Constructivist · 1990
Narrative therapy
You are not the problem: you are the person who can rewrite the story the problem has dominated.
Narrative Therapy conceives psychological problems as dominant narrative constructions that have come to organise the person's identity and experience. From this perspective, difficulties reside not in the individual but in the problematising stories co-constructed in relational, cultural and discursive contexts. Therapeutic work is aimed at externalising the problem, identifying unique outcomes and re-authoring preferred stories that reflect overlooked values, commitments and capacities. The therapist adopts a collaborative, non-expert position, acting as a facilitator of conversations that broaden the sense of agency, identity and belonging, and using practices such as therapeutic documents, outsider witnesses and narrative rituals to consolidate change.
Theory of change
The person changes when they stop being confused with the story dominated by the problem and can reconstruct a preferred narrative more in keeping with their values, their agency and their significant bonds.
Core ideas
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Identity is constructed narratively
Narrative therapy holds that personal identity is neither an inner essence nor a stable trait, but the result of the stories people construct about themselves in specific relational and cultural contexts. These narratives organise experience and delimit what is considered possible or impossible. Therapeutic work does not seek to discover an inner truth but to open space for richer and more habitable alternative stories. (White & Epston, 1990, *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends*).
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The problem does not define the person
One of the central principles of the narrative approach is externalising the problem, which separates the person's identity from the difficulties they experience. By conceiving the problem as something external — with tactics, effects and a history — guilt and shame are reduced, facilitating a more flexible and active relationship with the suffering. (White & Epston, 1990, *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends*).
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Dominant stories can be deconstructed
Problematic stories usually acquire a dominant status by rendering discrepant experiences invisible and reducing identity complexity. Narrative therapy works by deconstructing these hegemonic narratives, exploring their social, cultural and relational origins, and questioning their implicit assumptions. This process opens space for alternative accounts. (White, 2007, *Maps of Narrative Practice*).
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Unique outcomes reveal agency
Unique outcomes are episodes in which the problem did not manage to dominate experience completely or in which the person acted from values different from the problematic narrative. Identifying them makes it possible to bring to light previously ignored capacities, choices and acts of resistance, which serve as seeds for preferred stories of identity. (White, 2007, *Maps of Narrative Practice*).
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Re-authoring makes it possible to reconstruct the biography
Re-authoring involves reorganising the life story by incorporating unique outcomes within a new, coherent plot centred on preferred values, commitments and meanings. This process does not invent a fictitious story; it re-emplots the biography from previously marginalised perspectives. (White & Epston, 1990, *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends*).
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Language creates lived realities
Drawing on discursive psychology and social constructionism, narrative therapy understands that language does not merely describe experience but constitutes it. Changing the way an experience is narrated modifies the possibilities of action, emotion and identity available to the person. (White, 2007, *Maps of Narrative Practice*).
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Identity is relational and communal
Identity is not constructed in isolation but in relation to significant others and to communities of belonging. Practices such as outsider witnesses and re-membering recognise the role of bonds in consolidating preferred identities. (White, 2007, *Maps of Narrative Practice*).
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The therapist adopts a non-expert position
The narrative therapist does not position themselves as an expert on the patient's life but as a curious collaborator who facilitates generative conversations. This stance reduces hierarchies of power and reinforces the patient's authorship over their own story. (White & Epston, 1990, *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends*).
Influences
- Social / relational constructivism
- Systemic approach
- Narrative identity
- Discursive psychology
- Phenomenology / Hermeneutics
Key references
- White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. W. W. Norton.
- White, M. (1995). Re-Authoring Lives: Interviews and Essays. Dulwich Centre.
- White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. W. W. Norton.
- White, M. (2011). Narrative Practice: Continuing the Conversations. W. W. Norton.
- Epston, D. (1994). Extending the Conversation. Family Therapy Networker.
- Morgan, A. (2000). What Is Narrative Therapy? An Easy-to-Read Introduction. Dulwich Centre.
- Carr, A. (1998). Michael White's Narrative Therapy. Contemporary Family Therapy, 20(4), 485-503.
- Neimeyer, R. A. (2001). Meaning Reconstruction and the Experience of Loss. APA.