A Place to Sit

An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphor

It is as if you needed a place to sit, and so you began describing a chair. Letʼs

say you gave a really detailed description of a chair. Itʼs a grey chair, and it has a metal

frame, and itʼs covered in a fabric, and itʼs a very sturdy chair. OK. Now can you sit in

that description.

(No)

Hereʼs the thing, and check your own experience: Hasnʼt you mind been telling you

things like “The world is this way, and that way and your problem is this and that, et

cetera?” Describe, describe. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. And all the while youʼre

getting tired. You need a place to sit. And your mind keeps handing you ever more

elaborate descriptions of chairs. Then it says to you, “Have a seat.” Descriptions are

fine, but what we are looking for here is an experience, not a description of an

experience. Minds canʼt deliver experience, they only blab to us about our experience

elsewhere. So weʼll let your mind describe away, and in the meantime, you and I will

look for a place to sit.