An Outline of the Basic Concepts of Narrative Therapy.
An outline of the basic concepts of Narrative therapy.
Narrative therapy
Michael white and David Epston are best known for their use of narrative in therapy. According to white individuals construct the meaning of life in interpretive stories which are then treated as truth. Adopting a postmodern, narrative, social constructionist view sheds light on how power knowledge and truth are negotiated in families and other social and cultural contexts.
Key concepts
Focus
narrative therapy involves adopting a shift in focus from most traditional theories. Therapists listen respectfully to clients stories to search for times in the clients lives where they were resourceful, use questions as a way to engage clients, avoid diagnosing and labeling clients, assisting clients in mapping the influence a problem has had on their lives and to assist the client in separating themselves from the dominant stories they have internalized so that creation of new stories can occur.
The role of stories the stories we live our lives by shape our reality in that they construct and constitute what we see, feel and do. Clients tend to be the victors or heroes of their own stories and the therapist is privileged to be a part of this unfolding process.
Listening with an open mind
All social constructionist theories place an emphasis on listening to clients without judgment or blame, affirming and valuing them. Therapists can encourage their clients to reconsider absolutist judgments by moving toward seeing both “good” and “bad” elements in situations. Narrative therapists aim to help clients create new meaning from the stories clients share. As the client tells their story the therapist is able to listen for opportunities where the client was able to overcome difficulties in the past thus highlighting the clients own strengths. One of the therapist’s roles is to remind the client that they are able to capable of managing and overcoming the problems they face even when the client is
Narrative therapy
Michael white and David Epston are best known for their use of narrative in therapy. According to white individuals construct the meaning of life in interpretive stories which are then treated as truth. Adopting a postmodern, narrative, social constructionist view sheds light on how power knowledge and truth are negotiated in families and other social and cultural contexts.
Key concepts
Focus
narrative therapy involves adopting a shift in focus from most traditional theories. Therapists listen respectfully to clients stories to search for times in the clients lives where they were resourceful, use questions as a way to engage clients, avoid diagnosing and labeling clients, assisting clients in mapping the influence a problem has had on their lives and to assist the client in separating themselves from the dominant stories they have internalized so that creation of new stories can occur.
The role of stories the stories we live our lives by shape our reality in that they construct and constitute what we see, feel and do. Clients tend to be the victors or heroes of their own stories and the therapist is privileged to be a part of this unfolding process.
Listening with an open mind
All social constructionist theories place an emphasis on listening to clients without judgment or blame, affirming and valuing them. Therapists can encourage their clients to reconsider absolutist judgments by moving toward seeing both “good” and “bad” elements in situations. Narrative therapists aim to help clients create new meaning from the stories clients share. As the client tells their story the therapist is able to listen for opportunities where the client was able to overcome difficulties in the past thus highlighting the clients own strengths. One of the therapist’s roles is to remind the client that they are able to capable of managing and overcoming the problems they face even when the client is