You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
METAPHOR NECESSARILY UNDERLIES a theory of mind. In recent years the change in the psychotherapeutic theory has been so great as to represent a paradigm shift in the Kuhnian sense. Nevertheless, the basic metaphor which underpins this emerging theoretical framework has not yet been clearly identified. What follows is an attempt to elaborate the metaphor of the "spielraum", which seems to be central to newer approaches to the understanding and treatment of personality disorder. This metaphor links to Freud's remark, written almost as an aside, in which he made an analogy between the transference and a play space ("spielraum") (Freud, 1914, p. 154). Levenson (1972), who Lifton (1976) has credited with heralding the paradigm shift, has repeatedly pointed out the significance of Freud's remark.
The metaphor of the playspace provides a new way of looking at transference phenomena, traditionally conceived as fundamental to the therapeutic process.
Before proceeding to the new metaphor it is necessary to review briefly what went before it.
When Freud began to work on developing his theory of psychoanalysis, he did so in an intellectual climate which Ellenberger (1970) has outlined. One of the principal ideas forming this climate is what Ellenberger has called the "pathogenic secret". He traced the story of this model of psychological healing through a number of cultures. The patient is conceived as if he has within himself a bad experience which rots there like a malignancy. It must be removed for cure to occur. In some cultures the badness