This study reviews four discursive patterns that show how speakers in the aftermath of the 2010–2012 Christchurch earthquakes, employed metaphor in their conceptualization of a sense of “control” over their direct physical milieu. This indicates that metaphor moves beyond a conceptualization role to perform a “scaffolding” task in trauma talk, where a prime target topic may function as a source concept for a next one. Therapists hence could respond to conceptual materials that arise as therapeutic interaction develops.