The Innovative Moments Model

Theory of change

A person changes when the exceptions to the problematic story can be recognised, developed and integrated into a broader and more agentic identity.

Core ideas

1. Change occurs when significant exceptions to the dominant narrative emerge

   Suffering is maintained when a problematic narrative monopolises identity and rigidly organises memory, emotion and action; change begins when innovative moments emerge that contradict that dominant story, introducing alternative possibilities that can be developed until the self is reorganised. (Gonçalves et al., 2009; Gonçalves et al., 2011).

2. Innovative Moments are observable micro-process units

   The model proposes that change can be tracked empirically in therapeutic discourse by identifying specific statements that represent novelty in relation to the problematic narrative; these moments are not the therapist's subjective impressions but codable events that make it possible to study the process of transformation with methodological precision. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

3. There are different types of innovation with increasing complexity

   IMs may take different forms —action, reflection, protest, reconceptualisation and performing change— and their progression from simpler to more complex levels indicates deep narrative reorganisation; reconceptualisation represents a turning point in that it integrates past, present and future into a transformative understanding. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

4. The dominant narrative tends to restore itself through a return to the problem

   After an IM a return-to-problem marker usually appears that attempts to neutralise the innovation and restore the previous coherence; handling this ambivalence is central, since change involves a negotiation between identity stability and emerging novelty. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

5. Change requires narrative elaboration and thickening

   An isolated IM is not enough to transform identity; it needs to be expanded, contextualised and linked to values and personal agency in order to acquire narrative weight and compete with the problematic story, thereby becoming a stable part of the account of the self. (Gonçalves et al., 2009; Gonçalves et al., 2011).

6. Reconceptualisation reorganises identity

   The moment of reconceptualisation means that the person articulates an integrative understanding of the change, reformulating their relationship with the problem and with their own history; this integration marks a structural transformation of identity that goes beyond isolated behavioural modifications. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

7. Performing change consolidates the emerging self in practice

   Narrative change must translate into sustained performances in everyday life that embody the emerging identity; when the innovation becomes habitual practice, the new account gains stability and social legitimacy. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

8. The therapeutic process can be measured by the frequency and complexity of innovation

   Clinical progress can be assessed by attending to the appearance, expansion and sophistication of IMs over the course of treatment; greater frequency, greater elaboration and greater narrative integration are associated with positive therapeutic outcomes and sustained identity transformation. (Gonçalves et al., 2011; Gonçalves et al., 2016).

Influences

• Narrative Therapy
• Social constructionism (Kenneth Gergen)
• Neimeyer – Constructivist psychotherapy
• Personal Construct Theory (PCP)
• Post-rationalist cognitive psychotherapy

Key references

• Gonçalves, M. M., Matos, M., & Santos, A. (2009). Narrative therapy and the nature of innovative moments.
• Gonçalves, M. M., Ribeiro, A. P., Mendes, I., Matos, M., & Santos, A. (2011). Tracking novelties in psychotherapy process research.
• Gonçalves, M. M., Ribeiro, A. P., Silva, J. R., Mendes, I., & Sousa, I. (2016). The innovative moments coding system.