HYPNOTHERAPY: METAPHOR TECHNIQUES - EXAMPLE METAPHORS USED IN
THERAPY:
DAVE MASON
The simplest way to deliver a metaphor is by Story Telling. A story can be understood at face
value or it can be understood metaphorically, as carrying some other meaning. A metaphor
always contains at least two parts: the thing stated and the thing compared to, and communicates
on at least two levels: the surface meaning, and the deep structure meaning, the symbolic
meaning. In general terms, a metaphor is something that stands for something else. Metaphors
can be verbal or non verbal. Verbal metaphors can be open and obvious, for example "I feel like
I'm dragging a great weight around with me" or they can be embedded in language and hidden
in sensory expressions such as "I don't know why I keep punishing myself this way". Or they
can be expressions of abstract concepts "I feel a pain in my soul". Non verbal metaphors include
'body' expressions such as body language, posture, dress, sounds, gestures, lines of sight. Non
verbal also includes 'artistic' communication such as painting, writing, music, dance, play,
drama, ritual and many others. Every method of communication has its own form of metaphor.
Metaphor is used extensively in hypnotherapy.
Metaphor lies at the heart of all human thinking and language. Metaphor determines how we
think about ourselves and how we experience the world. Metaphor shapes societies and cultures.
The ability to understand one thing in terms of another is a fundamental property of being
human. In therapy metaphor serves many crucial functions. A therapist can use metaphor to:
invite the listener to view the world in new ways
enable learning new knowledge.
guide thinking and behaviour
invite active participation
bypass self defeating beliefs
Metaphor plays a central role in passing on cultural values. Stories, myths and parables allow
the individual to draw conclusions about how to act and how to understand their world. In
clinical practice the therapist carries on this tradition. The therapist tells a hypnotized client a
story incorporating one or more carefully constructed metaphors. The client's unconscious mind
then examines the metaphor for parallels in their own life. Over the next days and weeks the
client will unconsciously apply the insights and reframing inherent in the metaphor to cause
changes in their own behaviour or beliefs. Metaphor therapy is therefore a form of indirect
suggestion. However, modern approaches to metaphor therapy do not stop at indirect
suggestion. Some therapies supply a metaphor and ask the client to modify the metaphor to
match their own mental model. Other techniques work directly on the client's own metaphors.
Metaphor Delivery: Metaphors can be delivered while the client is awake, in the form of
anecdotes, stories and waking visualizations, or when the client is trance in the form of fantasy
or action metaphors. Metaphor therapy does not always require a formal induction: most clients
go into trance spontaneously during the telling. Metaphors can be either indirect or direct, from
the client's point of view. Indirect: In an indirect metaphor the client simply hears a story unfold
and listens as the metaphor develops. At most the client may mentally walk through the
situation described in the metaphor or watch or listen as something happens. Direct: In a direct
metaphor the client is the main protagonist and takes an active role in dealing with the metaphor
environment. The client may push down walls or climb over mountains or stamp out fires, etc.
Examples of Metaphor Types: Metaphors can be classified into broad categories. Some
metaphors are very general, others are much more focused and specific.
Revelation Metaphors: These are metaphors in which the client is taken to some strange place,
and there they discover the answer to their problems. The information can be in the form of a
written message, or it can be spoken by some person there, or it can be absorbed somehow by
just being there. The idea is that the person's subconscious already knows the solution to their
problem and just needs permission to allow it to come out. Some revelation metaphors are a
form of cognitive modeling, where the client is helped to reveal their problem as an image, and
then given the tools to change that image.
Example: Library of Discovery
Example: Catalogue of Magick
Idyll Metaphors: These are metaphors designed to help the client relax, to relieve stress or
escape from chronic anxiety. They are usually almost indistinguishable from guided
visualisations. The client is typically taken to an island, or a garden or some other peaceful place
with lots of soothing and calming imagery. The client is invited to lie down, or relax or interact
with gentle creatures. The object is allow the client to learn to invoke their own relaxation
response, to lower heart beat, blood pressure etc.
Example: Relaxation Island
Control Metaphors: These metaphors are based on the idea that if the client can control a
machine of some sort, then that machine can be linked some function that client wants to
control. The metaphors typically invite the client to imagine some machine that incorporates a
measuring device such as a dial. The dial is linked to the clients problem, pain for example, and
the client is encouraged to change the level shown on the dial and thus the level of their
problem.
Example: Control Panel
Action Metaphors: In an action metaphor the client is led into a situation and then is
encouraged to take action to change the environment in some way. The client may push down
gates, or discard burdens or carry out some other task. Action metaphors are also used in
hypnosis in order force the unconscious mind to take a decision or choose one particular
behaviour. The client is led to a situation where taking some symbolic action, like crossing a
bridge or casting off a boat, has the effect of permanently choosing one thing or abandoning
something for ever.
Example: Bridge to Freedom
Example: False Front
Example: Magic Cinema
Reframe Metaphors: These metaphors are used to tell a story which parallels the client's
experience in some way. The client identifies at a subconscious level with the events in the
metaphor but transfers the meaning from the metaphor and applies it to their own experience. In
this way the meaning of their own experience is changed. By reframing the meaning the client is
able to change to a different behaviour in the original situation.
Example: Constant Rock
Example: Slippery Pavement
Fantasy Metaphors: Most metaphors involve some element of imagination and fantasy but
some are entirely fantasy. For example, the person becomes an animal or a medieval knight
swimming through the blood stream or takes some other impossible form.
Anthropomorphic Metaphors: The therapist tells a story which appears to have nothing to do
with the client or the problem. The stories are often based on anthropomorphized animals spiders, centipedes, talking fish, etc., - and told in a very simplistic almost childish manner. The
tales usually have some distress done to the young animal, the animal tries two or three things to
overcome the problem and is on the verge of giving up when some wiser animal suggests the
solution. The idea is that the client's unconscious mind will draw parallels with the issues in the
story and will adopt the suggested solution. These metaphors are designed to teach indirectly
and thus sidestep any client resistance.
Example: The Cat and the Teddy Bear
Example: The Swimming Bear
Introspection Metaphors: Metaphors generally have some point the therapist wants to make,
or have some parallel with the client's situation, but there are also metaphors which have no
message, no obvious point, or no ending, or perhaps several possible endings. These metaphors
engage the subconscious mind by bringing together elements that seem unrelated to each other
or which might even be contradictory. The client's mind is left to mull over the elements of the
metaphor and to decide for themselves which elements relate to their life, or to construct a story
which connects the elements, or to create an ending for themselves.
Example: Store of Memories
Equivalence Metaphors: These are simple metaphors which 'act out' the wording of a
metaphoric concept. For example a person can be told to imagine that they are standing under a
cold clear m0untain waterfall and the waterfall is 'washing all their problems away'. Or the
person can imagine climbing to the top of a hill from where they can 'see their future' laid out
before them.
Example: Gravel Path
Multi-level Metaphors: Multi-level metaphors consist of a series of embedded stories.
Typically three metaphors are used together. The client is introduced to the first metaphor and
is led through it to some dramatic point where the client is left with an unresolved issue. Then
the therapist starts a second metaphor story and again the client is led to some dramatic point
and the story is left unresolved. The third metaphor is introduced and taken to its conclusion.
This third metaphor is the central aspect of the therapy session. It can be pure metaphor or
elements of direct suggestion can be incorporated into this core part. The issue of the core
metaphor is resolved, then the theme of the second metaphor is picked up again and taken to its
conclusion. Finally the third metaphor resumes where it left off and the client is allowed to
resolve that too.
Example: Big Purple Elephant
Metaphor Methods
Story Telling: Jokes, anecdotes and tales
Cognitive Modelling
Dragon Slaying
Metaphor Modelling
Examples of Therapeutic Metaphors
Short metaphor stories
Bridge to Freedom
Constant Rock
Control Panel
Cruise Control
False Front
Grand Canyon
Indecision
Library of Discovery
Magic Cinema
Relaxation Island
Slippery Pavement
Store of Memories
Swimming Bear
The Cat and the Teddy Bear
REORIENTATION FROM TRANCE IN HYPNOSIS: Reorientation is the process of
bringing the client out of trance. There are many ways to do it, and many ways of doing it
wrong. The standard method of telling the client that they will feel wonderful when they open
their eyes is generally a bad idea. I no longer use the 'wow you are feeling fabulous and bursting
with energy and everything is bright and wonderful' type of re-orientation - too many people
just do not feel that way when they come out of trance. Given that most of the people who
attend hypnotherapy are unhappy in the first place it is to be expected that they don't naturally
feel full of fizz just because somebody suggested it.
I find that the majority of people coming out of trance are filled with the wonder of the
experience, and what they want is a few moments of quiet to enjoy that amazing feeling. Telling
people that they will feel energized and jumping for joy when they were deep in trance a
moment ago just does not work. The human body cannot instantly flip from profound relaxation
to hyperactivity. Telling people they should feel ecstatic risks disappointing the client. If they
don't get the promised feeling so they immediately think they have failed. Or worse, they think
you have failed, and therefore the session has failed. Better to avoid it.
I find that if there is enough time left in the session it is best to say to the client something like
'And now you can come back to the present in your own time and in your own way'. There is a
belief among some experienced hypnotists, especially stage hypnotists, that the count up reorientation is a waste of time, and they simply say 'Open your eyes, your mind is clear and you
are ready for the rest of your day. Now.'
COUNT OUT REORIENTATION: This is the standard count out reorientation routine. It
gives the client time to go from trance to full alertness, but does not take more than a few
seconds. The therapist should pace their words to whatever the client is doing. So if the client
starts moving their feet a little, then say '.... and feet moving, legs flexing....'Back to the
present.... In a moment I am going to begin counting up from five to one, and when get to one,
you will be back in the present, fully alert and ready for the rest of your day.... So counting
now...
FIVE
FOUR... beginning to get feeling back into your hands and feet.... suggesting
THREE shoulders moving.... taking a deep breath.... head moving.... pacing
TWO and getting ready for a big stretch.... and a smile, coming back to the present... eyelids
fluttering... becoming aware of where you are.... pacing
ONE: EYES OPEN, BACK AGAIN... fully alert....
Welcome back.
How do you feel?
PERMISSIVE REORIENTATION: The gentlest way to end the trance is to allow the client
some quiet time to absorb what has been suggested during the session. Just tell the client that the
session is over and they should consider what has been said, and can come back to full
awareness when they are ready.
Back to the present.... And so before coming back to full awareness..... presupposition take
whatever time you need now... to consider those ideas... to allow your mind to examine things
from every aspect... like a jeweller looking into the heart of a diamond... and the lessons and
possibilities... consider them deeply... absorb them deeply... into your very being.... thinking
about how best to apply them.... (bind: best)... And when you have had enough time to process
and learn from this session.... then it is time to bring this session to a close, a comfortable
close...Ibind: time
and you can start coming back to the present.... at whatever rate is right for you.
...so when you are fully prepared to... you can find yourself back in full awareness of the room
around you, feeling refreshed... and knowing that you have finally settled something important.
Some clients can take a very long time to come out of trance if you give them the option. You
may have to hurry them along by using the count out procedure.
POST HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION REORIENTATION: On coming out of trance the mind
is still highly suggestible, so the Reorientation is a good time to slip in a few post hypnotic
suggestions to reinforce the main points of the therapy. Back to the present.... And when you
open your eyes you realize you are seeing things differently now, that things have changed... that
you have changed... you are organized and focused and deeply confident. I wonder what part
you will enjoy the most?
10. HYPNOTHERAPY: METAPHOR TECHNIQUES - EXAMPLE METAPHORS USED IN
THERAPY: The simplest way to deliver a metaphor is by Story Telling. A story can be
understood at face value or it can be understood metaphorically, as carrying some other
meaning. A metaphor always contains at least two parts: the thing stated and the thing compared
to, and communicates on at least two levels: the surface meaning, and the deep structure
meaning, the symbolic meaning. In general terms, a metaphor is something that stands for
something else. Metaphors can be verbal or non verbal. Verbal metaphors can be open and
obvious, for example "I feel like I'm dragging a great weight around with me" or they can be
embedded in language and hidden in sensory expressions such as "I don't know why I keep
punishing myself this way". Or they can be expressions of abstract concepts "I feel a pain in my
soul". Non verbal metaphors include 'body' expressions such as body language, posture, dress,
sounds, gestures, lines of sight. Non verbal also includes 'artistic' communication such as
painting, writing, music, dance, play, drama, ritual and many others. Every method of
communication has its own form of metaphor. Metaphor is used extensively in hypnotherapy.
Metaphor lies at the heart of all human thinking and language. Metaphor determines how we
think about ourselves and how we experience the world. Metaphor shapes societies and cultures.
The ability to understand one thing in terms of another is a fundamental property of being
human. In therapy metaphor serves many crucial functions.
A therapist can use metaphor to:
invite the listener to view the world in new ways
enable learning new knowledge.
guide thinking and behaviour
invite active participation
bypass self defeating beliefs
Metaphor plays a central role in passing on cultural values. Stories, myths and parables allow
the individual to draw conclusions about how to act and how to understand their world.
In clinical practice the therapist carries on this tradition. The therapist tells a hypnotized client a
story incorporating one or more carefully constructed metaphors. The client's unconscious mind
then examines the metaphor for parallels in their own life. Over the next days and weeks the
client will unconsciously apply the insights and reframing inherent in the metaphor to cause
changes in their own behaviour or beliefs. Metaphor therapy is therefore a form of indirect
suggestion. However, modern approaches to metaphor therapy do not stop at indirect
suggestion. Some therapies supply a metaphor and ask the client to modify the metaphor to
match their own mental model. Other techniques work directly on the client's own metaphors.
Metaphor Delivery: Metaphors can be delivered while the client is awake, in the form of
anecdotes, stories and waking visualizations, or when the client is trance in the form of fantasy
or action metaphors. Metaphor therapy does not always require a formal induction: most clients
go into trance spontaneously during the telling. Metaphors can be either indirect or direct, from
the client's point of view. Indirect: In an indirect metaphor the client simply hears a story unfold
and listens as the metaphor develops. At most the client may mentally walk through the
situation described in the metaphor or watch or listen as something happens. Direct: In a direct
metaphor the client is the main protagonist and takes an active role in dealing with the metaphor
environment. The client may push down walls or climb over mountains or stamp out fires, etc.
Examples of Metaphor Types: Metaphors can be classified into broad categories. Some
metaphors are very general, others are much more focused and specific.
Revelation Metaphors: These are metaphors in which the client is taken to some strange place,
and there they discover the answer to their problems. The information can be in the form of a
written message, or it can be spoken by some person there, or it can be absorbed somehow by
just being there. The idea is that the person's subconscious already knows the solution to their
problem and just needs permission to allow it to come out. Some revelation metaphors are a
form of cognitive modeling, where the client is helped to reveal their problem as an image, and
then given the tools to change that image.
Idyll Metaphors: These are metaphors designed to help the client relax, to relieve stress or
escape from chronic anxiety. They are usually almost indistinguishable from guided
visualizations. The client is typically taken to an island, or a garden or some other peaceful place
with lots of soothing and calming imagery. The client is invited to lie down, or relax or interact
with gentle creatures. The object is allow the client to learn to invoke their own relaxation
response, to lower heart beat, blood pressure etc.
Control Metaphors: These metaphors are based on the idea that if the client can control a
machine of some sort, then that machine can be linked some function that client wants to
control. The metaphors typically invite the client to imagine some machine that incorporates a
measuring device such as a dial. The dial is linked to the clients problem, pain for example, and
the client is encouraged to change the level shown on the dial and thus the level of their
problem.
Action Metaphors: In an action metaphor the client is led into a situation and then is
encouraged to take action to change the environment in some way. The client may push down
gates, or discard burdens or carry out some other task. Action metaphors are also used in
hypnosis in order force the unconscious mind to take a decision or choose one particular
behaviour. The client is led to a situation where taking some symbolic action, like crossing a
bridge or casting off a boat, has the effect of permanently choosing one thing or abandoning
something for ever.
Reframe Metaphors: These metaphors are used to tell a story which parallels the client's
experience in some way. The client identifies at a subconscious level with the events in the
metaphor but transfers the meaning from the metaphor and applies it to their own experience. In
this way the meaning of their own experience is changed. By reframing the meaning the client is
able to change to a different behaviour in the original situation.
Fantasy Metaphors: Most metaphors involve some element of imagination and fantasy but
some are entirely fantasy. For example, the person becomes an animal or a medieval knight
swimming through the blood stream or takes some other impossible form.
Anthropomorphic Metaphors: The therapist tells a story which appears to have nothing to do
with the client or the problem. The stories are often based on anthropomorphised animals spiders, centipedes, talking fish, etc., - and told in a very simplistic almost childish manner. The
tales usually have some distress done to the young animal, the animal tries two or three things to
overcome the problem and is on the verge of giving up when some wiser animal suggests the
solution. The idea is that the client's unconscious mind will draw parallels with the issues in the
story and will adopt the suggested solution. These metaphors are designed to teach indirectly
and thus sidestep any client resistance.
Introspection Metaphors: Metaphors generally have some point the therapist wants to make,
or have some parallel with the client's situation, but there are also metaphors which have no
message, no obvious point, or no ending, or perhaps several possible endings. These metaphors
engage the subconscious mind by bringing together elements that seem unrelated to each other
or which might even be contradictory. The client's mind is left to mull over the elements of the
metaphor and to decide for themselves which elements relate to their life, or to construct a story
which connects the elements, or to create an ending for themselves.
Equivalence Metaphors: These are simple metaphors which 'act out' the wording of a
metaphoric concept. For example a person can be told to imagine that they are standing under a
cold clear mountain waterfall and the waterfall is 'washing all their problems away'. Or the
person can imagine climbing to the top of a hill from where they can 'see their future' laid out
before them.
Multi-level Metaphor: Multi-level metaphors consist of a series of embedded stories. Typically
three metaphors are used together. The client is introduced to the first metaphor and is led
through it to some dramatic point where the client is left with an unresolved issue. Then the
therapist starts a second metaphor story and again the client is led to some dramatic point and the
story is left unresolved. The third metaphor is introduced and taken to its conclusion. This third
metaphor is the central aspect of the therapy session. It can be pure metaphor or elements of
direct suggestion can be incorporated into this core part. The issue of the core metaphor is
resolved, then the theme of the second metaphor is picked up again and taken to its conclusion.
Finally the third metaphor resumes where it left off and the client is allowed to resolve that too.
Metaphor Methods
Story Telling: Jokes, anecdotes and tales
Cognitive Modeling
Dragon Slaying
Metaphor Modeling
Examples of Therapeutic Metaphors
Short metaphor stories
Bridge to Freedom
Constant Rock
Control Panel
Cruise Control
False Front
Grand Canyon
Indecision
Library of Discovery
Magic Cinema
Relaxation Island
Slippery Pavement
Store of Memories
Swimming Bear
The Cat and the Teddy Bear
The Child of Time