RFT for clinical use: The example of metaphor

•RFT approach to metaphor as coordination relations.•Empirical evidence in support of this account.•Understanding metaphors commonly used in ACT.•Illustrate how RFT integrates conceptually and pragmatically with ACT.•Illustrate how RFT research constructively guides clinical practice.

The current article argues that the conceptual analysis of metaphor as offered by relational frame theory (RFT) illustrates one way in which the theory may be integrated with, and have a constructive influence on, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The article walks through the basic account of metaphor as the relating of relations and summarises the empirical evidence in support of this conceptualization. This understanding is then applied to a number of metaphors that are common to ACT in an attempt to illustrate how the RFT account of metaphor may be useful in aiding ACT practitioners to construct and deconstruct clinical metaphors.