The passengers on the bus: steering despite the noise

Imagine your thoughts and feelings as passengers on a bus you are driving — they can be loud, but you choose the route.

Why it works

Metaphor restructures the functional relationship between self and thought without requiring propositional argument. The bus metaphor encodes that the self is the driver (agent, chooser of direction) and thoughts/feelings are passengers (present, sometimes loud, but not in control). This preserves agency while reducing the fusion between the person and the unhelpful thought, which is the core defusion goal.

How to do it

1. When a thought or fear is interfering with action, imagine yourself as the driver of a bus.
2. Name the passenger: "Anxiety-passenger is shouting that I’ll fail."
3. Acknowledge the passenger — "I hear you" — and keep driving toward your chosen destination.
4. Revisit the destination (your committed value or action) to confirm the route is yours.

Evidence

The passengers-on-the-bus metaphor is among the most widely used ACT therapeutic images, included in Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson’s foundational ACT text. ACT metaphors as a class are associated with defusion and values-consistent behavior; this specific metaphor has not been individually trialed. (clinical)

Metaphors in ACT are evaluated as part of the whole protocol; individual metaphors are not separately studied for effect. The mechanism (functional relational shift) is theoretically well-grounded.

Sources

• Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson (1999), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Guilford Press

Common mistake

Using the metaphor to try to quiet or eject the passengers (suppress the thoughts) rather than driving despite them — ACT metaphors are about coexistence and agency, not silence.