Metaphor: Passengers on the bus

The setting of the metaphor: driver vs. passengers

This is one of the most comprehensive metaphors used in ACT because it integrates defusion, acceptance, values, and engaged action into a single narrative.

The client is invited to imagine that his life is a bus and he is the driver. His job is to drive that vehicle to a chosen destination (his values).

However, the bus is not empty; it is full of noisy, annoying and sometimes intimidating passengers.

These passengers represent all of our critical thoughts, fears, memories of failure and feelings of insecurity. The passengers have a threatening attitude.

They approach the driver and yell things like, "Don't turn left, it's dangerous!", "You're not fit to drive!", "If you keep going that way, we'll hurt you or yell at you louder!".

Often, the driver (the person), to avoid the noise and threat, obeys the passengers.

If the passengers say "turn right" (where right represents the comfort zone or avoidance), the driver turns, even if it takes him away from his destination.

An implicit deal is struck: "If I do what my fears say, they shut up and leave me alone."

The problem is that, under this deal, the bus ends up going around in circles in a wasteland, far away from the life the driver wanted to live.

Regaining control of the steering wheel

The therapeutic intervention with this metaphor consists of breaking the deal with the passengers.

The therapist helps the client realize that, although the passengers are very loud and look like terrifying monsters, they actually have no physical ability to touch the steering wheel or the pedals. Their only power is verbal intimidation.

They can only control the bus if the driver is frightened and willingly obeys them.

The goal is for the driver to learn to drive in the direction of his values while the passengers are shouting and swearing.

The idea is to allow the passengers to crowd the front, to say it's going to be a disaster, feeling the fear they provoke, but keeping their hands firmly on the steering wheel toward the desired destination.

Over time, seeing that the driver doesn't give in to the threats, passengers don't necessarily get off the bus (old memories and fears tend to stick around), but they often retreat to the back seats and their noise becomes a background murmur that we no longer pay as much attention to.

We learn to drive with a full bus, rather than waiting for it to empty to start.

Summary

This metaphor integrates multiple ACT processes. The client is the driver of a bus (his life) full of noisy, intimidating passengers (thoughts and fears) shouting instructions to divert his course.

Often, the driver obeys the passengers to keep them quiet, veering into avoidance. This implicit deal makes the bus go around in circles, away from the valuable destination the person really wants.

The intervention teaches that passengers cannot touch the steering wheel, only verbally intimidate. The goal is to drive toward values by allowing passengers to shout, learning to drive the bus full rather than waiting to empty it.