ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: In accordance with Freud's hypothesis about the nature of primary process thinking we analysed metaphors as possible tools for the integration of unconscious affective und cognitive representational processes which, besides being complementary to affective interactive dyadic behaviour, may be of curative value. METHODS: Using videotapes of 10 fifteen-hour short-term therapies by very experienced therapists treating an unselected group of patients, facial affect and metaphoric language of the therapist and the patient as well as the temporal distance between the two was recorded. RESULTS: The density of metaphors was not significantly correlated with symptom reduction but with treatment satisfaction. However, symptom reduction correlated significantly with the frequency of interactive metaphors used by both the therapist and the patient. CONCLUSIONS: It could be shown that there is an optimal time window between facial affect and metaphor production beyond the here and now, but not as a long term memory.
