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Article published In: Metaphor in Mental Healthcare
Edited by Dennis Tay
[Metaphor and the Social World 10:2] 2020
► pp. 292–319

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The ‘transformative’ power of ‘integrated metaphor’ in counselling

Applying and measuring its implemented potential

 | University of Bologna
Published online: 13 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.00008.fer
Abstract
Given the centrality of metaphor in the (re)structuring of experience (Burns, G. W. (2005). 101 Stories for Kids and Teens. Using Metaphor in Therapy. Hoboken NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Loue, S. (2008). The Transformative Power of Metaphor in Therapy. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Roffman, A. E. (2008). Men are Grass. Bateson, Erickson, Utilization and Metaphor. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 50(3): 247–257. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and of bodily experience to the notion of conceptual metaphor in cognitive theory (Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003 [1980]). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In Ortony, A. (ed.) Metaphor and Thought (2nd edition), (pp. 202–251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Gibbs, R. W. (2006). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), this paper investigates the ‘transformative power’ of metaphor in ‘talking cure’ practices – Counselling and Psychotherapy – to implement its application potential. An experimental integrated “metaphor-based and -driven” model is presented by adapting textual identification procedures (Steen, G. J. (1999). From linguistic to conceptual metaphor in five steps. In Gibbs, R. W. & Steen, G. (eds.) Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics, (pp. 55–77). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Ferrari, F. (2007). Metaphor at Work in the Analysis of Political Discourse. Investigating a ‘preventive war’ persuasion strategy. Discourse & Society 18(5): 603–625. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Pragglejaz Group (2007). “MIP: A Method for Identifying Metaphorically Used Words in Discourse. Metaphor and Symbol 22(1), 1–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) to an integrated psychological approach (Rogers, C. (2003 [1951]). Client-centered Therapy. London: Constable.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Perls, 1951) in order to further develop metaphor transformation guidelines. The ‘M’ psycho-test had been created to evaluate the power of metaphor in counselling sessions in a diachronic perspective, providing both qualitative and quantitative data. Some preliminary cases (e.g. ‘the frog’, ‘eating’, ‘the hare’, ‘the desolated land’) are presented, with relative Transformational score, as examples of test application and metaphor potential. Test evidence has allowed for quantitative and qualitative observations. The evidence gathered shows: (1) Applying a metaphor-based experimental integrated approach can offer alternative for action in the practice; (2) Measuring the transformational power of metaphor through ‘M’ psycho-test can offer further degree of awareness for both counsellor and client.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Integrating metaphor
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Design: Metaphor-based and driven Method
  • 3.Practice and application of the framework: Working with Metaphor
  • 4.Application: Variation within the framework
    • 4.1Metaphors activated at Thought Level
    • 4.2Metaphors activated at Body Level
    • 4.3Metaphors activated at the Emotional Level
  • 5.Measure: The ‘M’ psychometric test
    • 5.1Transformational score – calculation & operational notes
  • 6.Findings/results
  • 7.Discussion
    • 7.1The transformational power of metaphor
    • 7.2Relativity of positive vs. negative states
    • 7.3Integration & balance (quantitative scores)
    • 7.4Relativity of quantitative scores
    • 7.5Relativity of qualitative data
    • 7.6Relativity of the psycho-test and added value
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
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