role of metaphors in art therapy

2025-04-26 17:05 Note Type: Tags: metaphor, art-therapy

Metaphors bridge inner and outer worlds, fostering communication and meaning.

They simplify complexity, deepen understanding, and inspire new perspectives.

Recent advances in neuroscience have helped clarify the neurobiological and embodied mechanisms involved in metaphorical conceptualization, highlighting the integration of sensory processing, bodily experience, and cognitive function in the creation and use of metaphors.

Haen (2020)observed that individuals who have experienced trauma often express themselves through somatic metaphors such as sensations of heaviness, constriction, or numbness to describe their internal state.

These metaphors not only offer neurobiological validation of a client’s subjective experience but also provide a framework for therapeutic approaches that integrate brain, body, and emotion in a holistic manner.