The Use of Clean Language and Metaphor in Helping Clients Overcoming Procrastination
Journal Title: Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy - Year 2016, Vol 19, Issue 3
Abstract
Modern cognitive science has revealed that human beings think in metaphor (Pinker, S., 2008) and analogy (Hofstadter, D.R. & Sander, E., 2013): by comparing and connecting one kind of concept to another kind of concept using the simple equation “X is like Y”. This process occurs both at the conscious, rational level – for example, when we write that “Juliet is the sun” – and, much more frequently, unconsciously. Studies have found that about six metaphors a minute are used in English, with similar numbers in other languages (Gibbs, R. W., 1994). When it comes to psychotherapy, coaching and personal development, problems are often framed in terms of metaphor. For example, procrastination might be described as a “mysterious” force, holding the client back from creating the happy, fulfilled life he often dreams of.Clean Language, created by the late David Grove between the 1980s and the 1990s, is a process designed to use such client metaphors as an engine for positive change. In this article, we show how it works in a typical one-on-one session.
Authors and Affiliations
Judy Rees, Alexandru Ioan Manea
Keywords
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