ABSTRACT
The arrival of the transformational self is preceded by the use of different metaphorical self-references. As the transformational self begins to organise, stabilise, and eventually characterise the late adolescent/young adult, different ways to refer to the self emerge in the form of new, selective, trial identifications. In metaphorical research work involving a view of mind-brain transference that predates both Lakoff and Modell, Levin postulated the existence of a mechanism that involves the formation of novel neural networks in relation to subjects the patient and analyst understand are of special interest to the patient. Continuing, Lakoff and Johnson argue that conceptual metaphor is not just linguistic expression, but is a natural, embodied phenomenon, part of human thought and human language. As regards the transformational self, metaphor theory makes it possible to link the development of affect attunement states with largely unconscious, primary metaphors the attachment milieu, and the transformational self of the late adolescent phase.
