Psychotherapy and chaos theory: The metaphoric relationship between psychodynamic therapy and chaos theory

This article explores potential benefits and problems in applying chaos theory in psychotherapy through an examination of previous attempts to integrate chaos theory into psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy. First a discussion provides an understanding of basic concepts in chaos theory and reviews applications in psychoanalysis. Second, problems in such applications are scrutinized. Finally, the discussion speculates on a general tendency in the literature in psychotherapy and counseling to resort to mathematical analogies, arguing that this attraction may produce an "erroneous metaphor, " and gives reasons both for the attraction and its danger.