In Turkish folk literature, people have conveyed their love, pain, enmity, heroism, praise and events that deeply affect the society through oral literature. Telling has been the most effective method to share and convey something. People generally used oral literature to give advice and to make people think while making them laugh. There must be at least one story that has touched the life of every individual living in this geography. If narrative has an important place in a society, why not use it in the field of psychotherapy? In this text, the use of metaphor in psychotherapy and the resources that can be used for externalization in Turkish culture are mentioned.
Metaphor is a symbolic approach that expresses the similarity between experiences, thoughts, feelings, actions or objects (Wagener, 2017). As the use of metaphors became more visible in the social sciences, Lakoff and Johnson’s insights into the importance of metaphor in shaping our everyday understandings were extended across disciplines encompassing medicine, psychotherapy, health education, and more (Sims, 2003). Metaphors generally work indirectly, and suggestions made with metaphors that require internal thinking enable the client to put new meanings into their own life (Lyness & Thomas, 1996).
Externalizing a problem developed by Michael White is a distinctive feature of Narrative Therapy (Wyk, 2008). Externalization is the process of conversations while trying to make the problem independent from the person. When defining the problem, the client separates it from his/her own identity and evaluates it as a situation related to himself (Eken & Dinç, 2014). Externalization facilitates a less persistent, restrictive, and more flexible assessment of problems metaphorically; because externalization frees the person to objectify and manage an apparently daunting, rigid, unalterable problem (Payne, 2006). Externalization also empowers the individual to reconstruct his strong and positive features in his new identity (Wyk, 2008). In addition, in externalization, the therapist should understand that the complete elimination of the problem is not realistic and should be aware that the role played by the problem in the person’s life should be examined through metaphor (Legowski & Brownlee, 2001).
The development of metaphor use in the psychotherapy process has been examined under five main headings. These are to establish a relationship by providing support, to connect with their lives to reach related feelings, to prepare an environment for confrontation and change by accessing implicit assumptions, to work on situations that are resisted, and to gain a new perspective on the event (Lydon et al, 2001). In addition, a six-stage model is presented to work with metaphors. These stages are; Hearing the metaphor, the validity of the metaphor, the ability to expand the metaphor, the evaluation of possibilities, the identification and selection of possibilities, and the ability to establish a connection with the future (Sims, 2003).
In Turkish culture, stories, anecdotes, songs and folk songs told something explicitly or implicitly according to the conditions of the period. Artists used art in their narratives to inform the society culturally and politically or simply to talk about their current situation. In a culture where literature is used for such a multi-purpose, its use in psychotherapy can also be functional. For example; There is a story of sun and wind, which can be used in psychotherapy, especially for parents who have relational problems with their children (Appendix 1). Families are the environments where the ambivalent situation that we love the most, which we neglect the most, and which we are least afraid to break, is seen the most. How can we experience communication problems with our family members when we love them so much? In this story, there is a suitable metaphorical ground for parents who have determined their way of giving commands as shouting and violence, so that they can see themselves and clearly see the dysfunction of their action.
In bilateral relations, there is always a side that is the most self-sacrificing and self-sacrificing side. There is always a part of him who regrets what he has done when he cannot stop doing but cannot get rewarded. In the story of Dervish and the scorpion (Appendix 2), in the story of the scorpion not ending the act of stinging and yet Derviş not ending the act of rescuing the scorpion from the water: We can obtain the possibility of seeing the reason for what we did with the answer given by Derviş to the question “Why am I doing it despite everything?”
As a result, stories in our culture both guide and counsel, entertain and warn. In a culture where stories are so dominant, the use of stories in the field of psychotherapy is an inevitable result. Every person has a story they can identify with. The use of metaphors in psychotherapy has tried to reach the client in the shortest and easiest way, based on this purpose.
Source
Eken, FO and Dinç, M. (2014). Glossary of Narrative Therapy Basic Concepts
Legowski, T. and Brownlee, K. (2001). Working with metaphor in Narrative Therapy. Journal
of Family Psychotherapy, 12(1).
Lyness, K. and Thomas, V. (1996). Fitting a square peg in a square hole: Using metaphor in
narrative therapy. Contemporary Family Therapy, 17(1).
Lyddon, WJ, Clay, AL & Sparks, CL (2001). Metaphor and change in counseling.
Journal of Counseling and Development, 79(3), 269-274.
Payne, M. (2006). Narrative therapy. An introduction for counsellors (2). London: Sage.
Sims, PA (2003). Working with metaphor. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 57(4), 528-
536.
Wagener, A. (2017). Metaphor in professional counseling. The Professional Counselor, 7 (2),
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Wyk, RV (2008). Narrative house: A metaphor for narrative therapy: Tribute to Michael
white. Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Annex 1:
One day the wind was talking to the sun. Vuvv… He said I am stronger than you.
-Is that so? -Of course, said the wind. I will show you this. See that old man downstairs?
The sun bent down.
“I see,” he replied.
The wind proudly:
-Look! He said he’ll take off his jacket.
Sun:
-Well then he said. Let’s try it. Then he retreated behind the clouds. He began to watch the wind curiously.
The wind blew in full force. As he blew, the old man got cold. As he got cold, he wrapped himself in his coat. The wind was enraged. It blew even more violently. This time, the man held his coat tighter. The harder it blew, the more the man clings to his coat. Because he was very cold.
The wind finally gave up. This time it was the sun’s turn. The sun came out from behind the clouds. He smiled warmly at the old man. He warmed the earth well. The man was very happy. As the earth warmed, so did man. He started to smile too.
He thought I didn’t need the coat anymore. And he took off his coat. The sun turned to the wind:
He said, did you see? The kind are always stronger than the bullies.
Annex 2:
Dervish and Scorpion Story
A dervish wants to save a scorpion that fell into the water. When you extend your hand, the scorpion stings. Dervish tries again, the scorpion stings again…
Those who see this can’t stand it and say to the dervish: ‘Why do you still help the scorpion that hurt you even though you want to do good’.
Dervish’s answer is meaningful…
There is a sting in the nature of the scorpion. In my nature, to love and show mercy to the created; Why should I change my disposition just because he is doing what is necessary for his disposition?”
