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Morelli: Working with metaphors in mediation: Beyond feedback and reframing
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Morelli: Working with metaphors in mediation: Beyond feedback and reframing
Transcript of Morelli: Working with metaphors in mediation: Beyond feedback and reframing
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{
Working with
Metaphors in Mediation
Experiences & Opportunities
Julia Morelli and John Settle
October 10, 2014 – Association for Conflict Resolution
It isn’t easy being green
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Metaphor Defined:
“A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance . . . .”
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
The Metaphor Clinic:
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Metaphor Examples:
Success has many parents –failure is an orphan
All the world’s a stage
The war on poverty
Stuck between a rock and a hard place
I don’t have a dog in that fight
Implied metaphor: “My boss barked an order”
Simile: “Brave as a lion”
Analogy: “The heart is a kind of pump”
Hyperbole: “He reeked of treachery!”
Euphemism: “The recent unpleasantness”
Related Terms:
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Metaphors reflect personalized experience – thus it is useful to work within that experience.
They can open up new ways to look at, or address, an issue using
different language.
Why Explore Metaphors in Mediation?
Convey a thought or experience
more vividly
Illustrate, explain, emphasize and enhance meaning – often succinctly or
humorously
Display emotions and nuances that words, however accurate, may not
convey as richly
Use Metaphors (& kin) to:
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Indirectly express what cannot be articulated directly – “reality is a cliché from which we escape by metaphor” (Wallace Stevens)
Create emotional distance, and engage difficult topics safely and more easily ‐‐using less or safer confrontation!
Use Metaphors (& kin) to:
Prose:
“There’s something you are not saying.”
Poetry:
“We dance around in a ring and suppose, but the Secret sits in the middle
and knows.” ‐‐ Robert Frost
Poetical Metaphor:
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Divorcing parents of small children were asked to view themselves for a moment as co‐pilots of a jet plane high in the sky ‐‐ and the only passengers in
the cabin behind them are their children.
Use of Metaphor in a Story:
What metaphors have you used or heard in mediation?
In what context were they used?
DISCUSSION:
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To help mediators describe their role and
the parties’ roles
To recognize, explore, and clarify implied meaning
To help mediators reframe parties’
statements and facilitate engagement
To enable mediators to work within the parties’ own frameworks
Four Specific Uses of Metaphors in Mediation:
Metaphors are culturally based Individual interpretations
Venue constraints
Situations and circumstances vary Comfort level
Appropriateness
Why does Context Matter?
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Recognition ‐What can you do to help parties become aware of their metaphors?
Meaning ‐What can you ask to explore the parties’ spoken or unspoken metaphors?
Understanding ‐What are questions you can use to “unpack” a party’s metaphor?
Transition – What might you ask to promote
a change or shift in thinking?
Reality – How can you “ground” the transition
in reality?
Techniques ‐Working with Metaphors:
Thank you!
John Settle:[email protected]
Julia Morelli: [email protected]
