CAN ANYONE GIVE ME 10 METAPHORS USED IN PSYCHOTHERAPY?

Question

Im studying for a diploma and i have just hit this brick wall. Although i understand what a metaphor is, i cant seem to put it into the concept of psychotherapy, so if anyone knows any or has any ideas then i will be very grateful if you could share them with me. Thank you

Answer 1

Metaphors for Life and Mind

Complex phenomena can be elusive, and we tend to describe them in terms of other phenomena that are a bit more familiar. One of the more obvious targets is the immensity of complexity we call life. Ursula LeGuin, (1985: 483-485), describes some particularly generative metaphors in speaking about life, mind, philosophy, theology, and so forth:

* the war--struggle, triumph, courage, mind as warrior, language as control, winlose

* the lord, hierarchy, mind as control, law, place, responsibility

* animal, life, organic, indivisible wholeness, kinship, mind as animal, discovery, language as relationship

* the machine, work, clockmaker, use, function, medicine as repair, mind as machine, information, communication language, exploitation, progress

* the dance, music, harmony, creation/destruction, participation, cooperation, medicine as art, mind as dance, rhythm, language as connection, horizontal link

* the house, stability, division within unity, person as householder, selfhood; medicine as protection, mind as belonging, language as self-omestication, inside/outsidee

* the way, change, mystery, balance in movement, imitation of animal, water, etc. inaction, receptivity, medicine as balance, mind as spontenatity, language as inadequate, unity, return

The Dramaturgical Metaphor

Another well known metaphor, and one I find particularly useful, is the "dramaturgical model," speaking of events in life as if they were scenes in a theatrical production. William Shakespeare, through a speech given

by one of his charcters in As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7), puts it in a fairly well-known way: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women in it, merely players." Shakespeare then goes on to note seven ages of man as if they were character parts. Psychodrama builds on this, noting that we are not merely (or only) players, but also, with reflective consciousness, potentially the co-directors and co-playwrights of the dramas of our lives.  In another paper on this website, I discuss the metaphor of self as chief executive officer of a system, ann organization, a collective of many different roles, the choosing self being the "meta-role."

Metaphors of Psychotherapy

The process of psychotherapy is also complex and can be described in a variety of ways, and at different times in the course of clinical work it's often appropriate to change the choice of metaphor. At one point, psychotherapy can be like agriculture or gardening, or like historical research, like a process of education or re-programming a computer, and even like being treated for an illness--especially the kind of treatment in which the patient has to struggle, to practice, to be willing to work at getting better, like recovering from a burn or a stroke. Psychotherapy can be a process of exploration, or like detectives solving a mystery. It can include activities that are more like drama or art than science. Psychotherapy also involves elements of philosophy, friendship, and meditation. Thus, it's useful for both the therapist and the client to be flexible enough to use whatever metaphor is most helpful at a given stage in the process.

Is psychotherapy a science, with the subject matter being the dynamics of the client's life, objectively assessed through a variety of replicable procedures, and the treatment administered, chosen rationally based on clear criteria? And are these treatments themselves clearly laid out, and determined to be effective according to objective criteria?

Well, sometimes, a little. The whole question of psychotherapy research is beyond the scope of this paper, but efforts are being made to clarify which approaches are better, and for which kinds of patients, which kinds of problems, etc.

On the other hand, some might call therapy more of an art, an interweaving of elusive and unique blends of style, preference, the personality of the therapist, along with an intuitive application of various approaches. This, too, occurs in most cases, and accounts for therapy's not being all that scientific.

Let's consider, then, some other metaphors for this complex process:

Parenting: This role involves a host of helping behaviors, primarily in the area of emotional nurturance, containment, empathic validation, encouragement, at times substantive help.

Educating: Not only didactic provision of information is implied here, but a whole range of interactive and experiential approaches. Opportunities for seeing others perform the desired behavior (modeling); opportunities for practice in a fail-safe context; helping patients to review, reconsider, discover for themselves, re-evaluate old cognitions, make discriminations, etc.

Friendship: Discovering a more mutual relationship, an "encounter" with another person, getting realistic feedback. The idea of constructing a disciplined, authentic meeting appealed especially to the existential psychotherapists.

Erotic Love: Please do not overreact to this idea; it is not an apology for sexual misconduct between therapist and patient. Rather, it is a recognition of an underlying theme in human relations. James Hillman, in his mid-1970s book, Re-Visioning Psychology, pointed out that in mythological terms, "eros" awakens "psyche." And if you think of it, eros refers to something much deeper than mere sexuality: eros refers to the deep feelings of attraction and delight and pleasure which really gives romance its flavor. The most delicious aspect of romance isn't the physical sexuality, but the sense of discovery of self which comes through reflected admiration. It's incredible that someone else admires or enjoys or celebrates aspects of your personality which you had taken for granted or perhaps even devalued. This kind of love profoundly reorganizes the sense of self, expands it, establishes a stronger and more positive self-representation.

In the sense that therapists help patients discover their own value as persons, psychotherapy is erotic, and indeed it works best when the therapist can, as Carl Rogers noted, communicate a feeling of unconditional positive regard. I suspect that the stronger the genuine feeling of liking of the therapist the more effective the therapy, all other factors being equal. (That is, a foolish, shallow, or fawning therapist may not be very effective, and we know that becoming erotically or sexually involved with a patient is actually very counter-therapeutic!)

This model also partakes of Heinz Kohut's theories of "mirroring" that are part of that school of psychoanalysis called "self psychology." He noted the need for the developing ego–and continuing in everyday life even for mature people–of the function of having others reflect back some validation that one's self is valued.

Direct Authority: Closer to the old time Herr Professor Doktor role, also drill sergeant, just tell the patient what to do, lay out rules. Related to this on a more subtle level is the recognition of the power of suggestion, whether formalized in hypnotherapy, disguised as education, or integral to the role of the healer. Therapists must not deny their power in the minds of their patients, and they do better when they use it carefully and consciously. Even if a therapist seeks a more egalitarian relationship, seeks to promote the empowerment of the client, still at least at the outset, clients tend to confer on the therapist many subtle elements of authority.

Salesperson: In fact a good deal of therapy involves the act of persuasion, in gently, sometimes directly, often indirectly, encourages, cajoles, sympathizes, and in many other ways manipulates a patient to think about other alternatives to their problems, to continue to work on issues, to take the prescribed medicine, etc.

Management: Coordinating care, maneuvering in family therapy, dealing with other care providers, these and a host of other activities often occupy part of the therapist's time. Teaching patients principles of self-management, using an associated metaphor of helping them to become the manager of the many semi-autonomous parts of themselves, is also a relevant task. The metaphor of management involves a mediating quality, as modern management has come to eschew the earlier authoritarian, "boss" role.

A related management metaphor is "Quality Assurance," or "preventive maintenance," an idea that anticipates the needs for active self-assessment and pro-active behavior. People, like highly complex organizations, are constantly dealing with change, and thus it is useful to anticipate the need to revise obsolete elements in the attitudinal system and behavioral repertoire even before they become highly problematical. Patients are taught to seek areas which might be sources of future difficulty rather than to wait until they become compounded and far harder to repair.

The "Sports Analyst": Just as these sportscasters or newsmen reflect on replays of the incidents they describe, so it becomes useful to teach the patient to join with the therapist on pausing intermittently and reflecting on the therapeutic interaction itself. Freud's emphasis on the importance of analyzing the "transference" forshadowed this idea, and the use of video-playback simply makes the process more available and vivid. One doesn't need technology, though. I say to patients, "Let's pretend that we have some observers, something like sportscasters, up in the corner, watching our interaction. Every once in a while we'll go up there and ask them what they observe. Okay?" Patients like this idea, for they sense the integrity involved in the therapist's wilingness to be subject to an investigation of the interpersonal process and the relationship itself. This is a rather unique dimension of psychotherapy.

Spiritual Direction: As people in our postmodern culture experience the alienating influences of this environment from a host of sources, becoming re-grounded in a framework within one can operate meaningfully becomes a significant underlying theme within every change, growth, and reconstructive process. Spirituality is the activity of developing a relationship with the bigger picture, the larger, living framework within which we all operate. It's an activity, and most people don't take it on consciously. They've learned their philosophy of life, their religious beliefs, and these operate as residues– they need to be rejected, revised, or revitalized, and this process has in it a component also of philosophy.

Shamanic Healing: The aura of the Herr Doktor of science also has roots in the more primal archetype of the healer, and in some non-technological cultures, this involves the healer's role in going into the heavenly or otherworldly realms, there to do battle with the spirits who may have invaded or kidnaped aspects of the patient's "soul."

Many aspects of healing have some resonance with a process of redemption, of recognizing that one's power, sexuality, spontaneity, innocence, self-confidence, or some other positive quality has been in a sense "lost."  The image of being helped in redeeming these components can be enlivening.  (The disadvantage of the role is that it may feed into the expectation that deep change can happen from the outside. However, in certain ways, it is true! Hypnotherapy often partakes of this operation, with changes happening without the client take responsibility. The problem is that it only works for some kinds of difficulties.)

Wine Tasting

The development of the skill of discriminating subtle inner perceptions also invites the use of a metaphor–that of learning to taste wines. This image can help people learn to become aware of their feelings, which is an innate part of the psychotherapeutic process.. People who seek counseling often have become somewhat numbed and unable to describe the feelings evoked by various situations--they are "out of touch," so to speak. Usually, these folks grew up in an environment where there wasn't much talk about emotions. By making the analogy to wine tasting, the process of re-learning is made into a mastery skill in a new area, so they can feel curious and as if they're taking on an interesting challenge rather than defensive about their ignorance.

I note that there are several levels of discrimination, several stages of the learning. The first step in wine tasting is to become aware that one is drinking wine and not water or beer. This is a way of gently communicating that feelings are different than mere sensations in the body or dry thoughts in the mind. If a person can only respond to a stressful situation with a rationalization such as, "Well, I guess they had to do it that way," he may have difficulty getting in touch with the idea that he did not like what happened. That approach, or the simple complaint, "It's my nerves, Doc" represent states of mind that have not yet learned to notice that they have emotional reactions.

The second step in wine tasting presents a useful lesson: There are three basic tastes--sweet, sour, and bitter, and wines are essentially varied mixtures of these three tastes. For the most part, there are four basic primary emotions, and most feelings are blendings of these emotional components--happiness and sadness, anger and fear. Happiness can include both joy and simple relief. Mixed with a trace of anger, it becomes triumph; with a trace of fear, anticipation. Like the primary colors, when blended, sometimes make up new colors, fear and sadness become depression, anger and sadness, suspiciosness. The point is to help people who are out of touch with their feelings (a condition known by the technical term, "alexithymia") to begin to have a vocabulary for describing these experiences.

The third step in wine tasting is more subtle, requires more intuition. It has to do with getting the more unique characteristics of the wine, the bouquet, the body, etc. This phase of learning is analogous to the next step in learning about the emotions: Once the person is able to notice that he is feeling, and what the basic qualities of the feeling are, then he can begin to discover what those feelings are about. This involves discovering the associations to the feelings--the memories, the beliefs, the significance. It's learning to know what your "buttons" are so that when someone or some event "pushes" them, you don't have to automatically react. You can build in some "circuit breakers." (Ah, but I'm changing the metaphor from learning how to "taste" the subtle feelings to how to "fix" the broken computer or machine.)

This process of learning to become increasingly sensitive applies not only to inner feelings, but also to making differentiations in interpersonal interactions. For example, some people have never learned to discriminate between conversation and arguing, encouraging and mocking challenge, gracious appreciation and self-effacement, or between cooperative play and teasing. Learning to, as it were, "taste" these differences in psycho-social states may also be framed as part of the re-learning process.

Answer 2

seeking to understand the interactions of those in a community (social psychology)

seeking to understand the dynamics of a marriage (interpersonal psychology)

seeking to undestand how one's thought processes influence feelings

hope that sets you on your way