Abstract

Houari Lakhdar-Hamina

The bio-psycho-social model relates to a person as one system, with biological, psychological and social components in constant interaction. The model so far tends to objectivize the human experience of life and ignores a central component, existing exclusively in humankind, that is, the subjective component of meanings, narratives, images, and dreams, which is the main focus of psychology. This article proposes a two-layer bio-psycho-social model: an objective-rational layer and a metaphorical-spiritual layer, which contributes to the understanding of the way psychotherapy, and in particular how narrative and metaphor psychotherapyis, is associated to a person’s objective life. The model is based on the assumption that people process and understand their experiences in two complementary ways: an objective-rational way typically associated with Freud’s “secondary” thoughts and with the left hemisphere of the brain, and a metaphorical-spiritual way, typically associated with Freud’s “primary” thoughts and with the right hemisphere. Every medical, psychological, or social intervention, whether tending to use objective or metaphorical devices, will eventually activate both layers - the entire system.