The door metaphor in psychotherapy
(6 min read)

Helen McLucas

Doorways and openings are symbolic structures that have great significance in our daily lives. There are many expressions that use doors, providing transition point to change as we move through difficulties or challenges.

There are many expressions using doors:

• When one door closes, another opens.
• Check your ego at the door!
• Close the stable door after the horse has bolted.
• Get one's foot in the door.
• Knocking on heaven's door.
• Keep the wolf from the door.

Doors and openings provide the transition point to change. In daily life, we move through difficulties or challenges, enter new spaces and opportunities or leave sadness, loss or a broken heart behind.

Research shows that we are happiest when our attention is present. However, our attention loves to play indoors, getting lost in a world of worries, judgments, re-runs and fears, which robs our attention of present-moment awareness. Even wandering off with pleasant thoughts, although lovely, removes us from the present.

A great mindfulness exercise utilises doorways as a reminder of where to place attention. What better reminder to draw your attention back out of your mind than a doorway!

The Door Metaphor

The Door Metaphor is a powerful and versatile tool used in psychotherapy to help clients understand and navigate their emotions, thoughts, behaviours and circumstances.

Stepping through a door promotes mindfulness and can symbolise stepping into a new story and leaving behind an old story.

I use the door metaphor with most clients as a tool for transition or change. When they leave my office, they obviously exit via a doorway. I ask them to leave the past or problem behind in my office and step though the doorway to a new way of being. With most clients, we focus on stepping from pain into pleasure.

However, in talking with a person going through chemotherapy recently they said to me: 'Every cell in my body was screaming at me not to open the door to the chemotherapy room.' Doors may also be stepping from pleasure into pain. The ramifications of this are extraordinary, apply broadly, and are fear-based. Some examples include school refusal with children right through to enduring an unhealthy family or work environment.

Concept of the Door Metaphor

Doors are also associated with transitioning from one place or state to another. The Door Metaphor is often used to symbolise choices, opportunities, boundaries, transitions, and to promote mindfulness. The metaphor leverages the common experiences and symbolic meanings associated with doors, such as opening, closing, being locked, or being a barrier to facilitate deeper understanding and insight into a client's inner world.

For example, I say to overworked clients:

1. As they leave the office at night, stop, take a breath, shut the door, and leave work behind.
2. Step into their car, close the door and enjoy a wind-down.
3. At home, open the front door to family time.

Applications of the Door Metaphor

1. Exploring choices and opportunities

• Opening new doors
  Therapists use this metaphor to discuss new opportunities or choices that a client may encounter. For example, 'What new doors are you willing to open in your life?' This can encourage clients to explore new experiences or make positive changes.
• Closing old doors
  Conversely, therapists may talk about closing doors as a way to signify the end of a particular chapter or the decision to leave behind certain behaviours or relationships that are no longer serving the client.
• Going through an unwanted door
  Where it is safe to do so, ask your client to visualise or imagine a place where they love being and feel safe, for example, a beach, mountains or even their bedroom or home. Exploring this image in great detail with your client helps them to feel safe and empowered. Use NLP sub-modalities to enhance the image by asking, for example, 'What do you see, feel, hear? Who is with you?' and so on. Enhance the colours and details of what they are seeing, feeling, hearing, etc. Children are excellent at imagining their safe place. When they need to go through an unwanted door, ask the client to do some breathing exercises to relax. As they enter the unwanted door, they enter their safe place. Distraction is the key for unwanted doors; breath work, safe place, a friend, a hobby or simply chatting. Any and all distractions will help.

2.Understanding boundaries and protection

• Closed or Locked Doors
  These can represent the boundaries that clients set to protect themselves. Discussing who or what is kept out by these doors can help clients understand their own need for safety and boundaries. For example, 'Who are you keeping on the other side of your door?'
• Doors with locks
  The presence of a lock can symbolise control over who or what is allowed into one's personal space, both physically and emotionally.

3. Navigating transitions and change

• Thresholds and doorways
  Standing at the threshold of a door can symbolise a moment of transition or the space between two different phases of life. Clients can be encouraged to discuss what it feels like to stand at this point of change and what might be holding them back or propelling them forward from stepping through.
• Opening or closing slowly
  Sometimes, therapists might use the metaphor of a door that opens or closes slowly to represent gradual change or the process of warming up to new ideas and experiences.

Addressing fears and anxiety

• Fear of the known or unknown behind the door
  The metaphor of not knowing what lies beyond or fear of what they think lies beyond a door can be used to explore fears and anxieties about the future or about confronting difficult emotions. Clients can be guided to visualise opening a door to see what is on the other side from a disassociated, safe place confronting and processing their fears in a controlled way.
• Imagining safe spaces
  Clients can be invited to imagine a door that leads to a safe and comforting place, which can be particularly helpful in managing anxiety and creating a mental safe place.

4. Facilitating self-reflection and insight

• Personal doors
  Clients may be asked to think about the doors in their own lives, — both literal and figurative — and what they represent. This can lead to rich discussions about personal history, significant life events, and internal states.
• Dream analysis
  Doors frequently appear in dreams, and therapists may use the Door Metaphor to help clients explore the meaning of these dreams and what they might reveal about the client's stored emotions in the body and subconscious mind.

Techniques and exercises using the Door Metaphor

• Guided imagery
  Therapists can lead a client through a guided imagery exercise where they imagine themselves walking down a hallway with many doors. They can choose to open certain doors and explore what is behind them, discussing their feelings and thoughts during the process.
• Role playing
  Role-playing scenarios involving doors can help clients practice new behaviours, such as asserting boundaries (closing a door) or opening to new experiences (opening a door). For example, one client had separated from an abusive husband a few years ago. She had a wonderful relationship developing with a new person in her life, but her family was not supportive. We opened and stepped through the door to experience this new relationship, knowing she could step back through her door to her safe place at any time as a safety net. The relationship blossomed and the family, in time, supported her.
• Journaling
  Ask clients to look at and write about the doors they perceive in their lives, reflecting on which doors they want to open, which they want to close and perhaps lock, and what these doors represent.

Benefits of the Door Metaphor

• Simplifies complex concepts
  The metaphor provides a simple yet powerful way to understand complex emotional and psychological processes.
• Encourages exploration and insight
  It invites clients to explore their thoughts and feelings in a non-threatening way, often leading to greater self-awareness and insight.
• Facilitates communication
  It offers a common language for clients and therapists to discuss difficult topics.
• Empowers clients
  By visualising doors and making decisions about them, clients can feel more empowered and in control of their lives.

The Door Metaphor is a versatile and effective tool in psychotherapy, aiding clients in exploring choices, setting boundaries, navigating transitions, addressing fears, and gaining insight into their personal experiences. By leveraging the symbolic power of doors, therapists can help clients make meaningful connections, improve mindfulness, and progress their therapeutic journey.

A door we could all benefit from is stepping through the curiosity door, regularly.

Helen McLucas (JP, MBA, Dip Counselling, Dip Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy, ASCH Board Member, Counselling Psychotherapist, Clinical Hypnotherapist | Community Leader | Mental Health & Disability Advocate), is passionate about unlocking the potential within individuals through the transformative power of a range of therapy tools, especially hypnotherapy. As a community leader and advocate, Helen actively engages in initiatives that promote community health and wellbeing and inclusivity. Helen's advocacy extends to championing the rights of individuals with disabilities and mental health issues ensuring their voices are heard and respected.