#8 Sailing boats with David Gillanders

Metaphors for Life

For this episode of 'Metaphors for Life', I met up with David Gillanders from Edinburgh University to talk about the use of metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and in particular his invention of the sailing boat metaphor. Whilst often helpful in the delivery of psychological therapy with clients, metaphors can also show up in the context of clinical supervision; both for case conceptualisation as well as usefully exploring the struggles that therapists have themselves! "Talking about something else, other than the problem, although you're still talking about the problem (because it's linked to the problem), can lead to fresh perspectives, and a loosening up around how to deal with the problem, and trying out different kinds of strategies." David Gillanders is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Academic Director of the Doctoral training programme in Clinical Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. He is also an ACBS peer-reviewed ACT trainer, and delivers training throughout the UK and internationally. Find out more on his university webpage: www.ed.ac.uk/profile/david-gillanders