Cover not available

Article published In: Metaphor in Mental Healthcare
Edited by Dennis Tay
[Metaphor and the Social World 10:2] 2020
► pp. 214–232

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Strategies for using metaphor in psychological treatment

 | NT Psykiatri AB
Published online: 13 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.00004.tor
Abstract
In most models of psychotherapy metaphor is considered an important aspect of communication. At the same time there is a need for a rationale to tell the clinician with what purpose and how to use metaphor for the benefit of the client. The present article suggests such principles, specifically based on a behavioral approach to human language, relational frame theory (RFT). This approach has co-developed with a specific model of psychotherapy: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and the conclusions in this article are very much in line with that model. Overlap between RFT and a recent linguistic theory of metaphor, the dynamic approach, is also discussed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Relational frame theory
    • 2.1Relational frame theory and metaphor
    • 2.2Relational frame theory and psychological treatment
  • 3.The joint venture of rule-following and self-awareness
  • 4.The blessing and the curse
  • 5.The remedy to “the dark side of the force”
  • 6.Why metaphor?
  • 7.Introducing metaphor to train psychological flexibility
  • 8.Catching metaphors to train psychological flexibility
  • 9.Metaphor, co-operation and building therapeutic alliance
  • 10.Concluding remarks
  • References
References (32)
References
Angus, L. E., & Greenberg, L. S. (2011). Working with narrative in emotion-focused therapy: Changing stories, healing lives. Washington: American Psy-chological Association. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brennan, S. E., & Clark, H. H. (1996). Conceptual pacts and lexical choice in conversation. Journal of Experimental psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 221, 1482–1493.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Combs, G., & Freedman, J. (1990). Symbol, story and ceremony: Using metaphor in individual and family therapy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (eds.) (2001). Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition. NewYork: Plenum. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Brownstein, A. J., Zettle, R. D., Rosenfarb, I., & Korn, Z. (1986). Rule-governed behavior and sensitivity to changing consequences of responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 451, 237–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy. The process and practice of mindful change. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. G., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 641, 1152–1168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horvath, A. O. (2018). Research on the alliance: Knowledge in search of a theory, Psychotherapy Research, 28:4, 499–516. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction. New York: Oxford University. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lord S. P., Sheng, E., Imel Z.E., Baer J. & Atkins, D.C. (2015) More than reflections: Empathy in motivational interviewing includes language style synchrony between therapist and client. Behavior Therapy. 461:296–303. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luciano, C. (2017). The self and responding to your own behavior. Implications of coherence and hierarchical framing. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 171, 267–275.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luciano, C., Valdivia-Salas, S., Cabello-Luque, F., & Hernández, M. (2009). Developing self-directed rules. In R. A. Rehfeldt & Y. Barnes-Holmes (ed.), Derived relational responding: Applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities (p. 335–352). Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mathieson, F., Jordan, J., Carter, J. & Stubbe, M. (2015). Nailing Down Metaphors in CBT: Definition, Identification and Frequency. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 1(2), 1–13.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McHugh, L., Stewart, I. & Almada, P. (2019). A contextual behavioral guide to the self. Theory and practice. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McMullen, L. M. (2008). Putting it in context: Metaphor and psychotherapy. In R. W. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (p. 397–411). New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, C. (2008). Metaphors dead and alive, sleeping and walking: A dynamic view. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, C., & Cienki, A. (2009). Words, gestures and beyond: Forms of multimodal metaphor in the use of spoken language. In C. J. Forceville & E. Urio-Aparisi (ed.), Multimodal metaphor (p. 297–328). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Needham-Didsbury, I. (2014). Metaphor in psychotherapeutic discourse: Implications for utterance interpretation. Poznan studies in contemporary linguistics, 501, 75–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Hora, D. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2004). Instructional control: developing a relational frame analysis. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy 111, p. 263–284.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramnerö, J. & Törneke, N. (2008). The ABCs of human behavior: Behavioral principles for the practicing clinician. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Semin, G. R. & Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Grounding social cognition: Synchronization, coordination, and co-regulation. In Semin, G. R. & Smith, E. R. (ed) Embodied grounding: Social, cognitive, affective, and neuroscientic approaches. (p. 119–147) New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1966). An operant analysis of problem solving. In B. Kleinmuntz (ed.), Problem solving: Research, method, and theory (pp. 133–171) NY: Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stewart, I., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2001). Understanding metaphor: A relational frame perspective. Behavior Analyst, 241, 191–199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steen, G. J. (2011) The contemporary theory of metaphor–now new and improved. Review of cognitive linguistics, 9:1, 26–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stine, J. J. (2005). The use of metaphors in the service of the therapeutic alliance and therapeutic communication. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry 331, 531–545. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stott, R., Mansell, W., Salkovskis, P., Lavender, A., & Cartwright-Hatton, S. (2010). Oxford guide to metaphors in CBT: Building cognitive bridges. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Törneke, N. (2017). Metaphor in practice. A professional’s guide to using the science of language in psychotherapy. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Törneke, N., Luciano, C., & Valdivia Salas, S. (2008). Rule-governed behaviour and psychological problems. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 81, 141–156.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Törneke, N., Luciano, C., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Bond, F. (2016). RFT for clinical practice: Three core strategies in understanding and treating human suffering. In R. D. Zettle, S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & T. Biglan (ed.), Wiley handbook of contextual behavioral science (p. 254–272). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Villatte, M., Villatte, J. L., & Hayes, S. C. (2016). Mastering the clinical conver-sation: Language as intervention. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Burnside, Elizabeth & Steve Noone
2025. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Model and Training. In The Palgrave Handbook of Third-Wave Psychotherapies, ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo
Friedrich, Jannis, Martin H. Fischer & Markus Raab
2025. Issues in Grounded Cognition and How to Solve Them – the Minimalist Account. Journal of Cognition 8:1 DOI logo
Rabarbari, Elisa, Giulia Magni, Claudia Repetto & Giuseppe Riva
2025. OVER-LON: Overview Virtual Effect for Relieving LONeliness. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 28:11 ► pp. 778 ff. DOI logo
Crego, Antonio, José Ramón Yela & Rita Ozores-Pérez
2024. A map of living: Moving through the variations of life with the guidance of metaphors. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 31 ► pp. 100718 ff. DOI logo
Kirmayer, Laurence J.
2023. Cultural poetics of illness and healing. Transcultural Psychiatry 60:5 ► pp. 753 ff. DOI logo
Ma, Wen & Qingsong Liu
2023. Language and health studies in the era of holistic health: Achievements and prospects. Language and Health 1:2 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Crego, Antonio, José Ramón Yela, Rita Ozores-Pérez, Pablo Riesco-Matías & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez
2022. Eudaimonic and Uncertainty Metaphors About Life are Associated with Meaningfulness, Experiential Avoidance, Mental Health and Happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies 23:8 ► pp. 4119 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue