Narrative Therapy
“Every time we ask a question, we’re generating a possible version of life.” (Epston, D.,1995, Cowley & Springen, p. 74, as cited in Freedman, J. & Combs, G., 1996, p. 113)
Without questioning, most people continue to “accept” and acquiesce to the life that is before them, despite deep dissatisfaction, incredulity and unhappiness, and even to the point of dysfunction sometimes. As such, we need to differentiate between “resignation to” and “true acceptance” of a life that must be lived anyway. The Chinese commonly utter, “Whether one laughs or cries, one still has to pass through this life; better then to laugh through it.”
But to be able to accept and laugh, we need first to have a reason, or a perspective – a way of seeing, believing and knowing - that will enable us to do so. We need to have a different version, a different story - one that is no less true than the one we have always accepted and taken for granted as the only possible story, the story that is “problem-saturated”. To the extent that questions are creatively asked, to that extent are new stories and more satisfying outcomes created.
And so, “we ask questions to generate experience rather than to gather information. When they generate experience of preferred realities, questions can be therapeutic in and of themselves” (Selvini Palazzoli et al., 1980, as cited in Freedman & Combs, 1996, p. 113).
Counselors ask questions to rouse the stored-away memories of their clients, to bestir the dormant layers of side-stories that have been tucked away because they did not fit into the social, religious and familial landscapes – either tacitly or overtly. “We knew that by asking questions we could help people access and relive “resourceful” experiences.” (Freedman & Combs, 1996, p. 116).
It is these backgrounded stories which need to be recalled to allow for different and better versions of life to emerge, which until now has not lisped a single syllable. Thus, when counselors ask
Without questioning, most people continue to “accept” and acquiesce to the life that is before them, despite deep dissatisfaction, incredulity and unhappiness, and even to the point of dysfunction sometimes. As such, we need to differentiate between “resignation to” and “true acceptance” of a life that must be lived anyway. The Chinese commonly utter, “Whether one laughs or cries, one still has to pass through this life; better then to laugh through it.”
But to be able to accept and laugh, we need first to have a reason, or a perspective – a way of seeing, believing and knowing - that will enable us to do so. We need to have a different version, a different story - one that is no less true than the one we have always accepted and taken for granted as the only possible story, the story that is “problem-saturated”. To the extent that questions are creatively asked, to that extent are new stories and more satisfying outcomes created.
And so, “we ask questions to generate experience rather than to gather information. When they generate experience of preferred realities, questions can be therapeutic in and of themselves” (Selvini Palazzoli et al., 1980, as cited in Freedman & Combs, 1996, p. 113).
Counselors ask questions to rouse the stored-away memories of their clients, to bestir the dormant layers of side-stories that have been tucked away because they did not fit into the social, religious and familial landscapes – either tacitly or overtly. “We knew that by asking questions we could help people access and relive “resourceful” experiences.” (Freedman & Combs, 1996, p. 116).
It is these backgrounded stories which need to be recalled to allow for different and better versions of life to emerge, which until now has not lisped a single syllable. Thus, when counselors ask
References: Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. White, M. & Epston D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Gilligan, S.G. & Price, R. (1993). Therapeutic Conversations. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Chrzastowski, S.K. (2011). A narrative perspective on genograms: Revisiting classical family therapy methods. doi: 10.1177/1359104511400966 2011 16: 635 2011 Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://ccp.sagepub.com/content/16/4/635 Gubrium, J.F. & Holstein, J.A. (1998). Narrative Practice and the Coherence of Personal Stories. The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 1. pp. 163-187. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121016 . Fleming, T. (2003) Narrative means to transformative ends: Towards a narrative language for transformation. Retrieved from http://eprints.nuim.ie/981/1/Ted_Fleming_TLConference_2003.pdf Miller, C.P. & Forrest, A.W. (2009) Ethics of Family Narrative Therapy. The Family Journal 2009 17: 156. doi: 10.1177/1066480709332717. Retrieved from http://tfj.sagepub.com/content/17/2/156