Volume_7_Issue_2_Digest

7 TPC Digest Read full article and references: Wagener, A. E. (2017). Metaphor in professional counseling. The Professional Counselor , 7 , 144–154. doi : 10.15241/aew.7.2.144 M etaphor is a common part of language and, as such, a frequent part of the communication between clients and counselors. The main goal of this article is to draw attention to the presence of metaphors and to the opportunity to better understand and work with clients through metaphors. Metaphors are important because they are part of how we learn and how we process and describe emotions. They allow for new understanding through connections to what is already understood. This understanding of metaphors means they are more than a linguistic device and research supports this understanding of metaphors. The link between metaphor and emotional processing is a particularly important one for counselors. This connection means that counselors can learn about what their client is emotionally experiencing and processing through metaphor and may even be able to better support emotional change and processing with metaphors. Towards this end, approaches for working with clients’ metaphors are described. These approaches addressed how to process metaphors with clients and the how the processing approach can be tailored to client needs. The role of counselor-generated metaphors is also discussed. Intention is a key aspect of counselor-generated metaphors, which can take the form of altered and reintroduced client-generated metaphors, short new metaphors, or metaphorical stories called disquisitions. Counselor- generated metaphors are used to help clients recognize what they are experiencing and for supporting new understanding and emotions. The way clients use metaphoric content in their descriptions provides an opportunity that is easily overlooked but potentially valuable to better understand and work with clients’ inner experiences. Through both client-generated and counselor-generated metaphors, the inner experience of clients can be more directly accessed and positive change can be facilitated. Therefore, the recognition and exploration of metaphors can be an incredibly valuable tool for counselors. It is hoped that the information provided in this manuscript will serve as a foundation for incorporating metaphor awareness and usage into counseling practice and will stimulate counselors to seek out additional training and information and develop research on the application and effectiveness of using metaphors in counseling. Alwin E. Wagener, NCC, is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Correspondence can be addressed to Alwin Wagener, P.O. Box 1443, Black Mountain, NC 28711, alwinwagener@gmail.com . Metaphor in Professional Counseling Alwin Wagener 7 |