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jrlewis's picture

A Metaphor?

Still trying to locate a place for therapy in the bipartite brain, perhaps a place for a therapist too.  So I am offering another horse and rider metaphor, where the horse is the unconscious and the rider is the storyteller.  The horse has a set of specialized skills, like flying lead changes.  It is also able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.  Interprets primary sensory information and observations, such as shying at a new sight.  In contrast, the rider analyzes the information she receives from the horse and attempts to imagine a better way of moving about in the ring, woods, or world.  The rider acts as a “semi-independent agent.”  This might mean asking the horse to reconsider their previous reaction to a stimulus, not spooking at it.  The story that is created by the rider affects the behavior of both the horse and rider. 

Therefore, the trainer’s role is to help the horse and rider pair perform better or get their story less wrong.  The most important ambition is to increase meaningful communication between the horse and rider.  They must engage in conversation in order to come up with a better story for themselves.  The trainer can facilitate this conversation.   The trainer’s role can be adopted by the therapist.  The therapist can try to increase contact between the unconscious and the storyteller.  

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