16 8 . Use of symbols and metaphors
PART I : POINTS OF DEPARTURE
8 . Use of symbols and metaphors
Aim . To understand how and why the training uses metaphors .
Therapeutic metaphors are stories or images that convey something that can amaze , inspire or open the mind . Metaphors can be simple and effective tools for teaching and learning . They are more than a way to talk about an experience . They can describe our experience ; and they can be lenses through which we can understand and make sense of the world . They can help us to shift between insights and experience . A metaphor is a charged meaning , a mental map that can show us how things are or how they can be understood , and help us to see what we have not yet seen .
In therapy , it can be helpful at several levels to handle a problem metaphorically . Because a metaphor is distant from the experience that preoccupies the survivor , she can relax her conscious mind . By using a metaphor in therapy we externalise something ; we draw an outline of what we are discussing and look at it together from a distance . We can examine it , grapple with it , and make the ideas it contains more visible and understandable , with less danger and at a distance .
It should be clear , at the same time , that metaphors are a powerful tool that can trigger strong emotional responses . A helper must therefore know how to assess whether a survivor is ready to use this tool , and must be able to handle a strong emotional response and possible retraumatisation . It should be clear that this method is not to be used in single sessions and that the helper must be available for further individual contact with a survivor if and when she wishes .
Metaphors provide a useful tool that helpers can use with survivors . Using metaphor , both you and the survivor can assess where she is , what she wants from the training , and the distance she can travel in her therapeutic journey . As she picks up insights from metaphor , she can begin to understand its transformative power . If she can learn how to use metaphor herself , the training will continue to be useful to her long afterwards . The techniques of guided imagery work and storytelling have been shown to be effective , especially with trauma survivors , who find it difficult to work directly on their experience because it triggers memories of the trauma and induces anxiety . Stories and metaphors can enable a survivor to reflect on her experience without re-living it . She can take sufficient distance and perspective to consider her situation from a position of relative safety .
In this training , we use a single metaphorical narrative to describe the experience and consequences of GBV . We explain the course that trauma takes in generic terms through the story of the Butterfly Woman ; it remains a story but at the same time it is clinically accurate .
Another metaphor might be : think of a tree with lovely green leaves , and roots that grow deep in the ground ; then a storm and lightning break its branches . Or : think of a pigeon , which is stronger than a butterfly . Or : think of a house , which is solid and well built ; then war comes and bombs destroy parts of it . You can use your imagination to find metaphors that resonate with your survivors .
It must be remembered , of course , that metaphors lend themselves to multiple interpretations . Make sure you and the people with whom you are working have the same understanding . There are no right or wrong interpretations , but be aware that metaphors are rich and ambiguous . Make sure they play a helpful and therapeutic role in the context you are in .