ABSTRACT
Fantasies and metaphors can be used as a powerful means of breaking through therapeutic impasse by giving clients a different perspective on their problem. One effective way to do this is for the therapist to construct a fantasy about the particular situation that he/she believes is leading to the impasse and then relate this personal fantasy to the client. The fantasy introduces a new way of thinking about the problem as it shifts the therapeutic landscape from the literal to the symbolic and metaphorical. The clients are cast into new roles in a new play that has a different meaning and, therefore, a different resolution.
