Narrative therapy

Strive Counselling's The core idea of Narrative Therapy is that the stories we tell about our lives shape our identity and influence our behaviours and emotions.

What is narrative Therapy?

Narrative Therapy is a compassionate and empowering approach that helps you reshape your personal story to create a more meaningful and fulfilling life. The core idea of Narrative Therapy is that the stories we tell about our lives shape our identity and influence our behaviours and emotions. By examining and reauthoring these narratives, you can gain a new perspective and find solutions to your challenges. This approach involves working collaboratively with your counsellor to reauthor your life that better reflects your strengths, values, and aspirations. This process involves separating yourself from your problems, viewing them as external issues rather than intrinsic parts of your identity. Through this externalization, you can gain a clearer understanding of the problem’s impact and start to reclaim control over your life.

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What can Narrative Therapy help with?

Narrative Therapy is a collaborative and non-pathologizing therapeutic approach that helps individuals reshape their personal narratives to address various psychological and emotional issues. Here are some of the key areas where Narrative Therapy can be particularly effective:

Identifying Problems

Separating yourself from your problem

Examining and re-authoring dominant problematic narratives in your life, to create new meaning that is helpful and adaptive

Cultural and Social Issues

Identifying and challenging cultural and societal discourse

Personal Growth

Enhancing self-awareness and understanding your life’s story

Fostering a sense of agency and ownership over your life

Life Transitions

Encouraging collaboration and exploration for creating new meaningful narratives for yourself

Self-Compassion

Promoting feelings of hope, motivation, peace and empathy

Strengthen Relationships

Cultivating a safe, collaborative mindset for approaching how we interact with our partners, family and friendships

Narrative Therapy at a glance

1. Externalizing the Problem
  • Separating the Person from the Problem: The therapist helps the client view their issues as separate from their identity. This involves framing problems as external entities (e.g., “anxiety” rather than “I am anxious”).
  • Naming the Problem: Clients give a name to their problem, which helps in understanding it as something outside themselves that can be addressed and managed.
2. Exploring the Effects of the Problem
  • Impact Assessment: The therapist and client explore how the problem affects different areas of the client’s life, including relationships, work, and self-perception.
  • Mapping the Influence: This involves discussing specific instances where the problem has had an impact, helping the client recognize patterns and the extent of the problem’s influence.
3. Identifying Unique Outcomes
  • Finding Exceptions: The therapist helps the client identify times when the problem was less influential or when the client managed to overcome it.
  • Highlighting Strengths: These unique outcomes are used to highlight the client’s strengths, skills, and resources that were effective in those moments.
4. Reauthoring the Narrative
  • Creating Alternative Stories: Clients are encouraged to develop new, more empowering narratives based on the unique outcomes and their strengths.
  • Expanding the Story: The therapist supports the client in elaborating these alternative stories, helping them become more robust and influential in the client’s life.
5. Reinforcing the New Narrative
  • Documenting the Story: This may involve writing, drawing, or other creative expressions to solidify the new narrative.
  • Sharing with Others: Clients are encouraged to share their new stories with significant others, which can help reinforce and validate the changes.
6. Maintaining and Extending Change
  • Ongoing Reflection: The therapist and client reflect on the progress made and the changes in the client’s life narrative.
  • Planning for the Future: Strategies are developed to maintain the new narrative and apply it to future challenges, ensuring lasting change and continued growth.

Narrative Therapy helps clients reframe and reshape their personal stories, empowering them to overcome challenges and create a more positive self-narrative. By externalizing problems, exploring their effects, identifying unique outcomes, reauthoring the narrative, and reinforcing change, clients can achieve greater self-awareness, resilience, and well-being.

Strive Counselling's Narrative Therapy helps clients reframe and reshape their personal stories, empowering them to overcome challenges and create a more positive self-narrative.

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If you’re looking for a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the power of your personal story and supports you in creating positive change, Narrative Therapy can provide the tools and insights you need. Counsellors at Strive take on a collaborative approach, and would be happy to consult with you over how Narrative Therapy can help you lead a more meaningful and empowered life.

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