Last October we hosted the second annual Symposia: An Intersection of Conversation & Innovation, a forum in which alumni of The Seattle School presented the ongoing work they are pursuing at the intersection of text, soul, and culture. Integrative education does not end at graduation, and our alumni are proof of that. Symposia highlights the ways that Seattle School alumni are continuing to wrestle with big questions and big dreams in theology, psychology, and culture.
This week, we’re featuring a presentation by Krista Law (MACP ‘12, MACS ‘13), “Metaphor in Psychotherapy: A Bridge Between Thinking and Feeling.” Krista is a therapist in private practice in the Green Lake neighborhood of Seattle, and she also actively participates in leadership by preaching and teaching at her local church.
In this video, Krista argues that since metaphor is so common in our everyday interactions, it is inevitably going to show up in therapy. “The question isn’t if, it’s more about when and how and to what degree, and what effect it takes when you use it.”
Krista shares examples from her own therapeutic practice to illustrate how metaphor can offer clarity and direction when the content being engaged feels overwhelming and paralyzing. “We are taking something that is complex, abstract, and usually very particular, and we are trying to map it or bridge it to something that is simple, concrete, and universally understood.”
“The power isn’t in the metaphor. The power is in the metabolization you do from the feeling, through the thinking, mapping it and giving it back to them—that’s where the power is.”