Narrative Therapy and Family Therapy

1312 Words3 Pages

Research Question Why is externalising a central technique in narrative therapy today, and what are the limitations and successes of this technique? Research The research complied for this report was gathered from various Journals dedicated to the discourse surrounding the practices of narrative therapy and family therapy. Search terms used to collect relevant articles were ‘narrative therapy’, ‘Michael White’ and ‘externalising’. The results from these terms were extensive and required narrowing further by way of peer reviewed status, content type and discipline. Data gathered was then critically analysed to explicate firstly, the socially constructed knowledge surrounding the process of narrative therapy, and the technique of externalising. Secondly, any discrepancies or conflicts in the discourse related to the application of the externalising technique. And lastly, the successes, efficacy, and limitations of externalising as a technique. There was no primary research conducted in the process of compiling this report. Literature Review 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... ... middle of paper ... ...ncalves, Miguel, Martins, Carla (2009), ‘Innovative moments and change in narrative therapy’, Psychotherapy Research, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 68-80. Phipps, Warwick, Vorster, Charl (2011), ‘Narrative therapy: A return to the intrapsychic perspective?’, Journal of Family Psychotherapy, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 128-147. Ramey, Heather L, Tarulli, Donato, Frijters, Jan C, Fisher, Lianne (2009), ‘A sequential analysis of externalising in narrative therapy with children’, Contemporary Family Therapy, no. 31, 2009, pp. 262-279. Strong, Tom (2008), ‘Externalising questions: a micro-analytic look at their use in narrative therapy’, The International Journal of Narrative Therapy & Community Work, no. 3, 2008, pp. 59-71. Walsh, William M, Keenan, Robert (1997), ‘Narrative Family Therapy’, The Family Journal: Counselling and Therapy for Couples and Families, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 332-336.

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