| This investigation addresses how a metaphor--in the form of a therapeutic interpretation--can effect an experience of dynamic insight in the psychotherapy patient.; The existing body of research concerning this phenomenon has a number of shortcomings. Clinical accounts that have been put forth are anecdotal and lack systematization. The theories that have been put forth to explain the process represent such a multiplicity of concepts (and conceptual frameworks) that a broader understanding is extremely difficult to obtain.; The approach of this investigation was to draw upon existing theories, as well as known functional characteristics of metaphoric cognition in order to elaborate how the metaphor actually acts upon the patient to effect insight. A model was selected as a research methodology for its effectiveness in elaborating complex, theoretically-dependent therapeutic change processes.; Consistent with the multi-stage process of dynamic insight, the model was organized sequentially, focusing on the movement and mechanisms of the metaphoric interpretation as it interacts with particular components of the psyche. The process was delineated in terms of the economic aspect of metapsychology. Thus, the "vocabulary" of the model deals with the (re-)distribution of energy and the role of the metaphor in mediating and transcending intrapsychic conflict.; Once rendered, the model was "tested" according to its ability to explicate clinical vignettes derived from the literature. These analyses demonstrate and illuminate the central processes of the model, including: (a) how the metaphor objectifies both sides of the patient's conflict; (b) how the metaphor preserves the tension within that conflict; (c) how the metaphor mobilizes "experiential" domains of experience--cognition, affect and somatosensory experience--as well as certain "psychological" domains, including memory, conation, imagination and intellect; and (d) how the metaphor leads to the emergence of a new, more integrated awareness on the part of the patient. |
