Between the subject and the self

Abstract Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) uses metaphor extensively in its exercises with clients ( Hayes et al., 2012 ). This paper analyzes a corpus of ACT defusion exercises to identify the patterns of construal they typically evoke. Findings show frequent use of the Divided-Person metaphor ( Lakoff, 1996 ), with the two aspects of the mind (the Self and Subject) operating within an actual or potential force dynamic (FD) configuration ( Talmy, 2000 ). Two main types of configurations emerge. Deliteralization exercises show shifts in the balance of strength between the Subject and Self. Observation exercises draw a contrast between a steady-state FD configuration involving a coerced Agonist and a secondary steady-state FD pattern in which a potentially coercing force was no longer impinging on the Agonist. The results demonstrate how FD and the Divided-Person metaphor systematically combine to construe mental phenomenology and dispositions. The analysis thus sheds light on the conceptual structures underlying therapeutic discourse in ACT.