Therapeutic metaphor is a specialized use of metaphor. It often involves not a simple sentence, rather it involves a story or other parallel to an entire aspect of a situation. Thus a therapist told about the untimely death of a loved one, might respond by describing two roses in a garden, one of which is dug up. The purpose of this is to highlight to a person, in an effective way, some aspects and lessons that otherwise they might not be able to perceive as clearly in their current situation, or to suggest new outlooks on it. Jump to: navigation, search In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ... Psychotherapy is a set of techniques intended to improve mental health, emotional or behavioral issues in individuals, who are often called clients. These issues often make it hard for people to manage their lives and achieve their goals. ...

In his book, Guru: Metaphors from a psychotherapist, Sheldon Kopp states: "Generally, a metaphor is defined as a way of speaking in which one thing is expressed in terms of another, whereby this bringing together throws new light on the character of what is being described." (p.17)

Two influential figures in modern use of metaphor are: George Lakoff, one of America's foremost linguists, and Milton Erickson, the so-called "father of modern hypnotherapy". Both have emphasized strongly the crucial place that metaphor holds in human communication and experience. The use of therapeutic metaphor is stongly analysed at an advanced level within neuro-linguistic programming. Jump to: navigation, search George P. Lakoff (, born 1941) is a professor of linguistics (in particular, cognitive linguistics) at the University of California, Berkeley where he has taught since 1972. ... Milton Hyland Erickson, MD (1901 - 1980) was a psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis. ... Jump to: navigation, search Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a method proposed for programming the mind, often promoted for the use of self-help, therapy, NLP modeling, and new age spirituality. ...

Erickson, in particular, viewed much of human communication as metaphor, and his recorded metaphors (of which many volumes exist) are considered extremely rich grounds for analysis by hypnotherapists and others insofar as they communicate on so many levels simultaneously. Human communication is the field dedicated to understanding how people communicate: with themselves intrapersonal communication another person interpersonal communication within groups group dynamics within organizations organizational communication across cultures cross-cultural communication Important Figures David Berlo Brent Ruben Wendell Johnson Norbert Weiner Marshal McLuhan Carl Rogers Albert Mehrabian Related topics... Jump to: navigation, search Hypnotherapy is the application of hypnosis as a form of treatment, usually for relieving pain or conditions related to ones state of mind. ...

References

• A short history of metaphor
• David Gordon, Therapeutic Metaphors (1978)
• John Grinder and Richard Bandler, Trance-Formations, 1981
• Any of the many books by, or about, Milton Erickson, who was a dedicated user and creator of therapeutic metaphor. (See that article for bibliography)