Download - Magnanimity, Mindfulness, & Metaphor
Magnanimity, Mindfulness, & Metaphor
Cultivating Balance in Clients and Clinicians
Texas University and College Counseling Centers Conference
February 6, 2014
Magnanimity
Means “greatness of soul” Greatness results from exemplification of all virtues Virtue = mean between two extremes
GREATNESS OF SOUL IS BALANCE!
This is what both clinicians and clients should aim for! Metaphor and mindfulness embody balance and can
therefore help us achieve and maintain equilibrium
Metaphor as liaison between visceral and cerebral man
Metaphor: Theory & Research CS Lewis
Myth as balance between abstract and concrete Balance between world of intellect and world of
experience
Metaphor may be fundamental to the way we experience and think Cognitive experiential self theory1,2
Grounded cognition3 and embodied cognition4
Conceptual metaphor5
Bridge between cognition and experience
Deeper level of processing
Metaphor: Client Care Applications Metaphor as a vehicle for change
4 Phases/Stages
1. Enter the client’s metaphoric imagination
2. Explore client’s metaphoric imagination
3. Transformation of client’s metaphoric image
4. Connect metaphoric patterns and life problems
Buffer and bridge for approaching hard material
Art therapy, play therapy
Clinical examples
Metaphor: Self-Care Discussion
Chess match/ chess master Dance/ dance partner Journey/ fellow traveler Saving the world/ superhero
Change Process Metaphor
The metaphor for how one conceptualizes the change process naturally affects and influences the therapists sense of and perceived need for self-care Superhero vs. journey
Burnout Compassion fatigue
Mindfulness “Paying attention
on purpose,
in the present moment,
and nonjudgmentally” 6
Psychological, neurobiological, physical, interpersonal
Increases awareness of bodily sensations, thoughts, emotions; unhelpful ways of coping with stress (avoidance, fusion)
Fosters curiosity, acceptance, interconnectedness
Rooted in Buddhist meditative disciplines
Mindfulness
Can be taught and practiced (neural plasticity) Mindfulness-based approaches: MBSR, MBCT, DBT, ACT
Clients (i.e., ↓depression, anxiety, psychosis, PTSD, OCD, ↑ pain tolerance, PA)7
Therapists-in-training (↓ stress, NA, anxiety; ↑PA, self-compassion) 8
Clinician/self as instrument: client outcomes of mindful therapists-in-training(↓ anxiety, anger, somatization, obsessiveness, paranoia)9
Mirror neuron systems may enhance empathy
Mindfulness fosters intrapersonal attunement which may, in turn, enhance interpersonal attunement
Mindfulness Applications
Experiential exercises How do we know when we’re feeling
out of tune? Body Scan
“Leaves on a stream”
How do we know how to proceed? How do we sustain our instrument?
“Retirement party”
Discussion, Questions, Thoughts?
Justine Grosso
Matt Breuninger
References1 Epstein, S. (1994). Integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious. American Psychologist, 49, 709-724.
2 Epstein, S. (1998). Cognitive-experiential self-theory: A dual process personality theory with implications for diagnosis and psychotherapy. In R. F. Bornstein & J. M. Masling (Eds.), Empirical perspectives on the psychoanalytic unconscious (Vol. 7, pp. 99-140). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3 Barsalou, L. W. (2010). Grounded cognition: past, present, and future. Topics in Cognitive Science, 2(4), 716-724.
4Wilson, A. D., & Golonka, S. (2013). Embodied cognition is not what you think it is. Frontiers in psychology, 4.
5Wickman, S. A., Daniels, M. H., White, L. J., & Fesmire, S. A. (1999). A “primer” in conceptual metaphor for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77(4), 389-394.
6Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living. Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York, NY: Random House.
7Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169-183.
8Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. W., & Biegel, G. M. (2007). Teaching self-care to caregivers: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the mental health of therapists in training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1(2), 105-115.
9Grepmair, L., Mitterlehner, F., Loew, T., & Nickel, M. (2007). Promotion of mindfulness in psychotherapists in training: Preliminary styudy. European Psychiatry, 22, 485-489.
10Wise, E. H., Hersh, M. A., & Gibson, C. M. (2012). Ethics, self-care and well-being for psychologists: Reenvisioning the stress-distress continuum. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 43(5), 487-494.
