Linguistic Metaphor

The  article  presents  the  method  of  metaphors  as  a  modern  effective  method  that  involves  neurodynamic mechanisms  of  personal  reflection  on  current  life  events.  The  formation,  essence  and  functions  of  metaphor  in psychological  and  pedagogical  work  are  analyzed.  The  genesis  of  the  concept  "metaphor"  reveals  the  growing dynamics  of  its  use  in  the  social  and  psychological sciences.  It  has  been  active  since  the  mid-1970s,  when metaphors became the independent subject of study. Phenomenologically, metaphor is manifested in all spheres of  human  activity,  but  the  first  sphere
of  its  usageis  language.  Metaphorical  language  allows  a  specialist  to convey relevant messages to the client in a fairly secure form and unobtrusively suggest solutions to the problem. It is due to this that it makes sense to use metaphor in consultative psychological and pedagogical work.The  authors propose  to  regard the  metaphor as  a  means  of  obtaining  information about  the  peculiarities  of the  relationship  in  the  system  "parents-child".  Depending  on  the  content  of  the  family  life  situation,  metaphors can  perform  expressive,  dissociative,  diagnostic, explanatory  functions.  They  are  used  in  individual  or  group consultations, one  can  employ the  following  options:  firstly,  reading  and  discussing  metaphors  (expressed  in
parables, instructive stories, etc.) together with parents, which helps to establish the atmosphere of trust between a  psychologist  and  parents,  and  becomes  a  starting  point  for  discussion  of  a  specific  problem  of  child-parent relations. Second, discussing drawing with metaphors enables parents to be objectively aware of the problem and then work  out  possible  effective  behaviors  and  corrections.  Thirdly, it  is  possible  to work  with  metaphoric  cards "Alphabet of parental love", "The wisest time", "All the facets of harmony", "Steps to wisdom", "Treasures of vital forces" and so on. Understanding the content of
a card requires parents to think, feel and remember. In a state of reflexive  calm,  they  can  remember  life  situations,  moments  of  difficulties  in  the  relationship  with  their child.  The article provides examples of metaphors and gives methodological commentary on the work of psychologists and social  educators  with  them.  Thus,  the  competent  use  of  metaphorization in the  counseling  process  can accompany  the  work  of  a  psychologist  and  social  educator  from  the  moment  of  gathering  information  to the implementation of the last behavioral check of the performed intervention.
Key words: metaphor, psychological and pedagogical counseling, method, parents, parents’ counseling.

We are pleased to announce the 11th conference of RaAM – the Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor which will be held at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, 1 – 4 July, 2016 and is hosted by Hermann Kappelhoff (Freie Universität Berlin) and Cornelia Müller (European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder).

RaAM is committed to the study of metaphor, metonymy and other forms of figurative expression in all domains of life and with a particular focus on the application of metaphor research to real-life issues. With the 2016 theme “Metaphor in the Arts, in Media and Communication”, the conference will embrace this central thought by putting the spotlight on ways of metaphorical communication – often beyond the scope of solely language-based discourse – in some of the most prominent areas of metaphor usage: film and other audio-visual media, literature, poetry, architecture, theatre, painting, music and dance as well as production design, social media and face-to-face communication.
Call for Papers

The call for papers for the 11th RaAM-conference invites researchers to submit abstracts for 20-minute papers, themed panels or posters addressing topics in all areas of the conference theme. Submission of abstracts closes on December 15, 2015.
Pre-conference methods workshop in Frankfurt/Oder

Prior to the conference, on June 29 - 30, 2016, we will offer a PhD-workshop that will focus on methods for analyzing metaphor usage in face-to-face discourse and in audio-visual images. It will provide an intimate setting for concentrated and collaborative work in a very pleasant environment at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), located close to Berlin and directly on the German-Polish border. Further information about the workshop and the application process will be available later in the year.

Please visit: www.fu-berlin.de/raam2016