A Scoping Review on the Use of Rumi’s Allegories and Metaphors in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Context: Utilizing metaphors assists clients in gaining insight and effecting changes in their lives. Given that Rumi predominantly uses metaphors and allegories to convey profound thoughts, we have focused our attention on his works. Objectives: This review aims to evaluate what is known from the research literature about the utilization of Rumi’s metaphors and allegories in the context of psychotherapy. Evidence Acquisition: The literature search was conducted in Scopus, PsychInfo, Proquest, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Cochrane databases in English, and SID and Google Scholar databases in Persian (until May 31, 2022). To identify relevant literature, the searched terms included Persian and English key terms: “Rumi,” “Psychology,” and “Psychotherapy.” The studies included in our review were those published in either English or Persian and specifically focused on therapeutic approaches. We excluded studies that had a religious, mystical, philosophical, or literary view of Rumi's thoughts. Results: Overall, 24 studies were included in this scoping review. Among the studies, Rumi's metaphors and allegories have been employed more in cognitive, mindfulness-based, and existential-humanistic approaches (29%, 29%, and 25%, respectively). Additionally, three studies developed an interventional package based on Rumi’s thoughts. We found that the number of studies using Rumi's ideas in psychotherapy approaches has been growing increasingly in recent years, with 10 of 24 studies published in 2020 and 2021. Conclusions: Although the small number of identified articles makes definitive conclusions challenging, they reveal that Rumi's metaphors and allegories have the potential to enhance clients' insight within diverse therapeutic approaches. It is suggested that the metaphors and allegories in Rumi's thoughts can be effectively utilized across a wide spectrum of cultural contexts.