I came up with a metaphor for therapy today that describes how I feel about it so perfectly.
Therapy sessions are like pillars in my week, holding up the roof. At the moment my roof isn't strong, so I need strong consistent pillars (sessions) so I don't spend the week worrying about the roof falling in.
Last week my session was shaky, so I felt unsettled all week. My pillar wasn't strong so I worried about my roof. Part of my work is trusting that the pillars can take a few knocks but still stand tall.
As time goes on, my roof will become stronger, do I won't need so many pillars, and maybe one day My roof will be so strong I won't need pillars at all (but I know pillars will always be there if I need them, and that's ok)
I don't know whether this metaphor resonates with anyone else, but it is such a clear way of looking at things for me.
Does anyone else have metaphors for therapy that work for them?

[Perna]

You want a floating roof, eh? :-) I use to think of therapy as a bombed city and I was buried under the rubble and had to find myself.

Lol, I guess this house has walls too
For me this metaphor represents the fact something positive and sustaining is built each session too

I like the metaphor. I'm not quite sure it applies entirely to my therapy, but it does resonate with me.

My T said at some point that he sometimes views therapy as the pylons holding up a suspension bridge. Most of the time I have to walk the bridge alone, but every now and again there's a pylon to hold me up. At least that's how I think he meant it.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I view therapy as a log balanced on a post over a raging river. The T is there to keep me balanced. If I go backwards, the T goes backwards. If I go forward, the T goes forward. It keeps the log balanced. The goal is to get off the log.

Originally Posted by ScarletPimpernel

I view therapy as a log balanced on a post over a raging river. The T is there to keep me balanced. If I go backwards, the T goes backwards. If I go forward, the T goes forward. It keeps the log balanced. The goal is to get off the log.

Thanks, that's a really good one!

[BudFox]

My metaphor is: a trap set in the woods that catches your leg, which you then have to hack off in order to get away.

Ha, pretty cynical right?

[aetheorist]

When you go bowling, there are a few beginner lanes with the cushy padding covering the gutters. The padding is the therapeutic relationship. The ball rolls but stays steady on course, occasionally drifting but not going into the gutters.
Yeah??? Best I could do

Originally Posted by BudFox

My metaphor is: a trap set in the woods that catches your leg, which you then have to hack off in order to get away.

Ha, pretty cynical right?

I have felt exactly that way about therapy in the past! Not anymore. It's funny that now that I finally got to where I can admit that I WANT to be in therapy, I know I could carry on without it. I sure didn't think that when I felt trapped.