Narrative Therapy

Nathan Missen
 Outline
• Definition of Narrative Therapy
• Theoretical Assumptions
• Basic process
• Applications
• Multicultural considerations
• Strengths/weaknesses/criticisms
• Closing comment
 What is Narrative
Therapy?
• In the words of Epston & White (1990): “A therapy situated
within the context of the narrative mode of thought would take
the form that:
• 1. privileges a person’s lived experience;
• 2. Encourages a perception of a changing world through the
plotting or linking of lived experience through the temporal
dimension;
• 3. Invokes the subjunctive mood in the triggering of
presuppositions, the establishment of implicit meaning, and in
the generation of multiple perspective;
• 4. Encourages polysemy and the ordinary, poetic and
picturesque language in the description of experience and in the
endeavor to construct new stories;
 What is Narrative
Therapy? (2)
• 5. Invites a reflexive posture and an appreciation of one’s
participation in interpretive acts;
• 6. Encourages a sense of authorship and re-authorship of
one’s life and relationships in the telling and re-telling of
one’s story;
• 7. Acknowledges that stories are co-produced and
endeavors to establish conditions under which the
“subject” becomes the privileged author
• 8. Consistently inserts pronouns “I” and “you” in the
description of events
• Basically, people construct stories (narratives) to help
them understand and make sense of their lives
• It is a postmodern, social-constructivist approach to
therapy
 Theoretical assumptions
• 1) Realities are socially constructed
• 2) Realities are constituted through
language
• 3) Realities are organized and
maintained through language
• 4) There are no essential truths
• (adapted from Freedman and Combs,
1996)
 Basic process
• Map the influences
• Initiate externalizing conversation/externalize
the problem (cultural conditions / medical
discourse
• Identify unique outcomes
• Construct an alternative story / restorying
• Alternate story history
• Provide an audience
 Applications
• Preventative - Petersen, Bull, Propst, Dettinger &
Detwiler, 2005
• Developmental (typical and atypical) - Cashin, 2008,
DeSocio, 2005, White & Epston, 1990
• Clinical e.g. Anorexia/Bulimia - Lock, Epston, Maisel
& Faria, 2005; BDD - Costa, Nelson, Rudes &
Guterman, 2007; Alcoholism - Monk & Winslade,
1997; Sexual abuse - Monk & Winslade, 1997
• School problems - Winslade & Monk, 1999
• Eclectic applications - Speedy, 2000
 Strengths/Weaknesses/
Criticisms
• Advantages
– Counseling applicability
– Cultural applications
– Accessibility
• Disadvantages/Criticisms
– Relativistic
– Nihilistic
– Notion of agency (Logio-scientific/Narrative/Humanistic)
– Indeterminate amount of time
– Downplays the role of expertise - S or W?
– Emphasis on language
– Cultural bias / difficulties
– The “blameless self”?
 Closing comment
• The approach is easy, the theory is not.
• Fundamentally, requires a different
mindset than most approaches.
 A little bit of humor…
• Three baseball umpires are sitting around
over a beer, and one says “There’s balls and
there’s strikes and I call them the way they
are.”. Another one says, “There’s balls and
there’s strikes, and I call them the way I
see’em.” The third says, “There’s balls and
there’s strikes, and they ain’t nothin until I call
call’em” - Walter Truett Anderson
Questions/Comments?
 Resources
• Cashin, A. (2008). Narrative Therapy: A Psychotherapeutic
Approach in the Treatment of Adolescents With Asperger’s
Disorder. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing,
21, pp 48-56
• Costa, D., Nelson, T.M., Rudes, J. & Guterman, J.T. (2007). A
Narrative Approach to Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Journal of
Mental Health Counseling, 29, (1), pp 67-80
• DeSocio, J.E. (2005). Accessing Self-development through
Narrative Approaches in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 18, (2), pp
53-61
• Lock, A., Epston, D., Maisel, R. & de Faria, N. (2005). Resisting
anorexia/bulimia: Foucauldian perspectives in narrative therapy.
British Journal of Guidance & Counselling [sic], 33, (3), pp 315-
332
• Monk, G., Winslade, J., Crocket, K. & Epston, D. (1997).
Narrative Therapy in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 Resources (2)
• Petersen, S., Bull, C., Propst, O., Dettinger, S. & Detwiler, L.
(2005). Narrative Therapy to Prevent Illness-Related Stress
Disorder. Journal of Counseling & Development, 83, pp 41-47
• Speedy, J. (2000). The storied helper: narrative ideas and
practices in counselling [sic] and psychotherapy. The European
Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling & Health, 3 (3), pp 361-
374
• White, M. & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to Therapeutic
Ends. NY, New York: W.W. Norton
• Winslade, J. & Monk, G. (1999). Narrative Counseling in
Schools; Powerful & Brief. CA: Corwin Press