ABSTRACT
Experiential learning offers the opportunity for clients to contact direct contingencies, whilst washing down the effect of language. Experiential learning can come using metaphors, where the client is offered an alternative perspective on what they are struggling with, or undertaking a values exercise. It could include practising mindfulness exercises, in which the client is invited to contact the present moment in an open and non-judgmental way. All of these methods are designed to increase experiential learning through increasing contact with direct contingencies. Instructional learning will at very best be short lasting, whereas experiential learning offers the opportunity to experience the moment in a radically different way. For all the reasons, instructional learning is less likely to be effective because the verbal rules the client holds are obstructive to the information being received.
