Using symbolic imagery to calm emotions and stop smoking

How do you work with a client who has claustrophobia?

Here is a story of an intervention that was very effective with a client I’ll call Donna*. To Donna’s relief, I did not ask her to lock herself into closets to convince herself she could breathe, as one of her previous therapists suggested.

We began by collaborating to develop a model of what Donna desired. I had Donna imagine a woman who used to feel like her now feeling at ease, noticing more and more space around her as she realized she could move and breathe freely.

Next, I asked Donna to create a symbol that would represent her mind working in the desired way. The symbol should be organic, something in nature, or an animal in the wild.

Donna, came up with the symbol “Yellow Canary,” as she thought of feeling “free, at ease, with room to move.” I then took her through a little hypnotic process in which she imagined the yellow canary as she breathed slowly and deeply for several minutes.

When she opened her eyes, she said she felt “light and free,” and even thought my office seemed bigger. We finished the session by clearing a traumatic event that seemed to be at the root of her claustrophobic feelings.

At our next session, Donna said she was delighted with her yellow canary symbol. Not only was the process of breathing and imagining the canary keeping her claustrophobia at bay, but it also helped her stop smoking!

Donna said the idea came to her one day when she’d run out of cigarettes at work, and didn’t have time to go buy some.  She went out to the smoking area at her office thinking she could bum a cigarette off somebody, but no one was outside. So, she just sat on the bench, thought of her yellow canary, and took slow, deep breaths for several minutes. She commented, “I couldn’t believe how well that worked! I felt calmer and realized what’s important to me is just getting outside and taking a quick break. I don’t need to smoke to do that.”

I learned this concept of coming up with a symbol to represent one’s desired way of feeling from my training in Rapid Resolution Therapy™.  The emotional brain often speaks in non-verbal language and “gets” the meaning of a symbol quicker and better than using “self-talk” to manage emotions.

Please comment and share your experience of using symbolic imagery. The more ideas we can share with each other, the better!

*The name and other identifying details of this story have been changed to protect privacy.

Courtney Armstrong is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in trauma therapy. She has a private practice in Chattanooga, TN and trains mental health professionals in creative methods for treating trauma. To contact Courtney, visit her website www.courtneyarmstronglpc.com