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Background: From the perspective of the brain, a metaphor is a bridge between two ideas that, at least on the surface, are not equivalent or related. This presentation includes recent studies that explain the neuroscience behind the efficacy of metaphor and storytelling in helping clients develop insight necessary for recovery.
- Definition of metaphor
- Examples of metaphors used in treating eating disorders
- Description of latest research in neuroscience related to metaphor & insight
- anterior superior temporal gyrus – function & location
- right versus left hemisphere – denotation versus connotation
- brain wave patterns – necessity of gamma waves; result of insufficient alpha waves
- problem solving examples – role of negative feelings
- Insight, metaphor, and storytelling examples
- Discussion, Q & A
For eons, ancient traditions in cultures across the world have used metaphor and storytelling for teaching and healing. Only recently, however, has modern science developed technology that gives us a glimpse into brain functioning, allowing us to see how these processes work. A metaphor is a bridge between two ideas that, at least on the surface, are not equivalent or related. Many individuals struggling with eating disorders perceive their struggles with eating as unrelated to other aspects of their lives. Metaphor can be a useful tool to help them find important connections. This presentation explores the work of scientists who have discovered rigorous ways to study insight and metaphor by identifying the aspects of the brain that are better able to see hidden connections and the remote associations between separate ideas. It will describe the neuroscience research that supports the use of metaphor and stories in eating disorder treatment.
Recent discoveries of the function of the right hemisphere of the brain in transforming mental blocks into breakthroughs and in finding subtle connections between seemingly unrelated things can help us to understand the role of metaphor in the treatment of eating disorders. According to these studies, a steady stream of alpha brain wave activity from the right hemisphere allows for insight to occur more easily, and a spike in gamma wave activity in the anterior temporal gyrus occurs immediately prior to insight. It can useful to encourage eating disorder clients to use more right hemisphere activity which allows them to be more internally focused and perceive deeper connotations of their disordered eating behavior and less left hemisphere activity which uses external analysis (counting calories, pounds, fat grams, etc.) and interprets their eating behaviors in a more literal manner. These studies show when attention is focused outward, towards the details of the problem, this pattern of activity is helpful for analysis – but it actually interferes with detecting the connections that lead to insights. Storytelling and metaphor require use of the “inner eye” and thus stimulate activity in the right hemispheres, allowing development of connections that can lead to insight.
Anita Johnston, Ph.D., CEDS, Director of the Anorexia & Bulimia Center of Hawaii which she founded in 1982 and Clinical Director of ‘Ai Pono Eating Disorders Programs in Honolulu, is Senior Advisor & Clinical Consultant for Moonpointe Eating Disorders Programs in Memphis and Knoxville, Tennessee, and Focus Center for Eating Disorders in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Consultant to EATFED Eating Disorder Program in Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, which has been published in six languages and book chapters in Eating Disorders: Bridging the Research Treatment Gap and The Psychospiritual Clinician’s Handbook.
