One of the satisfactions of literature is reading a poetic passage that perfectly captures what is being described. Writers will sometimes refer to this phenomenon as the “punch of exactitude.” So too do therapist and client aim to most accurately and succinctly capture the exactness of the client’s present emotions. Research by the neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demonstrates that the greater the degree of emotional granularity, the greater the client’s well-being and resilience. “Name it to tame it,” as therapists often say.So how can therapists and clients bring more punch into their sessions?Metaphors offer a good start, particularly what are called “primary metaphors,” those simple associations that we intuitively understand from a young age: Warmth evokes closeness, while coldness denotes distance; happiness is to lightness as difficulty is to heaviness. These primary metaphors serve to package and contain the abstractness of emotion into something that can be somatically experienced. More complex metaphors work oppositely. The “headiness” of the metaphor engages metacognitive processes, creating distance between the observing and experiencing self, in turn opening space for reflection and reappraisal.Poetry and metaphors are also more memorable than prose, acting, as psychologist Marvin Goldfried suggests, as memory pegs. This insight is rooted in historical wisdom: For much of history, great playwrights wrote in meter (think Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter) and relied on poetic images to aid in the memorization of plays. Wisdom aside, recent empirical studies stress the effectiveness of metaphors in aiding with memory processes and lowering mental distress.Richer Language, Better Reflection