Metaphor in Psychotherapy - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Metaphor in Psychotherapy Niklas Törneke

2. The structure of this webinarBasic terminologyModern science and metaphor in generalAn RFT analysis of metaphor useClinical applications

3. Background Almost everybody agree on the importance of metaphor in psychotherapyLimited research on metaphor and clinical work Lots of research in linguistics and cognitive science about metaphor in general

4. Basic terminologyTargetSourceis

5. Basic terminologyTarget (topic): The phenomena we want to say something about. Often less known, more abstract Source (vehicle, base): The phenomena we use to talk about the topic in question. Often better known, more concrete.

6. Traditional viewLiteral language is basicMetaphorical talk is ”an extra”Traditional use: poetry and rhetorical talk

7. Metaphors are basic tools in languageMetaphors are not ”an extra”, they are at the very root of language and cognitionWe constantly talk as if basic, implicit metaphors apply”Metaphors we live by”. Lakoff/Johnson 1980Conventionalized (”frozen”) metaphors affect thinking and action

8. Implicit metaphors in everyday languageWe talk as if argument is war (“Your position is totally indefensible”; “His argument was easy to shoot down”; “She kept attacking my views”) We talk as if life is a game (“The odds are against me”; “If I play my cards right…”; “She drew the short straw”)We talk as if ideas are objects (“Bring that to our next meeting”; “Will you please drop that?”) We talk as if ideas are food (“I find that hard to swallow”; “It was something to get my teeth into”) We talk as if anger is pressure in a container (“He was bursting with anger”; “I exploded with anger”; “She could not contain her rage”)We talk as if influence is a physical force (“I couldn’t resist the pressure”; “That really made an impact on me”)

9. An RFT analysis of metaphorRelational frame theory: the behavior of relating is at the root of language and cognitionRelating phenomena (stimuli, events, objects) under the control of arbitrary contextual cuesMetaphor: relating relations

10. “Peter and Louise are like night and day”Niklas Törneke10 Same as (coordination) Louise Day Peter Night Target SourceDissimilarityDissimilarity

11. “Peter and Louise are like two peas in a pod”Niklas Törneke11 Same as (coordination) Louise Pea Peter Pea Target SourceSimilarity Similarity

12. “Peter and Louise are like cats and dogs”Niklas Törneke12 Same as (coordination) Louise Dogs Peter Cats Target SourceRelationof conflictRelationof conflict

13. “My thinking is a machine”Niklas Törneke13 Same as (coordination) Me Me My thoughts Machine Target SourceRelation of distanceRelation of distance

14. Practical use of metaphor in the therapeutic dialogueHow to do it and for what?

15. For what? To increase psychological flexibilityPsychological flexibility is a behavioral repertoire and it’s essence is about how we interact with our own behavior (how we respond to our own responding) Why important? Because human language (symbolic generalization, relational framing) makes our own responding into an extremely influential part of the context in which we act. Said another way: our private responding (thinking, feeling, remembering) typically has important influence on the following behavior of the same individual. Said yet another way: we constantly talk to ourselves, we instruct and warn ourselves, and those “self-instruction” or “rules” influence our actions

16. Two psychological traps lead to inflexibility Fusion, that is: interacting with your own self-instructions (feelings, thoughts, memories, bodily sensations) without making a distinction between yourself as an acting person and those responsesExperiential avoidance, that is: following self-instructions about trying to controll, diminish or get rid of painfull private responses

17. Three generic principles for increasing psychological flexibilityFind and name, in co-operation with the client, the current problematic strategy the client uses and clarify relevant antecedents and consequences (functional analysis, A B C analysis, creative hopelessness) of that behavior.Help the client to establish observational distance to self-instructing responses functioning as important antecedent factors to the problematic strategy, in order to alter the functions of such responses as they emerge (defusion/self as context, de-centering) Help the client in using observational distance of both antecedents and consequences that support an alternative strategy (taking direction, valued action)

18. General optionsIntroduce metaphors Catch metaphors used by the clientCo-create and develop metaphors together with the client

19. Catching and co-developingConventionalized (”dead”) ”I feel so empty”, ”It is all going downhill”, ”it runs so fast”, ”I just float away”Common (”living”) metaphors: ”heavy load on my shoulders”, ”my head is overheated”, ”I am stuck in a swamp”, ”I am in a battlefield”New: ”Shouldn’t the fontanelle have closed up by now?”Catch! Explore source and target!Look for markers of co-operation!

20. Catching and co-operatingConventionalized (”dead”) ”I feel so empty”, ”It is all going downhill”, ”it runs so fast”, ”I just float away”Common (”living”) metaphors: ”heavy load on my shoulders”, ”my head is overheated”, ”I am stuck in a swamp”, ”I am in a battlefield”New: ”Shouldn’t the fontanelle have closed up by now?”Functional analysis (A B C)Establish observational distanceTake direction

21. To elicit metaphor: What kind of sadness, joy, anger etc., is that sadness, joy, anger, etc.?To explore or to develop metaphors: What kind of X is X? Is there something more with X?For functional analysis: What comes before X? And then…? What do you do when..?To establish an observational distance: Ask concrete questions about the source of the metaphor. What does it look like? Form? Color? Movement?Direction: Elaborate the source so that you can ask questions about desired consequences. What can you do that will move you in that direction/to be faithful to what you want, to be the one you want to be? If you as a therapist sense something about valued direction for the client, what is that like (trying to elicit a metaphor)? General principle: Don’t get lost in the source, remember to also be explicit about it’s target (what are we talking about here?)!

22. Some general points from researchA metaphor functions well when an apt relationsship between source and target is established so that the source structures how the target is experiencedThere should be certain knowledge about the target but too much can diminish the effect of the metaphorA source from known bodily or cultural exeperience tends to be bestEarly in the process increases effectIncreasing opportunities to construe experience based on a metaphor will strengthen it’s effect.Metaphors affect attention and memoryMetaphor can have effects regardless of our awareness of them.

23. Metaphor in Practice: A Professional’s Guide to Using the Science of Language in Psychotherapy. Törneke, 2017. RFT for Clinical Use: The Example of Metaphor. Foody, Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, Törneke, Luciano, Stewart & McEnteggart 2014. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 3, 305–313.RFT for Clinical Practice: Three Core Strategies in Understanding and Treating Human Suffering. Törneke, Luciano, Barnes-Holmes & Bond 2016. In Zettle, Hayes, Barnes-Holmes & Biglan (ed.), Wiley handbook of contextual behavioral science p. 254–272Metaphor. A Practical Introduction. Kövecses, Z. 2010How Linguistic Metaphor Scaffolds Reasoning. Thibodeau, Hendricks & Boroditsky 2017. Trends in cognitive science, 21, 852-863Contact: niklas.torneke@telia.com