The Beach Ball Metaphor To Regulate Emotions
The beach ball metaphor is a very useful resource for regulating emotions, especially anxiety. This is a strategy that uses visualization and which also requires being efficient in another dimension: creativity. If this is so, it is because each of us manages our problems in a particular way and this original exercise shows it to us.
To consider the relevance of this type of tool in psychological practice, it is necessary to understand, first of all, what we mean by therapeutic metaphors. It is a series of constructions, stories or rhetorical figures where the patient has to find a relation between an initial concept and an associated type of personal reality.
For example, one of the most widely used therapeutic metaphors is quicksand. In this exercise, the objective is to be able to understand that sometimes, the more we fight in front of our problems, the more we sink. The solution in many cases is to stop and face what we are so trying to avoid.
Therefore, the patient has to put in place a series of psychological techniques which will be of great help to him during the therapeutic process. First of all, he needs to understand the metaphor. He must therefore feel identified and establish a correspondence between what is explained to him and what is happening.
Finally, it is necessary that the person can think for himself of a type of strategy which can help him in his life by resting on this resource which the psychologist presented to him. The latter acts at all times as a facilitator. However, it will never solve the small challenge suggested in this exercise for the patient.
The beach ball metaphor: what is it?
In order for the beach ball metaphor to be effective and to help us, we will resort to visualization. As psychologists McCurry and Hayes, SC (1992) explain to us – in their research Clinical and experimental perspectives on metaphorical talk – creating mental images promotes later recollection of metaphors. This way we can use any of them when we need it.
Therefore, let’s see what this exercise is all about.
Visualize in your mind the following situation …
You are at the beach, the weather is nice. Light saturates every corner of this perfect scenario. However, you are not feeling well. You are anxious, you accumulate a lot of emotions. All together, they mix in an almost painful way: you experience fear, shame, anguish, anger …
- All this emotional universe is contained in a balloon. This object symbolizes what is in your interior, what you feel and which troubles you desperately. This feeling is so annoying that you just want it to go away. To do this, you will have to go into the water and submerge the balloon
- Visualize precisely this image: imagine yourself making the effort to submerge this object. You don’t want anyone to see you. The only thing you want is for it to disappear forever, for the ocean tides to prevail forever. Certainly, every time you submerge it, the balloon rises to the surface. Worse still, the more force you exert, the stronger the ball goes up and makes you lose your balance …
The beach ball metaphor: and you, how would you solve it?
The next step in the beach ball metaphor requires some effort on your part. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, this resource requires a certain touch of creativity. In this way, and to better solve it, keep in mind these factors:
- The balloon symbolizes your emotions: your anxiety, your fears, your anger, your shame… Dimensions that you have been hiding for some time. However, you already know the effects, everything gets worse and goes through your fingers
- What could you do by following the metaphorical use of the ball?
Let’s see below what is the most common – and the most useful – answer to this proposition.
The most appropriate strategy is to stop submerging this object. We need to stop wasting energy, to fight against what cannot be done away with. Hiding emotions or overwhelming them is not helpful. It is also not appropriate to further reinforce this discomfort.
We have to take the ball in our hands and sit quietly on the seashore with it. The goal? Deflate it. You have to make sure that all the air in it disappears. Thus, we will feel much better, lighter. However, you must first know where the valve is, this button that contains the air.
Thus, the metaphor of the ball at the beach must be useful to everyone and allow them to find their own strategy to release their anxiety, their fear, or their shame. We have to find this “mechanism” which will allow us to understand why we feel like this, by facilitating our access to this path which frees us from this discomfort.
Getting there is not easy. But at least with this tool we will remember that the balloon of our emotions cannot hide or be overwhelmed. The emotional world accepts, understands and frees itself.
Our thoughts Check out some of the metaphors used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to illustrate patient situations and issues.
