Healing Metaphor Feeling Trapped
Feeling Trapped Metaphor Therapy
This short metaphor deals with the common nightmare situation of feeling trapped with some bad thing coming towards you and no way out. This metaphor leads the client into that situation and then uncovers the resources they already have. The client is enabled to discover a forgotten strength that can be used to create an escape.
Once the client is out of danger, the metaphor develops another set of resources to ensure that it never happens again. The entire situation is reframed to empower the client.
The Feeling
And I wonder if you can imagine yourself ... walking along a small narrow street somewhere.... and it's late afternoon... and clouds are coming down... and it's dark.... and you are walking along pulling your coat around you tightly... and on each side there are old houses ... dingy... small... unfriendly... and you are walking down this narrow lane... and you feel as if you have been walking down that lane for a long time...
And as you walk along the road twists to the left ... and then to the right... and you just don't seem to be able to see to the end of it.... and you want to hurry along... and you can hear your feet clattering on stones and reflecting off walls and as you walk along there are lighted windows and doors slightly open and you can hear people arguing... barking... a child cries.... and you keep going along to the left and to the right and still you can't see the end.... and you wonder how long you have to stay on this road.... between these mean buildings. ....
The Trap
....And as you walk along suddenly the street lights come on ... and it adds a bit of light... and looking forward you can see... that the lane comes to an end.... it's completely blocked off ... and you walk up there and as you get to the end... the whole street the whole lane is blocked by a large double door... like a factory gate or something like that.... And you stand in front of that door and you look at it and you wonder what is on the other side. And then you get a feeling that there is something special on the other side of that gate.... that there is a way out this lane.... and you are standing in front of that big double door...
The escape
And you look at that door... and after a moment.... you discover that there is a crack in one of the doors... And you reach out and you run your fingers along the crack...and you discover that in fact there's a little door... set in that huge door.... and that little door has a handle there... And you reach out ... and you turn the handle.... and that little door swings open.... and you can step out of that lane, away from those mean little houses... and those mean people... and you can step through that door... And through that door... on the other side of the gate... there is a wonderful bright landscape.... there are hills, and fields and streams and other wonderful views... everything that you find attractive is there... maybe farms or people fishing... beaches and sand dunes or quiet country lanes.... and there may be children running around... laughing playing and there can be swings.... so you step through that little door and close it behind you... knowing you can go back if you need to...
MFRC06
