In a recent session, a metaphor emerged naturally—rooted in the client’s lived experience and shaped by an ACT-in-Context lens—that powerfully reframed an entrenched self-regulation pattern. The client, who experiences difficulty disengaging from distress and uses prolonged showers as a coping mechanism, described a sense of "needing to feel clean" after emotionally charged moments. By slowing down and observing the form and function of this behavior, together we arrived at:
The Emotional Shower: Washing the Mind Before the Body
Metaphor Summary
Imagine your mind and heart are like a body after a long, messy day in the garden. You’ve been digging, planting, maybe even flinging some dirt around—especially during moments of conflict, stress, or overwhelm. But that dirt isn’t just on your skin—it’s emotional. Frustration, shame, exhaustion… they cling like invisible mud.
Rather than rushing to "scrub it away" in a long shower, we pause. Not to avoid the shower, but to repurpose it—starting with an emotional rinse.
The Emotional Rinse Technique
Pause at the Bathroom Door
Before entering, stop. Imagine shaking off your emotional boots. What are you tracking in with you?
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