Narrative Therapy. (May 18, 2013). In Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_therapy…
Narrative therapy is a social constructive philosophical approach to psychotherapy that has been developed to help clients deconstruct their negative and self-defeating life stories while rebuilding healthy and positive life stories through the use of various techniques. This paper will discuss the leading figures, some concepts and techniques, ethics, some similarities and dissimilarities of other theories compared to Narrative therapy. This paper will also address my personal integration of faith regarding the theory of Narrative therapy.…
Narrative therapy falls within the Social Construction Model. In this type of therapy, the therapist is not central to the process, but rather influential to the client. The therapist helps the client internalize and create new stories within themselves and draw new assumptions about themselves by opening themselves up to future stories. This enables the client to not focus on the negative narratives that have defined their lives, but rather on future positive stories that can re-define their lives. To narrative therapists, the problem is the problem and the client is not the problem. Externalizing the problem is usually how therapy begins, therefore defining the problem and getting it out in the open. Narrative therapies typically are in the form of questioning to break down the problem and create alternative narratives to connect the new story line to future options.…
Once they are in therapy, my objective is to make sure all individuals are honest to each other to build a stronger relationship moving forward. In addition, I will make sure all needs of the couple or what is lacking in the relationship (feelings and emotions) gets discussed and understood. This approach is crucial to promote a change in the behavioral patterns and a higher level of satisfaction. My main purpose is that they know the reasons of the affair and learn that after all they can construct a new beginning together.…
One of the weaknesses of narrative therapy is that the focus on externalizing problems allows avoidance of deeper issues (Rasheed, Rasheed, & Marley, 2011, p. 322). In the case of the Michael’s family, this should not be as much of a problem. Due to the fact that the Michael’s were referred for grief counseling and the children are showing signs of grief and trauma, the concerns of not addressing deeper issues does not apply to the aspects of grief therapy. It may still apply to some of the aspects of therapy relating to John’s gang involvement. While it would be helpful to examine how the family handles John’s gang involvement and their perspectives on it, it is important to examine what is leading John to turn to that kind of peer group. Narrative therapy does not evaluate why (Rasheed, Rasheed, & Marley, 2011, p. 322). It would not evaluate why…
As mentioned in the introduction, the basic principle of narrative therapy is that the patient is not defined by their problem. Narrative therapists look at the problems a person is experiencing as separate from their person, and encourage their patient to do the same thing. For example, if a person is an alcoholic, a narrative therapist would encourage that person to focus on their future and not see themself as defined as an alcoholic. Narrative therapy focuses on self-empowerment by getting patients to look at the positives of their situation and their person (Combs, 1996). Patients work to pinpoint the strong parts of their life, as a building block…
Even though the goal for therapy is to help the client discover an alternate narrative for their story the therapist is still very involved in the process. The therapist stays busy helping the client thicken the plot of their stories around alternative accounts of their identity and relational narratives. The therapist is very active in trying to assist clients in creating authoring of their stories, assisting the client in changing their lives by changing their stories, and helping clients externalize their problems so that they can better solve…
It should be noted that most substance abusers poly drug use. Although heroin users don't as a rule drink alcohol when on heroin (alcohol and heroin can cause a fatal overdose.)…
Narrative Therapy is considered a non-blaming approach to the problems clients deal with. This type of therapy is a respectful and collaborative approach to counseling and community work, focusing on people’s ability to externalize problems. Narrative Therapy was developed by Michael White and David Epston. The central idea to this therapy is ‘the person never IS the problem. The person HAS a problem’. It essentially focuses on the stories of people’s lives and is centered on the theories that problems are based or manufactured in social, cultural or political contexts [ (Morgan, 2000) ]. This therapy relates in many ways to postmodernism, which believes that there is no one objective “truth”, but that there are many possible interpretations of any one event. Thus with the narrative approach the lives and stories of clients are seen as multi-storied vs. single storied.…
Michael White and David Epston are the originators of what has come to be known as narrative therapy. Narrative therapy is a simple way, accentuating the main ideas…
What the client chooses to share is a window into how he or she sees the world. Even when a client seems contrary, it is an opportunity to better understand the plot of his life story (Waters, 2011). Often, the view a client has of the problem solidifies it, and alternative perspectives or solutions are impossible to see. This perception of the client being or having a problem is often reinforced by the simultaneous social narratives. In an effort to bring a broader view into the story, the narrative therapist will help the client externalize the problem, making it reside outside who the person is.…
Conclusion Cooper and Lesser (2014) emphasized that the narrative therapy, as a post-structural theoretical model, explains how life stories are “shaped by the dominant cultural, are performed by us and live through us, and have abilities to both restrain and liberate our lives” (p. 157). | I first became familiar with narrative therapy model when I was a graduate student in Poland, majoring in Polish literature and education. This models still fascinates me and, I find it particularly useful with the elderly who are often treated with impatience and not being listen to.…
There subsists a diversity of therapy modalities employed for many assorted reasons to help those suffering from addiction; all with a comparable resolve to help individuals live positive and fulfilling lives. A few theories that I would like to try out and further develop would be the following:…
Narrative therapy practice is premised on the notion that people organize their lives through stories (thus the use of the narrative or text metaphor). When we experience a client coming to talk with us, they usually relate a telling of their lives through stories. They tell their stories by linking together their understanding of the problem, relationship, illness etc., through a sequencing of life events and ideas through time. People often speak about what brought them into therapy, what they believe the history of their situation is, and who or what is responsible. At the time when someone decides to come to therapy, there is usually one prevailing theory told as to what they are in therapy for, and this theory is quite often thought to…
References: Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.…