A Behavioural Analysis of Figurative Language in Psychotherapy: One Session in a Single Case-Study

Abstract

In an attempt to examine the frequency of occurrence and significance of figurative language in spoken discourse, a line-by-line analysis of such language in a single session of psychotherapy was performed. Results of such an analysis showed that for this particular case, figurative language occurred at a rate of between 3 and 6 figures per 100 words of text, and that novel, as opposed to frozen, figures tended to occur in extended bursts. These bursts were shown to relate to other aspects of the therapeutic process, particularly those involving patient problem-setting and problem-solving. In general, novel figurative language was seen to be a method whereby intimate personal qualities and problems could be talked about in a non-intrusive and therapeutically helpful manner.

Studying the Use of Figurative Language in Psychotherapy: The Search for Researchable Questions

“…In analyzing the course of a single, highly successful hour of Gestalt therapy, Pollio and Barlow (1975) found that, overall, the client had a larger ratio of both frozen and novel figures to the total number of words produced (.027 and .033, respectively) than did the therapist (.011 and .022, respectively). In addition, although the ratio of frozen figures to words produced decreased over the hour for both client and therapist, the ratio of novel figures to words produced increased for both participants during a middle portion of the session.…”

“…The potential benefits of metaphors' in facilitating the effectiveness of psychotherapy have been amply documented and illustrated in numerous clinical case examples (e.g., Adams & Chadboume, 1982;Bauer & Modarressi, 1977;Brink, 1982;Mosher, 1979) and conceptual or theoretical articles (e.g., Aleksandrowicz, 1962;Arlow, 1979;Evans, 1988;Gore, 1977;Lenrow, 1966;Muran & DiGiuseppe, 1990) and usually form the backdrop for the few empirical studies that do exist in the literature (Angus & Rennie, 1988Hill & Regan, 1991;Martin, Cummings, & Hallberg, 1992;McMullen, 1985McMullen, , 1989McMullen & Conway, 1994;Pollio & Barlow, 1975). However, a consideration of the empirical literature reveals that the relation between metaphor use and therapeutic change has not been addressed directly.…”

“…Often, the results of empirical investigations are interpreted within particular theoretical frameworks (e.g., humanistic or phenomenological, as in 'Given the preponderance of metaphor (as opposed to other forms of figurative language, such as simile or personification) in psychotherapy and the tendency for some writers in this area to equate this specific form with figurative language in general, I use the termsjgurative language and metaphor interchangeably throughout this article. Angus & Rennie, 1988, with reference to literature on relevant topics (e.g., problem solving, as in Pollio & Barlow, 1975), or in the context of general understandings of psychotherapy (e.g., Hill & Regan, 1991;McMullen, 1989). However, only rarely have empirical studies been guided by theoretically linked questions (e.g., Martin et al, 1992;McMullen & Conway, 1994), and again, the question of how metaphor is related to therapeutic change has not been addressed.…”

Dominance and Nurturance in the Figurative Expressions of Psychotherapy Clients

“…In early studies (e.g., Barlow, H. R. Pollio, & Fine, 1977;McMullen, 1985; H. R. Pollio & Barlow, 1975), researchers relied on the distinction between novel figures (those considered by the receiver to be original contributions within the context of the speaker's communication) and frozen figures (cliched expressions or those words and phrases that are commonly used, accepted parts of speech, such as the legs of a chair), with novel figures judged to be of most signrficance for the tasks of therapy. This distinction is now considered by some researchers (e.g., Amira, 1982; McMullen, 1989) to be an inadequate way of selecting instances for analysis because not all novel figures are implicated in the tasks of therapy and many frozen or conventional figures are indicators of major themes in therapy.…”

Character Intimacy Influences the Processing of Metaphoric Utterances During Narrative Comprehension

“…Finally, as a form of catachresis (Black, 1954;Ricoeur, 2003), metaphorically motivated expressions can help fill linguistic gaps, allowing individuals to articulate ideas for which there is not a single or obvious preexisting word or phrase. HORTON interpersonal relationships in a variety of domains, including the classroom (Cameron, 2003), politics (Cameron & Stelma, 2004;Charteris-Black, 2005;Mio, Riggio, Levin, & Reese, 2005), and psychotherapy (Pollio & Barlow, 1975). Taken together, these observations support Cohen's (1978) view that speakers use figurative language not only in ways that draw upon existing commonalities but also in ways that reinforce feelings of closeness (although speakers' choices to speak figuratively may not always be explicitly deliberate; Gibbs, 2011) The findings described above speak primarily to the role that figurative language might play in shaping language users' own relationships.…”