Narrative Therapy

Michael White, a practicing social worker and family therapist, assisted by his friend David Epston, developed the Narrative Therapy during the 1970s and the 1980s. In 1990, they published the book, 'Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends'. This popularized narrative therapy in North America. Narrative therapy says that our personalities are shaped by the stories of our lives. As a part of this therapy, the person seeking counseling is made to relate the stories of his life. The therapist helps the people find solutions to their problems using the narratives of their own lives.

Narrative therapy focuses on externalization of problems. This approach helps re-author the stories of a person’s life. It enables one to look at his/her problems with a different perspective and devise ways to get out of them. It takes an approach of encouraging the people to recognize their abilities to confront problems, instead of a purely pathological approach. Under this therapy, the person’s experiences are under the spotlight.

With the help of narrative therapy, a person is made to restructure his/her perceptions because it is believed that the illogical thinking in people often leads to psychological problems. The therapy takes into account the influences of family and society on the person. The person is asked to speculate on how his family and friends must have perceived him. The therapist indirectly asks the person to talk about his image in society.

After listening to his story, the therapist encourages the person to reconsider the situations in his/her life and redefine his identities. The therapist somehow motivates the person towards restructuring the story and finding a way out of his difficulties.

The counselor or the therapist aims at understanding the person’s personality and backgrounds in order to find the skills or traits in him that can aid him overcome his weaknesses. Narrative therapy is about the clear understanding of one’s problems. It rests on the principle of naming each problem to better know its consequences on life. The person and his counselor together look for different outcomes that the problem can have. This leads the person to think of new ways to face situations and new ways to tackle problems.

A person’s life often has some moments of happiness, some points of time when he has been able to get over his difficulties and occasions on which he has emerged victorious. The therapist or counselor takes interest in this positive side of a person’s life making him realize his potentials. People end up revealing their own competencies and thus start feeling confident about defeating their problems.

Narrative therapy is sometimes criticized about being largely based on perceptions rather than truths. It is thought of as a therapy wherein the therapist’s opinion might influence the person’s narrative. Some disregard narrative therapy saying that it lacks a clinical approach.

But I think, narrative therapy can prove to be useful as it helps you find answers for yourself. It is something that does not focus on an expert solving a your problems. It believes that you, through the realization of your capabilities, can solve your problems. It relies on finding the ‘new’ and the ‘true’ ‘self’ within you while you relate the story of your life. After all, your best counselor is within you!