into discomfort, however accepting it can help us look for alternative strategies. We may have to tolerate suffering at first, but in the long run. run, the solution will be more beneficial.
As we see, the metaphors of acceptance and commitment therapy can be of great help in clarifying and accepting certain aspects of our lives, they can help us think and, in some cases, rething the situations in which we find ourselves.