Therapeutic metaphor
Encyclopedia
Therapeutic metaphor is a type of conceptual metaphor
Conceptual metaphor
In cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, or cognitive metaphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another, for example, understanding quantity in terms of directionality . A conceptual domain can be any coherent organization of human experience...

 presented as a story or other parallel to an entire aspect of a situation, related by a psychotherapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...

 to a patient. The purpose of this is to highlight to a person, in an effective way, some aspects and lessons that otherwise they might not be able to perceive as clearly in their current situation, or to suggest new outlooks on it. Thus a therapist, told about the death of a loved one, might respond by describing two roses in a garden, one of which is dug up.

Uses

Marsha Linehan
Marsha M. Linehan
Marsha M. Linehan is an American psychologist and author. Linehan is a Professor of Psychology, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and BehavioralSciences at the University of Washington and Director of the Behavioral Research and TherapyClinics...

 highlights the utility of metaphor in her work with patients with borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...

: "the use of metaphor, in the form of simple analogies, anecdotes, parables, myths or stories, is extremely important in dialectical behavioral therapy
Dialectical behavioral therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy is a system of therapy originally developed by Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, to treat people with borderline personality disorder...

 (DBT). Metaphors are alternative means of teaching dialectical thinking and opening up possibilities of new behaviors. They encourage both patient and therapist to look for and create alternate meanings and points of reference for events under scrutiny." Her metaphors for radical acceptance (is like being a gardener learning to love the dandelions that come into the garden year after year, no matter what the gardener does to get rid of them) and therapy interfering behavior
Therapy interfering behavior
Therapy Interfering Behaviors or "TIB" are tendencies that are tracked on diary cards as part of a Dialectical behavior therapy program, and distract or hinder patient progress. TIB are often issues tracked specific to the issue the patient is struggling with Therapy Interfering Behaviors or "TIB"...

 (is like a mountain climber refusing to wear winter gear when climbing in the snow) and suicidal behavior (is like the mountain climber jumping off the mountain, sometimes with the rope still tied to the guide) are particularly illustrative of the uses she has for metaphor. Metaphor is often used by therapists who fear the reaction of their clients. The clients will be out of the office before they catch on to the metaphor's insulting meaning.

Views

In his book, Guru: Metaphors from a psychotherapist, Sheldon Kopp
Sheldon Kopp
Sheldon Kopp was a psychotherapist and author, based in Washington, D.C.. He was born in New York City, and received his PhD from the New School of Social Research. In addition to his private practice, he served as a Psychotherapy Supervisor for the Pastoral Counselling and Consultation Centres...

 states: "Generally, a metaphor is defined as a way of speaking in which one thing is expressed in terms of another, whereby this bringing together throws new light on the character of what is being described." (p. 17)

Two influential figures in modern use of metaphor are: George Lakoff
George Lakoff
George P. Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972...

, one of America's foremost linguists, and Milton Erickson, the "father of modern hypnotherapy". Both have emphasized strongly the crucial place that metaphor holds in human communication and experience. The use of therapeutic metaphor is discussed within neuro-linguistic programming
Neuro-linguistic programming
Neuro-linguistic programming is an approach to psychotherapy, self-help and organizational change. Founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder say that NLP is a model of interpersonal communication and a system of alternative therapy which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective...

 circles.

Erickson, in particular, viewed much of human communication
Human communication
Human communication, or Anthroposemiotics, is the field dedicated to understanding how people communicate:* with themselves: intrapersonal communication** expression: body language* another person: interpersonal communication...

 as metaphor, and metaphors that he used are often studied by hypnotherapists
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....

 and others insofar as they communicate on so many levels simultaneously.

Further reading

  • Gordon, David, Therapeutic Metaphors: Helping Others Through the Looking Glass, Meta Publications (1978) ISBN 0-916990-04-4
  • John Grinder
    John Grinder
    John Grinder, Ph.D., is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with the co-creation with Richard Bandler of the field of Neuro-linguistic programming. He is co-director of Quantum Leap Inc., a management consulting firm founded by his partner...

     and Richard Bandler
    Richard Bandler
    Richard Wayne Bandler is an American author and trainer in the field of self-help. He is best known as the co-inventor of Neuro-linguistic programming , a collection of concepts and techniques intended to understand and change human behavior-patterns...

    , Trance-Formations, 1981
  • Thompkins, P., & Lawley, J. (2000). Metaphors in mind: transformation through symbolic modelling. Developing Company Press
  • Any of the many books by, or about, Milton Erickson, who was a dedicated user and creator of therapeutic metaphor. (See that article for bibliography)
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