Metaphors of Self-talk

I love using metaphors in writing and therapy. They’re powerful tools to engage the unconscious mind and change our thinking without even realizing it’s happening. Fact is, we often think and self-talk in metaphor without  knowing it, so we might as well intentionally use ones which are positive and promote transformation. A while back a client described a binge she’d had as “falling into a hole,” after which she gradually returned to “normal” eating. Let’s take a look at her metaphor. What sensory sensations and emotional reactions does this image generate in you? Holes are often deep and dark places and falling into one might cause us to feel claustrophobic, panicky, and maybe hopeless about climbing out. We view falling into one as a bad thing to happen to us. So this client was equating all these feelings with having taken in more food than she wished to and making a judgmental, unconscious statement about her behavior as bad. She was reinforcing a negative interpretation—really only one version among others—of her bout with mindless eating. When clients frame behaviors judgmentally and negatively (though, of course, they don’t realize their interpretation is damning), I try to counter with a metaphorical reframing. In this case, I said, “Oh, you got over that slight bump in the road, did you? Well, great. Nice work.” What sensory perceptions and emotional reactions does the bump-in-the-road image generate in you? We’ve ...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Source Type: blogs