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Narrative therapy techniques and benefits
Narrative therapy techniques and benefits
Narrative therapy techniques and benefits
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Narrative Therapy was developed by David Epston, with collaboration with Michael White, during the 1980s. Narrative therapy was birthed from a social constructionism perspective (Ponterotto & Casas, 2001). In other words, the focus of therapy was no longer on the problem, but rather the solution. Narrative therapy views the individual, system, and the system’s individuals through “constructed narratives” and focuses on redeveloping narratives that do not serve the client or system in a positive manner (Ponterotto & Casas, 2001). Social constructionism interprets reality through a subjective lens (Semmler & Williams, 2000). In other words, social constructionists believes that reality is what the client interprets it to be. Through this lens, it places control with the client and the client can guide ways that their reality is transformed. Narrative therapy is based on the underlying concepts of narrative theory. Narrative theory aims to provide framework for counselors to assess, treating, and create a counseling practice that is culturally sensitive. Narrative …show more content…
Narrative therapy techniques require therapists to acknowledge implicit biases that could have an effect on the therapist and their client (McLeod, 1997; White & Epston, 1990) In other words, culture places different influences that are internalized by the individual; therefore, effects the way that clients perceive themselves within their story. Through exploring these cultural influences, like racism, sexism, ageism, etc., the therapist and client can develop ways to be resilient against these social forces (Semmler & Williams, 2000). To address problem narratives within a cultural context, narrative therapy deconstructs the dominant culture, externalizes the story, reauthors the story, and provides context for the new
The idea in constructivist therapy is to reconstruct how the client views their life. Through therapy individuals work towards developing new routines, strengthening relationships, and adopt a new way of looking at themselves. Furthermore, working through trauma has been successful with constructivist therapy. For trauma patients the sense of creating their own identity may help them move forward and better understand their views on the situation.
It is pertinent to study the history of racial oppression when preparing to counsel a client from an ethnic minority if the counselor is from the majority culture. The problem is it would be difficult to examine the complete history and would be highly impossible especially in a short time. However, a therapist can gain knowledge of some of the essentials of history such as, religion, family structure, and background information. If the therapist or counselor is uncomfortable counseling these individuals he/or she can refer the client to someone who has more knowledge or has the same cultural background as the client. For instance, a therapist must become aware of the sociopolitical dynamics that form not only their clients’ views, but their own as well. Racial and cultural dynamics may interfere into the helping process and cause misdiagnosis, confusion, pain and reinforcement of biases and prejudices towards their client.
Postmodernism states that our identities are shaped by words that define the issues at hand and whether they are or aren’t actual issues. Social constructionism is reality to one, that is formed by social bonds and relative importance gained through social networking. Postmodernists see all as constructed (Gehart, 2014). Social constructionism enhances “how truth is generated at the local relational level” (Gehart, 2014, p.53). The individual is viewed in relation to the system, which has an influence on the client’s experience and reality. “Social constructionism and succeeding systemic therapists ration familiar significance on mortal dealings and Mannering of conducting oneself when conversing. Therapist should give guidance to a client to provoke the impartial core of traditional knowledge. Social constructionism is based on the idea that reality and meaning are developed through language and relationships. The individual is viewed in relation to the system, which has an influence on the client’s experience and reality” (Sealy
When advocating for the success of a client when utilizing this theory, a counselor must be prepared to identify and eliminate barriers, prejudices, oppression, and discrimination that may create a psychological obstruction in the client. Learning culturally-competent counseling practices and current theoretical approaches while practicing self-reflection will help the counselor acquire the skills necessary to engage with a diverse clientele. Strategies such as; identifying cultural differences, understanding and addressing issues in the counseling process, the counselor’s ability to understand self, and ongoing education are all important strategies in combating oppression and eliminating barriers.
Modern and postmodern theories differ widely in their assumptions regarding reality. Two popular branches of CBT (a blend of related psychotherapies) are cognitive therapy (CT) and rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). These therapies assume that cognitive processes—thoughts, beliefs, self-statements, and perceptions—are the major determinants of an individual’s emotion and behavior. CT and REBT assume that reality is objective and can be observed. Similar to CBT, postmodernism is also a group of related therapies. In contrast though, postmodernists, assume that reality does not exist independent of observational processes. Postmodern approaches such as social constructionism (SC) and narrative therapy (NT) assume that truth and reality are merely a way of understanding a situation within the context of the client’s social and cultural context. ...
What is unique about constructivism is its ability to examine problems from the client’s point of view is that it allows individuals to create their own reality during counseling appointment. According to Pamelia Brott (2004), therapists act more as facilitators of change than therapeutic leaders, the client is viewed as the agent of change (191). The constructivist perspective reality comes into being through the interpretations of what the world means to the client individually (p.192). As Sharf (2015) explains, “…in the act of knowing, it is the human mind that actively gives meaning and order to that reality to which it is responding…" (p.455). Because of this the constructivist perspective does not provide a single theoretical structure as each counseling session is unique in providing client’s a solution that is applicable to
Narrative theory is underpinned by ideas of postmodernism, which makes an assumption that truth is subjective and embedded in stories or experiences of individuals (Connolly & Harms, 2013). Therefore, social workers who incorporate this theory wants to understand the ‘truths’ or ‘problems’ that people have constructed about themselves, depending on the context of their own experiences (Payne, 2006). Constructing stories about themselves and their experiences are part of meaning-making process. Each person’s experience of depression is personal and unique to them (dep. org). Witnessing and listening to people’s stories and validating their experiences such as impact of oppression and grief is important for recovery and to reclaim their lives
Narrative therapy was introduced to the family therapy field in the late 1980’s by therapists Michael White and David Epston (Matos et al. 2009, p.89). A philosophy of narrative therapy is that everyone has a story to tell which is bound by the socially constructed knowledge within their cultural setting, and this story can be better interpreted by contextualising it according to the individual’s language, social, political and cultural situation (Combs & Freedman 2012, p.1036; Etchison & Kleist 2000, p.61; Fernandez 2010, p.16). The narrative is then reduced to the theme which is determined as a problematic element within the story, and perceived internally as a dominating power (Mascher 2...
For this reason, some of the brief therapies, such as strategic family therapy or solution-focused therapy, that focus on rapid change without much attention to understanding, might be more appropriate. However, I believe these brief therapies do not give clients enough time to really parse out their problem. I am wary of counseling that limits clients’ ability to tell their stories fully, which seems like just one more way of silencing people, oppressing them, and keeping them in line. In working with my clients I want to collectively understand how problem-saturated stories developed, the cultural, familial, or biological factors that might be involved, and the availability of choices. I believe that narrative therapy is the most flexible approach in this respect because although not brief, it is efficient and seems to be effective long-term, although more research is needed, which is challenging because of the subjective nature of this approach (Madigan, 2011). In my therapy practice, I want to leave clients feeling hopeful and liberated by helping them to see the problem as separate from their identities and as only one story to choose from several, and by acknowledging the contextual factors contributing to the
Narrative reasoning focuses on the client’s particular circumstances and takes into account the client’s past, present, and future and how their current circumstances will affect their life. This gives the practitioner ideas on how to collaborate with the client and family based on the individual’s journey. It is important for the occupational therapy practitioner to help the client see how the treatment
Multicultural and cognitive-behavioral approaches both place importance on tailoring the therapy to the particular situation (Hays,1995). The counselor recommended therapy with his wife, but he continued to focus on therapy with Louis. He believed that they should go to another therapist because he already started to build a rapport with Louis. He understood
Cook-Cotton, C. (2004). Using Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives. Journal of College Counseling, 7(2), p.177-186. Retrieved from PsycINFOdatabase.
The core concept of narrative therapy is rooted in postmodern theory. This includes having a positive and hopeful view of clients and their power to create change. Also, taking a “not-knowing” stance is essential in order to enhance collaboration between clients and therapist. Narrative Therapy encourages therapists to remain curious and acknowledge
Narrative Therapy was developed to help people separate themselves from their problems. The idea is that this will help the person use the skills that they already possess to minimize the problems that exist in their everyday lives. The Narrative Therapy approach was developed by Social Workers Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand) during the 1970s-1980s. “White proclaimed is work to be exclusively that of ‘rich story development’ “(Gallant).
Firstly, beliefs and attitudes infer the counselor’s ability to move beyond cultural unawareness for safeguarding that their personal biases, values or problems will not affect their ability to work with culturally diverse clients (Corey, 2013). In the same way, culturally skilled counselors are cognizant of the fact that “cultural self-awareness and sensitivity to one’s own cultural heritage” plays an integral role in the helping process (Corey, 2013, p.