Narrative Therapy

Overview of Narrative therapy
Narrative therapy was developed Michael White and David Epston. It is said to be an approach to family therapy that is built on the belief that reality is constructed, organized and maintained through the stories we create. (Corsini & Wedding, 2008)
According to Corey’s key terms and definitions narrative therapy is “a postmodern approach that is based on the therapist’s personal characteristics that allow for creating a climate that encourages clients to see their stories from different perspectives. Grounded in a philosophical framework, narrative practices assist clients in finding new meanings and new possibilities in their lives.” (Corey, 2014) The viewpoint of narrative therapy is that people are stuck in
Narrative therapy lacks focus on feelings. It ignores the relationship between symptoms and family i.e. systemic thinking. Therapy is not concerned with the problem patterns produced by family but with how the problem affects the problem. (Corsini & Wedding, 2008)
Not all clients want the therapist taking the not-knowing stance in therapy. Some clients may feel the need for direction and guidance from the therapist. Especially with clients who are less articulate. Also with clients who are cognitive, intellectually and linguistically limited it would prove more difficult communicating their story effectively and efficiently. (ref)
Sometimes the relationship bond between client and therapist can get lost between all the questions being asked. (ref)
Another possible weakness is when adding family members to therapy it creates additional stories of the same events so there is the creation of competing stories or dominant stories which cause the problem of too many views of the problem which can devoid the narrative of any hope. (Worden,
Sometimes the best way to explain something is a story, and I believe that everyone has one. After trying to think about what my untold story was I learned more about myself, a lot of things started to make more sense now. I think narrative therapy would also be perfect when working with a variety of different client’s;, especially children. I feel that getting a child to tell their story could be a helpful way for them to open up; a helpful way for all clients to open up. I also think it would depend on the problem of the client whether narrative therapists would place focus on psychopathology. I think it would be dependent on what the client reveals in their story. I think that narrative therapy was initially created as a therapy that does not really focus that much on pathology, but a client could reveal something that happened to them when they were younger; which might help explain a psychological problem they may have now. Narrative therapy I think could be the start of helping treat mental disorders. Looking back to my childhood, almost everything was understood through stories. Stories were always called upon to make things understandable. I believe narrative therapy is able to achieve that for both individuals who are struggling to deal with personal issues and to those dealing with contingencies that require them to improvise, change direction and reformulating meanings.

Do you think Narrative therapists would