How Can Narrative Therapy Improve My Sessions?

What if clients could go from feeling like the victim to rewriting their stories and taking control of their own happiness? Narrative Therapy is a technique that helps individuals seperate themselves from their negative beliefs, shed illusions, and live purposefully and with authenticity. As a therapist, Narrative Therapy can greatly improve your sessions for these reasons:

It will help your clients find their voice

Once they start sharing their story, they will naturally start to find their voice and who they really are. With the awareness of what narratives have been holding them back, they are able to start doing the necessary work to rewrite their story and frame it more positively. This is empowering because they are then able to come up with new language to use when talking about themselves and their story, focusing on understanding, externalization, and re-framing. Having an understanding of the story is a starting point which catapults into externalization, which helps them separate themselves from the story. Once they are able to master this, they can operate on the truth rather than illusion.

It helps people move through the overwhelming nature of negative thoughts, experiences, and emotions

One of the basic ideas of narrative therapy is that the problem is the problem, not the patient. This separation of the problem from the client is vital because it lessens the intensity of the negative thoughts and emotions that pop up when a story or a belief is running on repeat. Narrative therapy helps the individual feel more empowered to reclaim their identity. This is because they learn to look at their story with brand new eyes,  filled with hope and positivity, and speak to themselves nonjudgmentally and with kindness and compassion.

It views the client as the expert

In narrative therapy, it is understood that the client is the expert in their own lives. Therefore, the therapist doesn’t lead the sessions, but they help facilitate the necessary discussions to get to the meat of the issue the client is experiencing. “Only the client knows their own life intimately and has the skills and knowledge to change their behavior and address their issues.” (Morgan, 2000). Because it is up to the client to determine what their story is and what aspects of that story have been holding them back, the client is then able to gain the confidence and self-trust they need to start making lasting changes in their lives. With this comes a happier, more authentic life, improving their relationship with themselves and others. 

If you are interested in implementing the narrative therapy approach in your practice, we offer narrative clinical training andmonthly programs, including a narrative therapy study group and peer-to-peer supervision