THE USE OF THERAPEUTIC METAPHOR TO PRODUCE BEHAVIOR CHANGE (PROCRASTINATION, ERICKSON)

This study examined the usefulness of therapeutic metaphor, a technique for which Milton Erickson was known, in producing behavior change. Female undergraduates with chronic, severe procrastination problems served as the target population for this study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups (Therapeutic Metaphor, Irrelevant Metaphor, Measurement-only Control) and completed a series of questionnaires (Procrastination Log, Procrastination Inventory). The questionnaires were self-report, Likert-scale measures of subjects' procrastination behavior and satisfaction with that behavior during the previous week, and self-reported attitudes about their perceived controllability of, and expectations of changing, their procrastination. Subjects in the experimental groups listened to a tape-recorded therapeutic or irrelevant metaphor, and then completed a Story-recall Questionnaire. At two-week and four-week follow-up sessions, subjects completed the same questionnaires as before. It was hypothesized that subjects in the Therapeutic Metaphor group would report significantly less procrastination behavior and would report greater satisfaction with their behavior than would subjects in the Irrelevant Metaphor or Control groups. This hypothesis was not confirmed, as analyses of variance indicated that subjects in all groups improved equally over time. The hypothesis that Therapeutic Metaphor group subjects would indicate greater expectations of changing and greater controllability of their procrastination than the other subjects was not supported. The results of this study do not support the use of therapeutic metaphor as a method of producing behavior change. Suggestions for future research, particularly with single-subject designs, are included.