Psychosemantic Analysis of Metaphors in Psychological Counseling

2136

Abstract

The paper describes the results of a psychosemantic study of metaphors in psychological counseling for adults. The research material consisted of metaphors from the records of 25 open individual psychological consultations. The chosen metaphors were evaluated by 80 respondents (50 women and 30 men) aged 25—54 (Mage=33.08, SD=9.25). The following research methods were used: the content analysis of metaphors and psychological testing in the framework of G. Kelly’s personality constructs and the specialized method of semantic differential. We present our classification of metaphors in psychological counseling. Categorical structures for evaluating metaphors in psychological counseling were identified, and the semantic spaces of metaphors for respondents of different sexes were constructed and analyzed. The results show that respondents evaluated metaphors based on the emotional valence (positive/negative) of the state they caused; the most positively perceived were educational metaphors of counselors that affected the cognitive sphere. Moreover, women found it more important that metaphors caused a state of calm or anxiety, and men paid more attention to funny or melancholy-inducing metaphors.

General Information

Keywords: metaphors, psychological counseling, psychotherapy, psychosemantics, cognitive linguistics, intersubjective relations, evaluation utterance

Journal rubric: Workshop and Methods

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2021290110

Funding. This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project number 18-013-01194 “An evaluative statement in the linguistic picture of a person”).

For citation: Krainyukov S.V., Goryunova Y.V. Psychosemantic Analysis of Metaphors in Psychological Counseling. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2021. Vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 165–183. DOI: 10.17759/cpp.2021290110. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Avanesyan M.O. Psikhologicheskie mekhanizmy ponimaniya i sozdaniya metafory. Diss. kand. psikhol. nauk. [Psychological mechanisms of understanding and creating a metaphor. Ph. D. (Psychology) diss.]. Saint Petersburg, 2013. 202 p.
  2. Al’perovich V.D. Koping-strategii sub”ekta v svyazi s obrazami trudnoi zhiznennoi situatsii v metaforakh i sotsial’noi frustrirovannost’yu [Coping-strategies of the subject related to images of a difficult life situation in metaphors and to social frustration]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya = Experimental Psychology, 2020. Vol. 13 (3), pp. 143—155. DOI:10.17759/exppsy.2020130311 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  3. Beck J. Kognitivnaya terapiya. Polnoe rukovodstvo [Cognitive Therapy. Basics and Beyond]. Moscow: Vil’yams, 2018. 400 p. (In Russ.).
  4. Belorusets A.S. Simvol kak sredstvo orientirovki v lichnostnykh zadachakh: personologicheskaya perspektiva [Symbol as an orienting means for solving developmental tasks: A personological perspective]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2020. Vol. 16 (1), pp. 78—87. DOI:10.17759/chp.2020160108. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  5. Beresneva N.I., Abramenko V.I. Metafora v poznavatel’nom protsesse i ee rol’ v filosofii: izmenenie podkhodov [A metaphor in the cognitive process and its role in philosophy: A change in approaches]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Sotsiologiya = Bulletin of Perm University. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology, 2017, no. 2, pp. 152—157.
  6. Evdokimova E.G. Metafora v diagnosticheskom instrumentarii pedagoga [Metaphor in the diagnostic tools of a teacher]. Izvestiya Saratovskogo universiteta. Seriya Akmeologiya obrazovaniya. Psikhologiya razvitiya = News of the Saratov University. Series Acmeology of Education. Developmental Psychology, 2015, no. 3 (15), pp. 282—285.
  7. Zakrevskii A.A. Metaforicheskie modeli kak instrument raboty s vnutrilichnostnymi tsennostnymi konfliktami [Metaphorical models as a tool for dealing with intrapersonal value conflicts]. Problemy sovremennogo pedagogicheskogo obrazovaniya = Problems of modern pedagogical education, 2018, no. 60, pp. 421—424.
  8. Kalina N.F. Psikhoterapiya: uchebnik dlya vuzov [Psychotherapy: A textbook for high schools]. Moscow: Akademicheskii proekt, 2017. p. 302.
  9. Kelly G. Psikhologiya lichnosti. Teoriya lichnykh konstruktov [A Theory of Personality: The Psychology of Personal Constructs]. Saint Petersburg: Rech’, 2000. 256 p. (In Russ.).
  10. Kolesnik T.I., Yurkina M.Yu. K voprosu o tipologii metafor (na materiale nemetskogo yazyka) [On the issue of the typology of metaphors (based on German language material)]. Aktual’nye voprosy sovremennoi filologii i zhurnalistiki = Actual Issues of Modern Philology and Journalism], 2018, no. 1 (28), pp. 77—83.
  11. Lipskaya T.A. Osobennosti metafory kak sredstva diagnostiki shkol’nykh strakhov [Features of a metaphor as a means of diagnosing school fears]. Vestnik OGU = Bulletin of Orenburg State University, 2011, no. 16 (135), pp. 499—501.
  12. Lipskaya T.A. Resursy metafory v diagnostike soderzhatel’nykh osobennostei shkol’nykh strakhov mladshikh shkol’nikov [Metaphor resources in the assessment of the meaningful features of school fears in primary school students]. Uchenye zapiski. Elektronnyi nauchnyi zhurnal Kurskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Scientific Notes. Electronic Scientific Journal of Kursk State University, 2015, no. 4 (36), pp. 55—63.
  13. Nikolina N.V. Primenenie teorii freimov v reshenii problemy predposylochnogo znaniya [The use of frame theory in solving the problem of background knowledge]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Politologiya = Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Philosophy. Sociology. Political science, 2017, no. 39, pp. 144—150.
  14. Nozikova N.V. Analiz funktsional’noi organizatsii psikhosemanticheskoi sistemy semeinoi tselenapravlennosti [Analyzing the functional organization of psychosemantic system of purposefulness in families]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya  psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2018. Vol. 14 (1), pp. 65—77. DOI:10.17759/chp.2018140108. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  15. Petrenko V.F. Osnovy psikhosemantiki. 2-e izd., dop. [Fundamentals of Psychosemantics. 2nd ed., amended]. Saint Petersburg: Piter, 2005. 480 p.
  16. Petrenko V.F., Dedyukina E.A. Psikhologiya iskusstva: psikhosemanticheskii analiz vospriyatiya i ponimaniya khudozhestvennogo fil’ma [Psychology of art: Psychosemantic analysis of the perception and understanding of a feature film]. Uchenye zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta psikhologii i sotsial’noi raboty = Scientific Notes of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, 2019. Vol. 31 (1), pp. 24—31.
  17. Salikova E.M.V. Transformatsiya metaforicheskikh reprezentatsii zhiznennogo puti lichnosti v period samoizolyatsii u vzroslykh [Transformation of metaphoric representations of a person’s path of life during the period of self-isolation in adults] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Klinicheskaya i spetsial’naya psikhologiya = Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2020. Vol. 9 (2), pp. 147—160. Available at: https://psyjournals.ru/psyclin/2020/n2/Salikova.shtml (Accessed 16.07.2020). DOI:10.17759/cpse.2020090207. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  18. Samoilenko N.V., D’yachenko E.V. Obraz patsienta kak sostavlyayushchaya obraza mira studentov pri obuchenii v meditsinskom vuze [The image of the patient as a component of the world’s image of students of a medical university] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologo-pedagogicheskie issledovaniya = Psychological-Educational Studies, 2020. Vol. 12 (1), pp. 122—138. Available at: https://psyjournals.ru/psyedu_ ru/2020/n1/Samoilenko_Dyachenko.shtml (Accessed 16.07.2020). DOI:10.17759/ psyedu.2020120109. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  19. Serkin V.P. Metody psikhosemantiki. Uchebnoe posobie dlya studentov vuzov [Psychosemantics Methods. Textbook for university students]. Moscow: Aspekt Press, 2004. 207 p.
  20. Smirnov I.V. Metafora kak ob”ekt nauchnykh issledovanii [Metaphor as an object of scientific research]. Mezhdunarodnyi zhurnal gumanitarnykh i estestvennykh nauk = International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 2016, no. 2, pp. 80—83.
  21. Sosnin A.V. Kognitivnaya metafora kak sredstvo formirovaniya kontsepta [Cognitive metaphor as a means of concept formation]. Istoricheskaya i sotsial’no-obrazovatel’naya mysl’ = Historical and Socio-Educational Thought, 2017, no. 1, pp. 156—163.
  22. Tylets V.G., Krasnyanskaya T.M. Psikhologicheskie osobennosti predstavlenii lyubitelei proizvedenii fantasticheskogo i detektivnogo zhanrov o sub”ekte bezopasnosti [Psychological peculiarities of safety concepts in fans of science fiction and detectives]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya = Experimental Psychology, 2020. Vol. 13 (3), pp. 180—193. DOI:10.17759/exppsy.2020130314. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  23. Khoze E.G., Lupenko E.A., Marinova M.M. Semanticheskoe skhodstvo verbal’nykh oboznachenii i staticheskikh Emoji ekspressii bazovykh emotsii [Semantic similarity of verbal designations and static Emoji expressions of basic emotions]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya = Experimental Psychology, 2020. Vol. 13 (3), pp. 74—88. DOI:10.17759/exppsy.2020130306. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
  24. Khristinina N.V. Opyt ispol’zovaniya pozitivno okrashennykh metafor v psikhoterapii [Experience in the use of positive colored metaphors in psychotherapy]. Materialy I mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii “Innovatsionnye nauchnye issledovaniya v sovremennom mire: teoriya, metodologiya, praktika” (g. Ufa, 6 maya 2019 g.). [Proceedings of the First International Scientific and Practical Conference “Innovative scientific research in the modern world: theory, methodology, practice”]. Ufa: Research Center Vestnik Nauki, 2019, pp. 37—44.
  25. Sharapov A.O. Sovremennye tekhnologii psikhologicheskogo konsul’tirovaniya i psikhoterapii: prakticheskoe posobie. 2-e izd., ispr. i dop. [Modern technologies of psychological counseling and psychotherapy: a practical guide. 2nd ed., revised and amended]. Moscow: Yurait, 2020. 178 p.
  26. Shchukina M.A., Krainyukov S.V. Psikhosemanticheskii analiz predstavlenii zhitelei Sankt-Peterburga o transportnoi sisteme goroda [Psychosemantic analysis of the ideas of the residents of Saint Petersburg on the transport system of the city]. Uchenye zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta psikhologii i sotsial’noi raboty = Scientific Notes of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, 2018, no. 1 (29), pp. 27—35.
  27. Yalom I. Ekzistentsial’naya psikhoterapiya [Existential psychotherapy]. Moscow: Rimis, 2008. 608 p. (In Russ.).
  28. Osgood C.E., Suci C.J., Tannenbaum P.H. The Measurement of Meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1957. 342 p.
  29. Taylor S.E. Tend and befriend: Biobehavioral bases of affiliation under stress. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2006. Vol. 15 (6), pp. 273—277. DOI:10.1111/ j.1467-8721.2006.00451.x

Information About the Authors

Sergei V. Krainyukov, PhD in Psychology, Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology, St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, St.Petersburg, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4173-8568, e-mail: sv_krayn@mail.ru

Yulia V. Goryunova, MA in Psychology, assistant of general developmental and differential psychology department, Saint Petersburg state institute of psychology and social work, St.Petersburg, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5832-8311, e-mail: iuiliagoruinova@gmail.com

Metrics

Views

Total: 2193
Previous month: 82
Current month: 16

Downloads

Total: 2136
Previous month: 28
Current month: 8