In a world that often prioritises verbal communication and symptom checklists, a new study from Dr Theresa Van Lith and colleagues at Florida State University has examined the role of metaphors in therapy.
“Visual metaphors often say things that words alone can’t, especially when someone is dealing with trauma, stress, or personal growth,” she explains.
“This study helps us understand how people use creative images and symbols as metaphors, to make sense of their feelings and life experiences during art therapy.”
Dr Van Lith’s study provides a conceptual framework that illustrates how metaphors function as both tools and evidence of therapeutic change. It also provides an initial typology of how metaphors are used in therapeutic practice.
“The findings show that metaphors facilitate meaning-making, emotional processing and narrative construction, often becoming touchstones of insight and transformation.”
“This research challenges conventional notions of what counts as evidence in mental health
care by demonstrating how visual metaphors, created through art, offer a powerful and valid
way for people to express and work through complex emotional experiences,” she says.
Dr Van Lith says this opens the door to more inclusive, human-centred ways of measuring what really matters in mental health care.
"This is particularly significant for individuals who may find traditional talk-based therapies less accessible or effective, such as children, those with lived experiences of trauma, neurodivergent individuals, or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds."
“Ultimately, it expands the mental health field’s capacity to recognise, support, and document healing in ways that are deeply human and responsive to lived experience.”
