Metaphor

A story, analogy, or figure of speech told with a therapeutic or communicative purpose, which allows the practitioner to bypass the client's conscious resistance and facilitate change at the unconscious level. In NLP, metaphors are used to deliver embedded messages, reframe situations, and allow the client to make connections and derive meaning in a way that feels self-generated rather than imposed. An effective therapeutic metaphor is isomorphic — it mirrors the structure of the client's problem and embeds a solution.