psychology of metaphor

How I work with client metaphors
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How I work with client metaphors

Clients often come to therapy because of negative associations and patterns (negative metaphors). But in my own work, I find it helpful to go deeper… into a client’s innate positive (rather than negative) metaphoric associations. Fifty years of outstanding research by George Lakoff and others has demonstrated how metaphors form the basis of our cognition,…

17 potent, inspiring and relatively unknown books on the power of art, imagination, learning, and metaphor
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17 potent, inspiring and relatively unknown books on the power of art, imagination, learning, and metaphor

In alphabetical order, 17 potent, inspiring, and relatively unknown books on the power of art, imagination, learning, and metaphor. (These are books not commonly known, so that’s why some popular books on creativity and imagination aren’t listed.) Enjoy. THE AESTHETIC DIMENSION: Towards a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics by Herbert Marcuse ALONE WITH THE ALONE: Creative…

To view the world compassionately, we need the undeveloped capacities of our right cerebral hemisphere
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To view the world compassionately, we need the undeveloped capacities of our right cerebral hemisphere

To my mind, one of the most paradigm-changing statements of the 20th century was from Nobel laureate and neuroscientist Roger Sperry: There appears to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented separately in left and right hemispheres, respectively. Our educational system, and science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect….

“Metaphor is the secret of all life.” ~ Martin Foss

“Metaphor is the secret of all life.” ~ Martin Foss

   “[Metaphor] is the secret of all life. It is the innermost secret of the life of God himself.” ~ Martin Foss “The present is not a phase in time. It is the tension by which past and future are metaphorically united and overcome.” ~ Martin Foss In 2007 I accidentally discovered Martin Foss’s profound…

finding solid ground… when you’re navigating the unknown
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finding solid ground… when you’re navigating the unknown

Navigating uncertain terrain. Six years ago, I was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor the size of a cantaloupe. I was (understandably) scared. I work with metaphor with my clients. The metaphor that showed up was an image: I saw myself walking through uncertain terrain, but there was solid ground under my feet. The image said:…

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