Metaphors in Psychotherapy

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.