When therapists hear patients talk of feeling "imprisoned," "burning with rage," "trapped," or "unequipped," they are witnessing manifestations of the symbolic attitude, the hallmark of all depth psychology. Most clinicians naturally respond to and use metaphors, but they often fail to understand the full potential of metaphoric images. This volume, in addressing the transforming power of metaphor, demonstrates how clinicians can deepen the therapeutic encounter.

This book represents a bold attempt to address contemporary issues in both metaphor and psychotherapy research. On one hand, metaphor research is increasingly concerned not just with describing metaphors in discourse, but how they could be used more adroitly in purposive ‘real world’ contexts such as psychotherapy. On the other hand, while a growing number of mental health professionals believe that metaphors contribute in some way to the psychotherapy process, their ability and willingness to use metaphors might be compromised by a relative unfamiliarity with the various nuanced aspects of metaphor theory. The present analysis of metaphors in authentic psychotherapeutic talk brings these theoretical aspects to the forefront, and suggests how they can be applied to enhance the use of communication of metaphors in psychotherapy. It should be of interest to metaphor researchers, mental health professionals, and discourse analysts in general.

Kevin William Grant examines the cognitive processes that produce metaphors in psychotherapy. The "I-Ching Task" is the measure of metaphor production applied in this research inquiry. Two cognitive processes are hypothesized to be necessary for the production of a metaphor. The first hypothesized cognitive process is sensory-imaginal processing, where attention is concentrated into one's internal experiencing and sensory awareness to form sensory impressions or sensory images. The second type of processing is called integration-synthesis processing, and this is hypothesized to work in parallel with sensory-imaginal processing. Integration-synthesis processing functions to combine conflicting or contradictory elements into an integrated whole. Metaphor is the meeting point of these processes, and all of them are important in the production of metaphor in psychotherapy. Revised and updated from the first edition published in 1991.

Published in the year 1982, Using Metaphors in Psychotherapy is a valuable contribution to the field of Psychotherapy.

The authors look at how literary material can be incorporated into therapy, and show that the value of associativeness as a complex cognitive function is not merely decorative.

"Oxford Guide to Metaphors in CBT, Building Cognitive Bridges is a remarkable, memorable, and continually fascinating book, one that will be on my repeated reference list for years to come." Robert Leahy, Clinical Professor of Pscyhology in Psychiatry at Well-Comell University Medical College --

Provides a theoretical and practical introduction to the use of metaphors in therapy, outlining which clinical situations lend themselves to the use of metaphorical strategies and how to use metaphors to develop rapport between therapist and client.