When my client said, "I'm at the end of my rope," he was metaphorically talking about his frustrations.  In simple English, when you portray a person, place, thing, or an action as being something else, even though it is not actually that “something else,” you are speaking metaphorically.  Examples are, "All the world's a stage."  "She had a broken heart." or " He drowned in a sea of grief" Appropriate metaphors appeal directly to a client's imagination.  A metaphor develops a comparison which is different from a simile which is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in "she is like a rose."

Visual Metaphor.  

A verbal metaphor is a figure of speech.  The visual metaphor is a picture or a drawing.  According to the University of Illinois Extension, 40 percent of secondary students are visual learners.  Also, according to the University of Illinois, “Only 10 percent of secondary students learn best auditorily, but 80 percent of instructional delivery is auditory.”  This would suggest that a visual metaphor would appeal to a fairly large number of people.

Richard Nordquist in an online article updated November, 2016 pointed out that, "Modern advertising relies heavily on visual metaphors."   Nordquist gives an example of a man driving a Land Rover with a lion riding in the backseat, head out the window, just as a dog or traditional household pet would. This ad shows, through the lion metaphor, that Land Rover owners are exciting or extraordinary, as they don't have mere domestic animals as pets.

A Case history with visual metaphors.

The following is a portion of a case history of Chuck, a high school senior with several defining characteristics of depression.  His diagnosis is "adjustment disorder with depressed mood."  Chuck is responding positively to an antidepressant but continues to have mood swings.
I ask Chuck, "On the scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being very light and 10 being super heavy, what number would you give to your depression? "

Chuck thinks for a moment and responds, "I think it would be a nine or ten most of the time."

I decide to create a metaphor with an erase board by drawing a stick figure bent over as if weighted down.  The figure looks like a Kokopelli, a drawing commonly seen in southwestern art.

I ask, "Does this stick man show how you feel?  Are you bent over like this figure carrying your depression?"  He studies the drawing and nods his head.  I draw a box on the back of the stick man and ask, "Can you name the things that feel heavy?"

With sagging shoulders and a somber face, he says, "Be like my brother,  measure up,  and get good grades."

I print them in the box above the figure.  Using the figure as a metaphor I ask,

 "Can you pick the heaviest one?"  He points to "Be like my brother."

I ask, "How long have you carried this?"

Chuck says, "I think I noticed it most when I started junior high school."

Letting the client draw the image.

I give Chuck the marker and tell him to show me what it's like to be with his brother.

He takes the marker and on a second clean erase board draws a picture of a boy sitting on a chair with a crown on his head.  He draws another smaller boy with a drooping mouth.

Now that we have created the visual metaphors Chuck can focus on them and tell me his story. I say, "Tell me about your picture." 

Chuck says, "I always feel I'm competing with him but I never win.  Jim (his brother) never tries to make me feel bad.  In fact, he has always been kind to me."

I tell Chuck, "Draw me a picture of how you would like things to be."

Chuck thinks for a moment, picks up the marker and draws a picture of two boys with their arms embracing each other.

I say, "Draw a picture showing what would have to happen for this picture to become real?"
During the next several counseling sessions Chuck experiments with a variety of different pictures representing life as he would like it to be.  We talked about the choices he could make that would remove the weight from his back.  He gradually discovered that he had more control over his life than he had originally believed.

Summary.

The abbreviated case summary showed how a client can use visual metaphors to focus attention on issues and dilemmas.  Visual metaphors stand side-by-side with talk-listen therapy.  The visual metaphors help maintain a sharp focus on plans for new behaviors.  I also find visual metaphors consistent with psychodrama methods.  I suggest you buy several relatively inexpensive white erase boards and an ample supply of markers.