Previewing: A developmental principle that promotes the therapeutic use of metaphor

When one is treating mother‐infant dyads psychotherapeutically, the infant's inchoate language skills render the traditional use of metaphor ineffective. This paper discusses how a developmental principle, labeled previewing, may function like a metaphor and be used to address the therapeutic needs of the dyad. Previewing and metaphor also may complement each other in the treatment of adults in individual therapy. Previewing — like metaphors — may provide a means of addressing interpersonal issues, may function as a shared language that promotes intersubjectivity, and may help the patient deal with conflict in a non‐threatening manner that may circumvent defensive operations.