ABSTRACT
Metaphor is a little like Morse code—it sends a complete message in very few clicks. Consider a client’s recent statement, as she summarized her relationship with her mother in a single phrase: “My mother was a snake who gave birth to her children and then slithered away.” The visual image and strong emotion that this statement evokes allow the therapist to go right to the heart of family relationships and attachment. When engaging in storytelling, art or play, reality is suspended (but remains present within), and the client may experience and communicate memories and feelings through art or play without the barrier of language. Trauma victims, especially those with visible hyper-arousal or hyper-vigilance, often use metaphor (in art or play) that reflects fear, freeze, flight or fight; their art may be driven by what is experienced or sensed (sensory, physiological, emotional) before it is fully understood or cognitively processed. Talking about art and play is often the first doorway into a trauma narrative. Examples of intrinsic metaphor are provided through client artwork that depicts power, fear, anger, joy, etc., and case examples illustrate the ways in which metaphor and storytelling have therapeutic impact.
