JamesLawley
28-12-2003, 10:29 PM
Notes taken from the David Grove video set - METAPHORS TO HEAL BY - Tape 1 - 1989
'Metaphor' derives from the same root as ‘amphora’ which is a Greek carrying vase. So metaphors carry information.
Metaphors inside the body are representations of symptoms in symbolic form. They are an unsuccessful attempt at healing. Metaphors can be drawn.
To distinguish this kind of metaphor from Jungian symbols and Ericksonian metaphors, David calls them epistemological metaphors because they come from the client and they describe how the client knows they know (even if they don’t have a conscious memory).
Tips about delivery of questions (to metaphors in the body):
Start with:
‘And what would you like to have happen?’
followed by
‘And when you have ...... how do you know you have ...?’
The process of turning feeling or thought words into a metaphor is:
i. Ask for a location
ii. Get more specific about the location using “And whereabouts ......?”
iii. Refer to the metaphor by its name or as “it”.
(JL: Using “it” establishes an identity for the metaphor separate from the client. Something similar is used in Narrative Therapy).
- Start each question with “And”.
- Ask questions softly and slowly (about 1/3 the normal speaking rate) for the therapist-added words.
- Use client’s intonation for their words.
The last thing the client says is often the most important.
Reluctance to answer a question is a clue that the question is either not relevant or its not appropriate at this moment.
If a client says they don’t know, you can ask “And when you don’t know, how do you know you don’t know?” Their response will often be something like “It’s blank” and that can be developed into a metaphor.
This approach is Information Centered rather than client centered.
There are three informational forms (identified by their location):
1. Metaphors inside the body
2. The body itself
3. External to the body
Language which indicates each form:
1. “I feel empty.”
2. “My feet are stuck.”
3. “He’s coming to get me.”
An example response to each form is:
1. Develop the metaphor by asking “And when youi feel empty, where is empty?” (see i, ii, iii above).
2. “And what can you do when you can’t move?”
3. Move time on by asking “And what happens next?”
Client’s problems start as undifferentiated information masses, i.e. 1, 2 and 3 are all mixed up. Clients will often jump from form to form. The aim is to develop all three forms from T-1 through T to T+1 (T is the moment of most intense trauma as perceived by the client). This means it is going to go from bad to worse before it gets better.
The 5 Phases of Metaphor Therapy
1. Separation of the metaphor from the person.
2. Individuation which extends the significance of the 3 information sources downwards.
3. Maturation of the information by use of “And what happens next?”.
4. Solution is to be found at T and can be of two types:
* Type I - Moving through T to T+1 in a linear fashion using a question like “And what would ...... like to have happen?”.
* Type II - Recombining metaphors so they transform each other.
5. Proclamation.
James Lawley
'Metaphor' derives from the same root as ‘amphora’ which is a Greek carrying vase. So metaphors carry information.
Metaphors inside the body are representations of symptoms in symbolic form. They are an unsuccessful attempt at healing. Metaphors can be drawn.
To distinguish this kind of metaphor from Jungian symbols and Ericksonian metaphors, David calls them epistemological metaphors because they come from the client and they describe how the client knows they know (even if they don’t have a conscious memory).
Tips about delivery of questions (to metaphors in the body):
Start with:
‘And what would you like to have happen?’
followed by
‘And when you have ...... how do you know you have ...?’
The process of turning feeling or thought words into a metaphor is:
i. Ask for a location
ii. Get more specific about the location using “And whereabouts ......?”
iii. Refer to the metaphor by its name or as “it”.
(JL: Using “it” establishes an identity for the metaphor separate from the client. Something similar is used in Narrative Therapy).
- Start each question with “And”.
- Ask questions softly and slowly (about 1/3 the normal speaking rate) for the therapist-added words.
- Use client’s intonation for their words.
The last thing the client says is often the most important.
Reluctance to answer a question is a clue that the question is either not relevant or its not appropriate at this moment.
If a client says they don’t know, you can ask “And when you don’t know, how do you know you don’t know?” Their response will often be something like “It’s blank” and that can be developed into a metaphor.
This approach is Information Centered rather than client centered.
There are three informational forms (identified by their location):
1. Metaphors inside the body
2. The body itself
3. External to the body
Language which indicates each form:
1. “I feel empty.”
2. “My feet are stuck.”
3. “He’s coming to get me.”
An example response to each form is:
1. Develop the metaphor by asking “And when youi feel empty, where is empty?” (see i, ii, iii above).
2. “And what can you do when you can’t move?”
3. Move time on by asking “And what happens next?”
Client’s problems start as undifferentiated information masses, i.e. 1, 2 and 3 are all mixed up. Clients will often jump from form to form. The aim is to develop all three forms from T-1 through T to T+1 (T is the moment of most intense trauma as perceived by the client). This means it is going to go from bad to worse before it gets better.
The 5 Phases of Metaphor Therapy
1. Separation of the metaphor from the person.
2. Individuation which extends the significance of the 3 information sources downwards.
3. Maturation of the information by use of “And what happens next?”.
4. Solution is to be found at T and can be of two types:
* Type I - Moving through T to T+1 in a linear fashion using a question like “And what would ...... like to have happen?”.
* Type II - Recombining metaphors so they transform each other.
5. Proclamation.
James Lawley