Narrative Therapy In Practice

Narrative Therapy In Practice

By Summer Burnett

 

Narrative practice involves the use of uncovering the stories about our lives.

Here are some ways I find this approach helpful with the clients I see:

• Understand our stories: People have their own stories which are derived from their experiences, social locations and perceptions of themselves. Often, these stories affect each other and become apart of the way we present ourselves to others, how we see ourselves, and influence how we will think, act and feel in the future. Thus, it is crucial to understand our stories and to acknowledge what circumstances played roles in the outcomes, what stories are helpful and which ones may be harmful to ourselves or creating challenges in our lives.
• Non-blaming approach: Narrative practice can help people explore these stories without blaming the person for their lived experiences which can contribute to harmful feelings of shame and guilt. It is the belief through this lens that people are not their problems but that the problems are external from who the individual is.
• Externalization: After identifying and exploring aspects of the persons story, we can begin to externalize people from their problems. Externalization is meant to distance the persons sense of self from their problems or behaviours they may want to change.  Only through observing ourselves through retelling our stories can we begin to understand how our behaviours, thoughts and feelings about our experiences are derived and acknowledge the circumstances outside of our control.  This action cannot be taken through self-criticism and blame since these feelings imply sole responsibility or a problem derived from the persons self, regardless of external factors.
• Reauthoring: This opens the door to explore the possibilities of shifting one’s narrative or reauthoring the story from beliefs such as “I am a bad person, I do not like who I am, I am a failure” to more constructive narratives. For example, “I made a mistake, I do not like how I handled that situation, I did not preform my best, I want to do better”.
  • Deconstruction: This form of reauthoring can be done through externalizing the problems and then engaging in deconstruction of the story. This process of deconstruction involves breaking down the story piece by piece, acknowledging the situation as a chain of events within contexts in which all factors have an influence on the outcome of the story.

As a therapist, I engage in a narrative approach when working with a variety of people who experience and may be prone to internalizing their stories as a reflection of a character flaw within themselves. Some of these populations include neurodivergent individuals, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, and people who experience interpersonal violence.  People within all these groups commonly experience explicit and implicit narratives within their lives which suggest they are different from others and that they need to adapt themselves to be accepted. Narrative therapy can be a way in which to empower people who experience these harmful social narratives through externalizing and deconstructing these belief systems which are forced upon them.

In a world in which no two stories could ever hope to be the same the pressures to mold oneself into the image of others remains.  Through working together to explore these incongruent expectations I hope to help others reauthor their own stories to fit the mold of themselves.