When people talk about their life difficulties, they often unconsciously use metaphor. People say, “I just ran into a brick wall” to express powerlessness, or “It feels like a big rock in my chest” to describe hurt, or “I feel caged in” to explain a feeling of being trapped. Metaphor is the language of the subconscious, which does not have words, only images and stories. By using metaphor, we can externalise our problems, which makes them easier to work on.
Developing the metaphor
Metaphors can take many forms:
- An image of a scene or object
- A painting or sculture
- An object inside the body that is causing a symptom or feeling
- A story with characters, settings and conflicts
- A garden, a landscape, or a cityscape
In the presence of somatic compassion (while doing the touch continually) ask the person to close their eyes and visualise their trauma or current emotional state. Ask, “If this feeling or experience were an image, what would it look like?”
Follow-Up Questions:
- What shape does it have?
- How big is it?
- What color is it?
- What are the textures?
- Is it heavy or light? Static or moving?
- What is the quality of the light? Bright, contrasty, dull, dark?
For example, a person might describe their anxiety as a “dark storm cloud swirling overhead” and also notice other details of the scene.
The metaphor might be a picture or painting. Encourage them to create shapes, textures, or scenes that capture the essence of their experience. If there have been a series of painful events, they might appear as individual pictures set within a room or landscape.
The metaphor might be an object within the body, or weighing them down, or holding them back? Get the client to make the image as detailed as possible. For instance, the person might describe a black rubbery object in the neck and shoulder with tentacles gripping into their flesh as the source of their neck pain.
If the metaphor becomes a story, ask the person to describe their trauma as if it were a story with characters, settings, and conflicts.
Maybe the person can represent their life situation as a garden or a landscape? Ask them, “If your trauma were a place, what would it look like?” Ask them to notice the details and describe them. For instance, they might describe a ‘garden of life’ representing different aspect of their experiences. Some parts of the garden might be flourishing and flowering, the plants healthy, some parts might be dried out or choked with weeds.
In every case, ask the person to make the image as detailed as possible. You can ask about size, colour, position in space, texture, the quality of light, and what they notice about the scene or surroundings.
Ask the client about the feelings connected with this image
Ask the person to quickly list the feelings that they experienced in this event/s or situation.
Maybe ask the person to give the metaphor a name?
The person may choose one word, or a phrase, or even something humerous. Reinforce that there is no right or wrong answer.
All of these steps tap into the subconscious understanding of the trauma, even if you don’t know the origins. For instance, the person might have a chronic physical pain without knowing what is causinng it.
The trauma and pain dissolve away as the visual metaphor changes
Somatic compassion creates a ‘magical mind’ where the person can assume special powers, find support, or recreate an image or story. Make sure you maintai your supportive presence and soothing touch throughout the process.
For instance, one little boy was very fearful of using the toilet at school because there was something “evil” in it. In the metaphorical approach, he was given a magic staff to give him superpowers. He decided to fill the whole toilet block with light so there was no room for the dark thing. Using his magic staff he dissolved away all the interior partitions and put in extra-large windows and lights. When asked about the evil thing, he said it couldn’t be in the room any more because there was no dark place to hide in. The next day at school, he was able to use the toilet with no fear.
Here are the many ways an image or scene might be transformed in the person’s imagination
The kind of suggestions you could make:
What would it take to soften the chains?
What could bring light into the cage?
What would you need to change the storm into a calm breeze?
If someone or something came to help, who or what would it be?
Rewrite the story of the trauma with a positive or hopeful resolution. “If this character or scene could evolve, what would happen next?”
Ask the person to imagine introducing light, colour, or other sensory elements to their metaphor. “What would it feel like to bring warmth or brightness into this image?”
Help the person imagine their metaphor after healing has occurred. “What might this image look like once you’ve found peace or resolution?”
What if the picture doesn’t want to change?
The ‘magical mind’ brain state that occurs during somatic compassion can actually take care of changing the metaphor without any effort from the person. If things feel stuck, just go back to the Strengths method and ask the person to share a story about a time they were at their best. After about five minutes, ask the person to examine their visual metaphor again and tell you what they notice.
There was a story of a person who had been in an abusive relationship, with many events. When she was asked about a metaphor, she saw many small pictures pegged on a rotary clothes line in a back yard full of junk. The wires of the drying line were bent and rusty, as was the metal pole. The backyard was full of rubbish and weeds, and the sky was overcast and story. She was asked about a happy memory, which she described for about five minutes. When she was asked to look at the scene again, she was surprised to onotice that half the pictures were missing and that the clothes line was now new and shiny. She was asked to tell another story of a good time. When she checked the metaphorical scene again all of the pictures had disappeared and the clothes line shrunk into the ground. As she continued watching, the junk dissolved away from the backyard, the sky became blue, the back fence dissolved away, and a beautiful landscape appeared in the sunshine. All these changes were spontaneous and not in any way suggested.
When she checked back on some the memories of abuse, the scenes now seemed distant and not distressing any more.
Have fun and be creative!
The ‘magical mind’ is very powerful and works best when not prompted too much. Make the process light-hearted and fun, be playful, reassure the person that there is no right or wrong in the process, and marvel at what will unfold.