As a psychotherapist, metaphor is my stock-in-trade. Much of the work is about helping people find the tools (and then to learn how to use them) to begin to identify their beliefs about themselves, others and the world. The first, and in many ways, the most important step in the process is to learn to recognize that much that we treat as truth is actually belief. The next step is to acquire the tools and learn the skills to exam those beliefs to determine if they work for the person and the survival of the species in terms of being able to function adequately or well in their lives, relationships and the larger society. If not, then they work toward altering those beliefs using a variety of techniques and tools, including socratic reasoning. More simply, I try to help people answer the question "Do my beliefs facilitate my ability to live life on life's terms?" (and do they allow others to do the same.) Metaphor is one of the most powerful tools of the trade, and in deciding on intervention strategies, I am constantly striving to find metaphors that work within a person's over-all paradigm.

I agree, Bill, that failure to recognize the difference between belief and objective reality causes much woe, not just for civilization, but for the individual.

Janie