“Do You Know the Tale of Cinderella?”: Case Study of the Use of Metaphor and Proverbs with a Newlywed Syrian Couple in a Refugee Camp in Sidon, Lebanon

Abstract

This article presents a case study of the use of metaphors, proverbs, and the story of Cinderella in a family therapy session. The case study was done in Ein El Hilweh Camp, in South Lebanon in the city of Sidon. The refugee camp had hosted Palestinian refugees back in March 1949 and began to host Syrian refugees since 2011. The intervention of the psychotherapist using metaphors and proverbs with a Syrian refugee couple, struggling with communication incapacities, assisted them in finding solution to their marital problems and overcoming their marital difficulties living in the camp. It also assisted the mother-in-law to adopt a different approach with her son and his wife and to consider them as a couple, giving them more space to flourish their emotions and expressions.