You Continue Walking Down The Road And You Come To Something On The Road That Prevents You From Going Any Further, It Stops You In Your Tracks, There Is An Obstacle

Part 5: The Obstacle You continue walking down the road and you come to something on the road that prevents you from going any further, it stops you in your tracks, there is an obstacle. •What is the obstacle? •What do you see past the obstacle? An obstacle is a person, thing or situation that prevents us from progressing in life. It is life’s central conflict.

Obstacle imagery: Mental images are an unconscious psychical phenomena. • Dead animal – It is a self representation, we feel a victim of life, incapable of going forward.

Obstacle imagery: • Angry bear– this person is powerful and capable of harming us.

Obstacle imagery: • Beer cans – alcoholism

Obstacle imagery: • Black cloud – a sad situation

Obstacle imagery: • Black locomotive – a powerful underdog

Obstacle imagery: • Briars – a painful situation

Obstacle imagery: • Bridge out – emotional paralysis in progressing from one stage of life to another

Obstacle imagery: • Angry bull – male agressiveness

Obstacle imagery: • Auto accident – each vehicle represents a person in a broken relationship, usually divorce.

Obstacle imagery: • Car – going the wrong way- deviating from our goals – abandoned – unappreciated by others – out of gas– having no energy or resources to progress

Obstacle imagery: • Cliff – this represents an unstable situation with pessimism and lack of hope.

Obstacle imagery: • Construction site – this person is aware of their problems and willing to work on them to resolve them. This healthy mental image shows therapy is progressing.

Obstacle imagery: • Cow – if seen as friendly and peaceful this mental image is a self representation

Obstacle imagery: • Angry dog – represents a person who treats us like this

Obstacle imagery: • Fence– this person keeps their feelings inside

Obstacle imagery: • Barbed wire – keeps painful feelings inside, feels a prisoner of life

Obstacle imagery: • Gate– this troubled person may keep strong emotions inside but a gate being weaker than a wall, strong emotion can break out. Represents death to many, suicide symbol to some.

Obstacle imagery: • Group of people – feeling judged by others

Obstacle imagery: • Guardrail – boundaries are an issue for this person

Obstacle imagery: • Hill of dirt – represents a problem in which the person feels unappreciated by others

Obstacle imagery: • Angry man – hurt by a man

Obstacle imagery: • “Me” – having insight into their emotional problems

Obstacle imagery: • Mountain – having a big problem

Obstacle imagery: • Railroad crossing – represents a problem seen as temporary

Obstacle imagery: • Boulder – a sudden, unforeseen problem

Obstacle imagery: • Snake – a phallic symbol, it represents traumatic sexual abuse

Obstacle imagery: • Tiger – if this mental image is unpleasant it represents a person who treats us like an angry tiger would

Obstacle imagery: • Fallen tree – this is the most common symbol of victimization. We are the fallen tree. The manner in which it fell gives clues as to the trauma.

Obstacle imagery: • Angry female – hurt by a female