Common Metaphors

This work of therapy, of growth, is complex. It is like looking for buried treasure in a mine field - terrifying at times.

I am a pain avoider - I do not want to go into the terror that keeps me trapped. So I resist the exploration. Until I can be comfortable with the territory, I need a guide who can be a resource if I get in trouble when I explore.

There are at least three difficulties associated with being a guide:

  1. to create trust between the two of us so we can work together,
  2. to have a common language so that we can begin exploring, and
  3. to develop self-awareness of personal experience so that shifts of experience may be explored (and utilized as appropriate).

The following metaphors (more expanded concepts than metaphor in some cases) have been very useful in allowing my clients and myself to have a common language while we do the emotional work of creating options.

They represent my best understanding of how we function, in keeping with our biology.