Abstract

Psychotherapy theories usually assume that the formal language of therapies can represent the events of therapy. A crude version of the representational theory was expressed in the search for a unified language of science. Such a language would have no expressive component, would be univocal, elementary, and most significantly, require no interpretation. Positivism failed, but the idea of a representational language for psychology continues in masked form. ;In the preparatory reviews I show why words refer only as part of a system, and why naming events is always an interpretation within a context. Representation is not possible; interpretation precedes reference. In matters of person description, psychotherapy theories must use metaphors to refer to a person's intentions. Often the metaphoric quality of key terms is obscured to give the impression of a world that is discovered and not made. ;I engage in two extended case studies and show how the interpretative nature of naming another's experience is disguised by objective sounding language. ;The first study traces the evolution of the "object" concept in psychoanalysis and shows that literal and metaphoric uses of the term are blended. Object relations theorists often take advantage of both meanings to presume to give an objective account of mental events. ;The second case study examines the "signifier" in Lacanian thought. Lacan uses a model of language to explain the workings of the psyche and though his theory is often sophisticated and reflective, he frequently claims the "signifier" is the natural metaphor. Ironically, Lacanians sometimes use the idea that language is a system and not nomenclature as the basis for their project to name the structure of the psyche. ;Reflecting on my project, I realize the distinction between literal and metaphoric is forced. The difference between literal and metaphoric meanings of terms is found in use, making a theory of the terms superfluous. Any psychotherapy term properly used is metaphoric, but there is no proper metaphor