I tend to confuse metaphors, analogies, and similes. How about you? Do you know the difference? Describing these figures of speech, one source states:
Analogy is a comparison of two things to help explain an idea or concept. A good example is that a penguin is to birds as a panda is to bears (in that both are a representative type within a classification of animals). Or a coach is to a football team as a manager is to a business (in that both direct the operations of a team to execute a plan).
Metaphor is a word or phrase that takes on the meaning of something else. For instance, a person may say that a penguin is a panda, or that a football coach is a business manager (even though neither statement is true). It’s a figure of speech often employed in poetry.
Simile is a phrase (that usually uses the word “like” or “as”) that compares one thing with another thing to make a description more vivid. While a metaphor claims “a penguin is a panda,” a simile would claim “a penguin is like a panda,” or that “a penguin is as colorful as a panda.”
Colloquially, “metaphor” is used synonymously with analogies, similes, and other figures of speech. In hip hop, metaphors are often illustrated. For instance, on his 2018 album DiCaprio 2 lyricist JID released a song called “Westbrook,” featuring rapper FERG, as the outro states:
You got two niggas sittin’ down to eat, right?
Niggas sittin’ down at the table to eat
And they got the same food, and they got the same utensils
You dig what I’m sayin’?
One nigga let his food go cold watchin’ another nigga eat
You know what I’m sayin’?
And that’s how all this shit be starting; envy
Another nigga lookin’ at another nigga
Wanting what another nigga got when he got utensils
And a shit of his own, you dig what I’m sayin’?
All this started when a nigga get in power and a niggas be shittin’ on a nigga
That’s where all this shit be stemmin’ from
In this example, life is a table from which all people eat. Some individuals pay close attention to the plates of others at the table and this behavior is said to represent envy—resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.
When working with clients, I use metaphorical disputes of irrational beliefs, and this approach to wellness is meant to provide memorable psychoeducational lessons. For instance, ‘What you eat don’t make me shit.’ This is common practice using the psychotherapeutic modality I employ.
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe some unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption and not the occurrence itself that causes an unpleasant Consequence.
Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of these unproductive assumptions in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Regarding use of metaphorical disputes, one REBT source states (page 192):
Albert Ellis often tells his clients the story of two Buddhist monks who, while making a journey, come to a stream. There they meet a young woman who asks to be carried over the stream. The younger monk is first surprised and then disturbed that the older monk offers to pick her up to carry her across the stream, since their faith forbids physical contact with members of the opposite sex.
After they have said goodbye to the woman and many hours later, the young monk plucks up the courage to ask his older master the reason for his forbidden behaviour. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘how is it that you held this woman, her breasts against yours, her bare arms against yours, and carried her across the stream when we are forbidden to do so?’ The old monk replied laconically, ‘My son, you’re still carrying her.’
The point of this story is, of course, that as long as clients make a demand that they must not do something which is forbidden, then they are preoccupied in an anxious and disturbed way with their behaviour. But if they recognize that they can follow useful guidelines in a non-absolutistic, flexible way, then they can act against these guidelines if it is for a greater good.
When you dispute your clients’ irrational beliefs metaphorically, it is crucial that you check their understanding of your message to avoid a metaphorical muddle! Thus, if one of your clients had said, in response to your enquiry concerning what he gained from the Buddhist monk story, that one must never carry women across streams, then the rational point of the story would have been lost.
The advantage of metaphorical disputes is that they are memorable. If clients make the right connection between the story and the appropriate rational principle, then they can have quite a lasting impact. However, if this connection is not made or remembered, then these disputes have limited utility.
With this understanding, when I say to clients ‘what you eat don’t make me shit,’ I’m expressing that unhelpful demands of someone else have no bearing on my life, so there’s no point in self-disturbing about such matters. I have my plate and you have yours. Now, let’s eat!
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
AEI. (n.d.). About Albert Ellis, Ph.D. Albert Ellis Institute. Retrieved from https://albertellis.org/about-albert-ellis-phd/
Ayme, P. (n.d.). Two monks and a woman [Image]. Patrice Ayme’s Thoughts. Retrieved from https://patriceayme.wordpress.com/2017/06/24/two-monks-and-a-woman/
Brewer, R. L. (2019, November 4). Analogy vs. metaphor vs. simile (Grammar rules). Writer’s Digest. Retrieved from https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/analogy-vs-metaphor-vs-simile-grammar-rules
Dryden, W. and Neenan, M. (2006). Rational emotive behaviour therapy: 100 key points and techniques. Routledge. Retrieved from https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/4b0e2552-2a18-4998-b44f-3a993148f7ac/downloads/REBT%202.pdf?ver=1627365797554
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JID. (2018, December 5). J.I.D – Westbrook feat. A$AP Ferg (Audio) [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/pX23Skpry3s?si=Mhk3hd3jsF5ytls4
Wikipedia. (n.d.). ASAP Ferg. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASAP_Ferg
Wikipedia. (n.d.). DiCaprio 2. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiCaprio_2
Wikipedia. (n.d.). JID. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JID
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