metaphors

Metaphors have an incredibly significant meaning for communication and personal understanding. Since ancient times, metaphors have been used as a means of teaching and changing perceptions, ideas, and life attitudes. Shamans, philosophers, and prophets have intuitively recognized the inherent power of the metaphor and have utilized it. From Plato to Jesus, from Buddha to Don Juan to Richard Bandler, metaphors have been recognized and used as powerful influencing tools.

In metaphors, people, animals, or plants face certain difficulties or are in special situations. The metaphor tells how they were able to solve the problem or cope with the situation. Thus, we learn something, and perhaps the metaphor resonates with us and conveys an idea of how we can solve our problems.

Function and Benefit of Metaphors

The metaphor provides play material for the unconscious. The red thread of the metaphor occupies the left brain, and the message goes directly into the unconscious – the left hemisphere of the brain has no access to it.

The metaphor can also be effectively used in coaching, as it offers a stimulus to think about something in a new way. The current issue is translated into a different context and can then be viewed with more distance.

The metaphor can often be incredibly helpful in integration. A dead end dissolves through a sudden insight – even if the metaphor does nothing more than translate information for the other hemisphere of the brain.

Participants in seminars find the content much more familiar and catchy after a metaphor has been shared. Metaphors increase motivation and mood. They can be effectively used to put someone else into a specific emotional state.

Caution Against Misunderstandings in Metaphors

A very competent woman who worked in a social therapeutic community wanted a schizophrenic woman to spend more time in the common area so that she would come into contact with others more and spend less time in isolation. So she told her a story about a beautiful rose blooming in a shady, damp corner of a backyard. One day, the gardener noticed this rose, cut it, and placed it in a vase in the entrance area, where anyone passing by could see and admire it ... The next day, the young woman cut her wrists to get attention (just as the gardener had cut the rose)!

You cannot completely prevent someone from finding a way of interpreting that you do not want them to; but you can at least be careful enough to make it difficult for them to go down the wrong path. Therefore, check your metaphors for unintended meanings, ambiguities, assumptions, and possible interpretations. Of course, a good metaphor also thrives on these processes.

Phrases like "giving up the spoon" have two meanings: a literal one and that someone dies. Every time such an expression is used, both meanings are registered.

In the previous lesson, you already learned how metaphors are formulated. Just as important as the construction is the way the metaphor is ultimately presented. In this case, optimal rapport is extremely important. In groups, pace the three main representational systems as much as possible.

1. Present Congruently
2. Hide the intention (pretend the story is about someone else or for someone else)
3. Trance, yes or no (usually better anchored in trance)
4. Pay attention to unconscious feedback
5. Do not interpret

To inspire you and find possible templates for good metaphors, the following should help you Tips Bandler and Grinder recommend

Bandler and Grinder recommend:

• Journals
• Animal fables
• Fairy tales for children (Grimm's Fairy Tales, 1001 Nights, etc.)
• Sufi stories
• The Bible and other religious books
• Internet collections
• Science fiction
• Historical metaphors (Hannibal, Caesar, Henry VIII, etc.)