A Note from the HPS Program Chair: Metaphor is a fitting topic for our 2024-2025 educational program this year, in that it evokes both depth and vitality. It will be fun to explore this form of symbolism and word play with Gretchen Heyer, who is a published writer and poet as well as a practicing Jungian analyst!***** JoAnn Ponder, PhD
A metaphor makes an implicit comparison between two unlike things, usually by succinctly stating that one thing is the other. This form of symbolism and word play is used in poetry, writing, and everyday conversation, as well as psychoanalysis. In dialogue, metaphors can enhance understanding between people and aspects of their experience that seem, on surface level, to be very far apart or even beyond comprehension (Orange, 2011). The insight might prove surprising, and the effect is perhaps softening or jarring. As part of a psychoanalytic treatment process, a metaphor can evoke, discover, and create meaning, thereby expanding consciousness even as it organizes it (Seiden, 2004). Metaphors thus serve beneficial functions in treatment by connecting with the patient’s unconscious, bridging affect and cognition (Modell, 2009), and deepening the analytical work (Caspi, 2018).
This study group will explore the use of metaphors in psychoanalytic treatment. The group will be limited to 23 participants. Registrants should have a basic grasp of psychoanalytic theory and be willing to complete the assigned readings. We will discuss the concepts and consider their application in our own clinical practices.
