Suppose you go skiing. You take a lift to the top of a hill, and you are just about to ski down the hill when a man comes along and asks where you are going. “Iʼm going to the lodge at the bottom,” you reply. He says, “I can help you with that,” and promptly…
Poison ivy is a plant that produces a strong skin irritant. Most people avoid touching the plant because they know what theyʼll get: a nasty, red, blistering rash that itches like hell. If youʼve been unlucky enough to have been exposed, then you know what this is like. Youʼve got the strong urge to scratch….
Our minds are like school playgrounds that are surrounded by secure high fences – they keep children in, and others out. Any bullies in that playground mean that the other children canʼt escape for long. This particular bully uses verbal abuse, shouting, teasing, and threats (rather than physical violence). The children are all fenced in…
Suppose there is a bus and you are the driver. On this bus weʼve got a bunch of passengers. Some of them are scary, and they are dressed up in black leather jackets and they have switchblade knives. What happens is that you are driving along and the passengers start threatening you, telling you what…
An Acceptance and Commitment metaphor Suppose you are taking a hike in the mountains. You know how mountain trials are constructed, especially if the slopes are steep. They wind back and forth; often have “switchbacks”, which make you literally walk back and forth, and sometimes a trail will even drop back to below a level…
An Acceptance and Commitment metaphor A farmer has an old, useless mule that falls into a dry, abandoned well. Upon realizing that he is stuck, the mule becomes afraid and begins to bray. The farmer, who hears the mule crying, decides that instead of pulling him out, he will just bury the creature in the…
An Acceptance and Commitment metaphor Letʼs say itʼs the end of my day and Iʼm ready to lock up my files and leave the office. I quickly notice that I donʼt have my keys — so what do I do? I begin to look for them. So I check the obvious places, but no keys….
An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphor Imagine that you got a new house and you invited all the friends over to a housewarming party. Everyone is invited, except for one guy who you don’t invite because he’s trouble. So all the neighbors show up, the partyʼs going great, and here comes guess-who. You have a choice…
An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphor Imagine you wake up one morning and just outside your front door you find an adorable tiger kitten mewing. of course you bring the little guy inside to keep as a pet. After playing with him for a while, you notice he is still mewing, nonstop, and you realize…
Recall a time when you were in high school and were in love with someone who rejected you. Can you remember how terrible the pain seemed to be at the time? For some people, this pain leads to lifelong scars, to a pattern of not trusting other people and avoiding opportunities for real intimacy. Look…