We have travelled a long distance and sorted out the mess in the drawers: Metaphors for moving toward the end in psychotherapy
Journal article; AcceptedVersion; Peer reviewed
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Year
2013Permanent link
http://urn.nb.no/CRIStin
923723Metadata
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- Psykologisk institutt [4401]
- CRIStin høstingsarkiv [31417]
Original version
Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. 2013, 13 (1), 71-80, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733145.2012.711339Abstract
Aim: To explore the process of ending in psychotherapy, in particular how clients and therapists draw on their notions of client improvements and prepare for the upcoming end. Data: The data comes from an intensive process-outcome study at the University of Oslo, Norway. The study includes audio-recording from all sessions and separate post-therapy interviews with clients and therapists. Twelve psychotherapy dyads were selected because they had reached a ‘good enough’ ending. Therapy duration ranged from 7–43 months. The number of sessions ranged from 10–67. Method and analysis: A hermeneutical-phenomenological approach analysed and combined the observational and reflexive data. The analysis was carried out using a method for systematic text condensation and through reflexive dialogues with the material and between the researchers. Findings and discussion: The language of improvement towards the end of treatment seemed packed with metaphors conveying growth in both affective and relational management. Metaphors based on travel (how they have moved); cleaning (how they have cleaned up and sorted out things); sensing (how the clients have grown stronger, got their heads above water and see things differently); and the clients’ feeling of having received something (gifts or tools) are widely used. Such metaphors are created in the interaction with a mutual sensitivity to their capacity to confirm and regulate affect towards the end. In this sense, the metaphors celebrate accomplishments in a way that exceeds therapy, and the client can keep them to use afterwards.This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Counselling and Psychotherapy Research: Linking research with practice, Volume 13, Issue 1, 2013, Published online: 01 Aug 2012. Copyright 2013 British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, available online