ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the quantitative research findings from an intensive analysis of metaphor use in good-outcome and poor-outcome Brief Dynamic therapy dyads is presented first. It explores the interface between metaphor use and the emergence of themes, the returns from an intensive qualitative analysis of one good-outcome Brief Dynamic therapy dyad is reported next. The chapter shows the interrelation between metaphor and the evolution of therapy themes in productive psychotherapy is discussed and suggestions for clinical practice are put forward. For psychotherapy researchers, the selective analysis of recurring metaphor themes may be a particularly productive and meaningful method for tracing both the development of productive working alliances in therapy relationships as well as for tracing the specific conceptual and experiential stages entailed in the successful resolution of longstanding interpersonal problems.
