Metaphors that Move, Matter and Make a Difference - A Creative, Experiential Workshop on Crafting Functionally Guided Metaphors That Bring Psychological Flexibility Processes to Life

Dates and Location of this VIRTUAL 2-Day Workshop:

VIRTUAL LIVE online via Zoom
Recordings will be available through 25 June 2026. We regret that we are unable to provide extended access to any registrant beyond 25 June.

Automated Zoom captioning and automated Zoom translation available.

Friday, 5 June from 9:00 to 13:00 UTC/GMT +2 (Central European Summer Time) - click here to convert to your time zone
Saturday, 6 June from 9:00 to 13:00 UTC/GMT +2 (Central European Summer Time) - click here to convert to your time zone
Contact Hours: 7.5

Workshop Leaders:

Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc.

Workshop Description:

Metaphors are a powerful and deeply versatile tool in contextual behavioral therapies. They help us turn complex ideas into something people can immediately relate to, understand and connect with. When grounded in function, metaphors can open space, shift perspective, strengthen alliance and promote psychological flexibility in ways that simple explanations cannot. This workshop explores how to craft metaphors that truly move, matter and make a difference.

Many practitioners rely on scripted metaphors or familiar exercises they have memorized. These can be helpful, but they often lose impact when delivered rigidly or without connection to the client’s unique context. In this workshop you will learn how to move beyond pre-written scripts and instead create metaphors that emerge naturally from multiple sources: the moment-to-moment interaction, the client’s own language and lived experience, and your own well of inspiration drawn from films, music, everyday observations and personal stories. We will explore how relational framing processes shape meaning and how understanding these dynamics can help you design metaphors that resonate more deeply and support the psychological flexibility model.

Across two interactive online half-days, we will work experientially through demonstrations, creative exercises and micro-skills practice. You will learn simple, playful and highly practical methods for generating metaphors that illuminate openness, awareness and effective action. We will look at how to use clients’ words and narratives as raw material, how to adapt metaphors spontaneously as a session unfolds and how to use metaphor to clarify values, soften struggle and inspire meaningful change.

You do not need to consider yourself a creative person to benefit from this workshop. Curiosity and willingness are enough. By the end, you will have a functionally guided metaphor toolkit you can apply immediately in therapy, teaching or supervision, along with the confidence to craft new metaphors whenever you need them. Come ready to explore, play and create metaphors that bring psychological flexibility processes to life.

About the Workshop Leaders:

Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc., Licensed Psychologist: Rikke Kjelgaard is a licensed psychologist and international CBS educator known for her warm, playful and experiential approach to teaching. With nearly 20 years of experience and more than 500 workshops delivered worldwide, she has become especially recognized for making complex ideas simple, practical and deeply human. Rikke is often described as a “chief rock’n’roller” in the ACT and CBS community because of her unique ability to blend science, creativity and heartfelt connection in ways that inspire real change. She is passionate about helping practitioners bring psychological flexibility processes to life through creative, functionally guided clinical work, including the use of metaphors that truly resonate and make a difference.

Following this workshop participants will be able to:

Describe the role of metaphors in contextual behavioral therapies and how they support the processes of psychological flexibility.
Identify what makes a metaphor functionally guided rather than scripted or decorative.
Generate original metaphors that illuminate openness, awareness and effective action in accessible and meaningful ways.
Create metaphors that arise from multiple sources, including the client’s language and lived experience, the moment-to-moment interaction and the therapist’s own experiences, stories, films, music and everyday observations.
Use clients’ words and narratives as functional cues for shaping metaphors that resonate personally and contextually.
Adapt metaphors flexibly in-session to match the client’s emotional state, motivation and behavioral patterns
Integrate metaphors to soften experiential avoidance, promote willingness and deepen acceptance.
Apply metaphors to clarify values, strengthen motivation and support committed action.
Utilize functionally guided metaphors to enhance therapeutic alliance, shared understanding and emotional connection.
Demonstrate creative micro-skills for delivering metaphors with presence, warmth and psychological flexibility.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Clinical

Components: Conceptual analysis, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Role play

Topic Areas: Clinical, Relational Frame Theory

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CE Credit Hours Available (7.5 hours): CEs for psychologists
CEs are not available for recorded viewing.

ACBS staff December 24, 2025 - 12:00pm