Writing leads to a metaphor drawing

Contributed by Mary Brownlow, 11 March 2022
 
Starting a session with client talking, writing and reading back words written on the page supports the client to reflect on their experience, to clarify issues, beliefs, feelings and needs. Feelings can be written, in this case client arrived feeling “tired,” “annoyed” complaining and blaming other and herself. After many pages of writing she is able to get in touch with stronger feelings of anger frustration, making assertive self-affirming statements. The counsellor gets client to change colours distinguishing different issues. The issue of rights and boundaries not being respected led this client to define “my needs and wants” once acknowledged and written down allowed to the client to clearly own her potential. The IDT counsellor listens for potent phrases matching client goals; in this instance increasing autonomy represented by a feeling to “stand strong” “under pressure.”

A drawing cue: “Draw something or someone who STANDS STRONG” prompted the client spontaneously thought a “spider” on “feet on the ground”. Surprised by her own metaphor, the client is encouraged to trust the metaphor and show the spider standing even stronger on a whole page. Then, once the spider was shown “in a position of strength” the client was asked to consider and draw “Show what sort of pressure the spider needs to stand strong against?” emerging naturally from the literal metaphor was a “dangerous down pour of rain trying to wash the spider down a pipe”. When asked “What could the spider do/use to stand strong?” client responded “to hang above on their own thread” and when the yellow line was drawn leading off the page, the counsellor suggested adding a page to “show where the yellow line goes above the spider?” this led to a ‘magical web” that “goes everywhere and where the spider can escape up and away from danger”. This metaphor led to a discussion of spider unique capacities and skill what in literal terms is a fragile but strong web repeatedly restored as needed. The metaphorical capacity of a spider appeared to energise and delight my client, introjecting a feeling of being resourceful, clever and agile in the face of dangerous forces (i.e. difficult communication and pressure from her spouse.)
​