Beachball
An Acceptance and Commitment Metaphor We try to stop thoughts, but thatʼs impossible. Itʼs like trying to constantly hold an enormous inflatable beach ball under the water, but it keeps popping up in front of our faces. We can allow… Read More
Bad, bad cup!
An Acceptance and Commitment Metaphor There are things in our language that draw us into needless psychological battles, and it is good to get a sense of how this happens so that we can learn to avoid them. One of… Read More
Argyll Socks
An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphor Do you care how many people wear argyle socks? Well, what I want you to do isreally, really develop a strong belief that college boys have to wear argyle socks. Reallyfeel it… Read More
Trumps
When you are playing cards with your mind, how do the trumps work? Does ‘Rational’ or ‘Makes Sense’ always trump ‘Feelings’ or ‘Thoughts’?
Two Mountains
Imagine that you are in the process of climbing up a big mountain that has lots of dangerous places on it. And imagine that my job is to watch out for you and shout out directions if I… Read More
Waiting for the wrong train
Imagine you are going on a journey. Somewhere really special, where you really want to go, somewhere you’ve wanted to go your whole life. When you get to the train station you see two trains. One is a… Read More
Your life as a movie
Picture your life as a movie. The first episodes have already been shot. Now the production is moving on. Imagine that you are the director and you can direct an actor that plays your part. But you’re a special kind of… Read More
The Rip Current
When caught in a rip current, swimmers often intuitively swim towards the shore, unwittingly swimming directly against the rip. This is the main reason rips are so dangerous, because the strong current keeps pulling the swimmer back into… Read More
The Cold Shower
The Cold Shower Based on a metaphor submitted to ACBS by Sarah McCormack You are thinking of taking a shower but you discover there is no hot water: If you had the choice to have a cold shower…or… Read More