Narrative Therapy Research Paper

Narrative Therapy
Caroline Dobay
August 9, 2012
COUN601
Steve Figley PhD

Movement of Influence

Narrative Therapy came from the Poststructural and Deconstruction movement (Hoffman, 2002) and asserts that people need other stories to be able to view their lives and to recognize the negativity in their stories is dominating and defining their lives and who they are. This defines a self-defeating, negative and dead-ended story of their lives. This is through the knowledge of the reality told through the stories they have constructed. Client’s self-defeating nature comes from labels that they receive from outside observers. Such as, “I am selfish,” These are called “thin conclusions” (Geertz, 1973)
Technique’s - reauthoring
Narrative
By doing this the client no longer feels trapped by the story, and he/she learns ways to change the outcome. (Mark 10:19) A story of negativity and untruths is just as giving false testimony. The story needs to be reauthored with truth. Many are trapped in lies that generate from stories once heard, told and
Asking questions like; when, did they start feeling depressed? Or have they ever experienced the feelings before? When was the last time they felt happy? I would also have them recall what they did before to get through their feelings of depression by asking, You got through the depression before, what did you do different then to make you feel better? Giving them room to reexamine their feelings and the problem that led them to feel as they do, would give them the opportunity to realize they do not have to own those feelings. It is the client who can change how they choose to feel about a particular