Utilization of Clients’ Metaphors to Punctuate Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Interventions: A Case Illustration

Abstract

Post-modernist family therapy allows for pragmatism, which is embedded within a linguistic system. This linguistic system is socially constructed in conversation, generates multiple meanings, and realities in the therapeutic process. Thus the role of post-modernistic therapists is to accept meanings and realities as constructed in context of therapist-client collaboration through conversations, making it possible for therapists to privilege clients’ uniqueness, language, creativity, and resources in therapy. In privileging clients’ uniqueness, language, creativity, and resources, family therapists utilize whatever works in creating efficacy in doing therapy. As a result, doing family therapy such as solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) exemplifies therapists’ utilization of clients’ language to enhance therapeutic interventions. Family therapists using SFBT in working with clients utilize the interactional patterns that connect family dynamics: family interactional patterns involve language, which entail clients’ metaphors. Metaphors emerge in everyday conversations and may support clients in developing solutions to problems. Metaphors have been shown to be effective in therapy, yet there is a gap in current literature discussing the utilization of clients’ metaphors in SFBT interventions. This paper illustrates utilization of clients’ metaphors and how they punctuate SFBT interventions in solution-focused building. Transcript excerpts from therapy sessions with a daughter and mother show their metaphors leading to solutions, metaphors as joining, and metaphors of power punctuating SFBT interventions and connecting patterns in solution-focused building. The utilization of clients’ metaphors to punctuate SFBT interventions offers suggestions in expanding the practices of family therapy within a systemic context.