Figurative language in psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Much theoretical and clinical literature and some previous empirical studies suggest that figurative language may perform special functions in psychodynamic therapy. Novel (i.e., original) figures of speech are thought to be particularly rich in the properties which distinguish figurative from nonfigurative language. This study explores the proposition that novel figures are specially disposed to uses which both advance therapeutic process (e.g., by facilitating a patient's and/or therapist's effort to verbalize inchoate aspects of the patient's experience) and block it (e.g., by allowing patient and/or therapist to avoid direct discussion of difficult material). The study sample consists of 21 complete psychotherapy session transcripts, with three sessions representing each of seven non-overlapping patient-therapist dyads. In each transcript, figures of speech are identified, and patient experiencing--the extent of a patient's involvement in potentially therapeutic self-exploration--is rated on a moment-to-moment basis. Patient experiencing is taken as evidence of process-advancing and process-blocking activity. The study aims to demonstrate temporal associations between novel figures and experiencing phenomena which are commensurate with figures' hypothesized process-advancing and process-blocking roles. A sequential analysis comparing experiencing ratings for transcript segments of varying lengths before and after novel figures with ratings for matched control segments yields no significant results. The small number of dyads in the sample, together with methodological constraints upon test and control segment selection, may be largely responsible for its failure. A second analysis, in which experiencing ratings before, during and after novel figures are compared with per-session experiencing means, yields more promising results. Novel figures tend to coincide with extreme experiencing ratings--especially with extremely low ratings--and accompany decreases in experiencing far more often than increases. Experiencing tends to exceed per-session means in intervals preceding novel figures, and to fall below per-session means in intervals following them. Quantitative results are complemented by an extensive qualitative analysis, in which relationships among figurative language, experiencing and a number of other process variables (e.g., transference, resistance) are explored. Together, quantitative and qualitative analyses succeed in demonstrating both process-advancing and process-blocking uses of novel figures.Ph.D.Clinical psychologyPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/128909/2/9227013.pd