Telling Your Story: A Narrative Approach to Therapy

By: Zoe Chambers-Daniel, Taproot Therapy Clinical Trainee

Michael White, social worker and cofounder of narrative therapy eloquently said, “The most powerful therapeutic process I know is to contribute to rich story development.” Our lives consist of multiple stories starting from the moment we are born. These stories have power, giving us the motivation to pursue a specific career path, the openness to try new things, and the courage to persevere in the face of adversity. At the same time, the culmination of our life stories can also cause intense anxiety, preventing us from living a life that reflects our dreams and ambitions. Together Michael White and David Epston understood that the narrative we tell ourselves can influence our emotional wellbeing, therefore a therapeutic space should contribute to telling rich and productive stories about ourselves (White & Epston, 1990). Narrative therapy as a modality operates under these core principles:
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1. You are the expert.
In narrative therapy, you are given the space to share what is bringing you into therapy, and how your presenting concerns factor into multiple aspects of your life. There is no right or wrong way to express this to a professional. Once the narrative therapist is able to understand your narrative, collaborative work can begin to reframe the parts that are negatively impacting your wellbeing.

2. Your problems are external to your personhood.
A common phrase of narrative therapy is “The person is not the problem. The problem is the problem.” Narrative therapy explores mental health symptoms, but does not explicitly use diagnoses. In this modality, you will learn to externalize your presenting concerns. Some people give their problems human characteristics, looking at the problem as if it has its mind of its own. When the external problem is given its own identity, you are less likely to feel shame surrounding your challenges.

3. Your social, cultural, and political context must be understood to understand your presenting concerns
Your narrative does not exist without your socio-political context being discussed. It is the job of the narrative therapist to be curious about your identity, how your presenting concern exists in your specific context, and how goals can be established within that context (Ricks et al., 2014).

Narrative therapy involves deconstructing unhelpful narratives, rewriting that narrative, understanding how the new narrative fits into your unique social context, ensuring the new narrative has the desired effects based on client feedback, and continuing to retell the story under the reconstructed identity (Dr. Todd Grande, 2016). This looks differently for everyone and with the support of a narrative therapist, you can assess what works best for you.

Some techniques of narrative therapy include:
1. Exploratory Questioning
Narrative therapists are interested in your past, present, and future. This involves asking questions about how the presenting problem influences you and how you influence others because of your concerns. What you see for yourself going forward is also important in creating goals that promote wellness.

2. Externalizing the Problem
As mentioned previously, you will learn to externalize your presenting concerns. Not everyone gives their problem a name, but thinking of it as something outside of yourself is key to reducing shame and rewriting the narrative.

3. Creating Positive Stories
It’s difficult to reframe a narrative that you have been telling yourself for your entire life. This is where the creation of positive stories comes in to help you see and be open to witnessing an alternative narrative. With a narrative therapist, you will be encouraged to look back on moments where you were proud of yourself or lived up to your values. This creates the foundation for a positive story that you can look to in relation to your unhelpful narrative.

4. Identifying Unique Outcomes a.k.a Sparkling Moments
Sparkling moments in narrative therapy are helpful because they allow you to identify moments in your life that go against a negative narrative. Your strengths will be highlighted throughout the narrative therapy journey.

5. Creative Expression
Narrative therapy offers opportunities to incorporate art, film, music, photography, writing, and other mediums of creative expression into the space (Ricks et al., 2014). Opening up the space to share creative work can be a sparkling moment on its own, and depending on your comfort level, it can be a regular part of sessions.

6. Inclusion of Supportive Family Members
In circumstances where you have supportive family members that are involved in your journey towards mental wellbeing, involving them in narrative therapy can help in creating positive stories for you to hear about yourself. This is not a mandatory part of narrative therapy, but can play a significant role in reframing unhelpful stories.

Narrative therapy is a great modality if you want to process the stories that make up your life, and
need guidance in determining the usefulness of them. This modality promotes creative expression
and autonomy in reshaping meaning making.


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References
Dr. Todd Grande. (2016, January 21). Theories of Counseling - Narrative therapy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HNw8LkTS68
Ricks, L., Kitchens, S., Goodrich, T., & Hancock, E. (2014). My story: The use of narrative therapy in individual and group counseling. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 9(1), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2013.870947
White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York, NY: Norton.