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Hearing Metaphor: An Approach to Working with Family‐Generated Metaphor
Author(s) -
SIMS PETER A.,
WHYNOT CHRISTOPHER A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1997.00341.x
Subject(s) - metaphor , family therapy , conversation , psychology , resource (disambiguation) , conversation analysis , psychotherapist , sociology , linguistics , communication , computer science , philosophy , computer network
This article presents a step‐by‐step approach to working with family‐generated metaphor in family therapy. Although the use of therapist‐generated “therapeutic metaphors” has been widely advocated and practiced for many years now, less attention has been paid to the metaphors used by family members. We argue that the family's metaphors are a neglected linguistic resource in family therapy. Highlighting and validating these metaphors produces a therapeutic conversation in which the voices of family members are heard more clearly by the therapist, and the families' own imaginative energies are engaged in defining and pursuing the goals of therapy. Several case examples illustrate the use of this approach with children of various ages.