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Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities
Abstract
This book describes the clinical application of the growing body of ideas and practices that has come to be known as narrative therapy. The primary focus is on the ways of working that have arisen among therapists who . . . have organized their thinking around 2 metaphors: narrative and social construction.
[This book is a text] for anyone curious about narrative, ready to have customary ways of seeing the world challenged, and eager to adopt clinical practices that give precedence to people's voices and stories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... From a narrative therapy-informed perspective, the questions researchers askand do not ask-inevitably influence the participants' versions of their lived experiences, thereby shaping the data available for analysis. Hence, the way researchers engage research participants in conversation using interview questions matters, as it not only elicits participant experiences (Freedman & Combs, 1996) but also contributes to the interview data central to the research project. ...
... X = Participant's words and phrases for their experiences or sense of themselves; Based on White (1986aWhite ( , 1991White ( , 2007; White and Epston (1990). As is evident in the deconstruction questions above, one of the key possibilities of the EII is that the questions, while generating data for the researcher, at the same time generate experience for the research participant (Freedman & Combs, 1996). Narrative therapy is in keeping with post-structuralist approaches to research. ...
In this paper we introduce “The Experience and Identity Interview” (EII) and demonstrate ways that this qualitative research interview can be used to engage participants in talk that scaffolds between their experiences, the meanings they ascribe to these, and their identity (re)negotiations. In doing so, there is scope to generate rich interview data that addresses a range of research questions. Drawing on the paradigm of narrative therapy, the EII generates a collaborative dialogical space wherein both researchers and research participants may co-contribute to the unpacking of normative discourses that shape participants’ usual ways of speaking about their lived experiences, thereby revealing previously hidden identities. In this paper we demonstrate the key phases of the EII and illustrate its efficacy in generating
rich qualitative research data. Importantly, we propose that the EII also upholds a crucial ethical principle in qualitative interviewing: to empower participants as active agents in telling the stories of their lives. This is uniquely achieved in the EII through interview questions that invite participants to engage in (re)authoring conversations that reconnect them to key identity narratives that have been lost to dominant storylines. In doing so, researchers are well-placed to mitigate the risk of potential harm through minimizing the reproduction of problematic narratives that can have real effects on participants’ lives.
... Through story a person forms and examines what they believe is true, and then they set those truths against other truths. Researchers (Freedman and Combs, 1996;White and Epstein, 1990) have suggested that much of a person's suffering is not caused by the factual events of what happened to them; rather, by the stories they tell themselves about what happened. Baumeister and Newman (1994) posited that there are four needs for making sense of experiences as guiding narrative thought: "First, people interpret experiences relative to purposes, which may be either objective goals or subjective fulfillment states. ...
... Like WET, EDT exposes a person to emotionally and psychospiritually challenging material and blocks avoidant responses but further integrates narrative emplotment into the instructional set to address the issue of meaning and coherence (or lack thereof) that is unique to and necessary for healing from MI. The 6-FPSF also leverages insights from narrative therapy (Freedman and Combs, 1996;White and Epstein, 1990) such as re-authoring identity, internal stories and external conversations, and the construction and deconstruction of meaning. It is well documented that narrative disclosure, that is recalling and renegotiating a traumatic story, is considered an important component of the healing process (Kearney, 2007;Marriott et al., 2016). ...
Conscience is the indestructible core of one’s personal identity and their sense of agency in the world. When it passes judgment against them, it generates inner conflict (i.e., moral injury). At its core, moral injury is about trust and sacred relationships, particularly the loss of safe connection with self, society, God/Divine/a Higher Power, and the world. The clash between a person’s conscience and overwhelming existential or psychospiritual experiences, which uniquely defines moral injury, alienates them from life-sustaining relationships. Healing requires more than reordering fractured belief systems. Reestablishing bonds of self-worth, trust, and life-sustaining relationships are essential. This paper presents the 6-Fold Path to Self-Forgiveness (6-FPSF), an interdisciplinary, narrative-based healing writing process for the treatment of moral injury, particularly self-induced moral injury. Self-forgiveness has been associated with psychospiritual and relational well-being. The protocol draws upon theoretical literature, evidence-based psychological interventions, spiritual-oriented practices, creative arts, and somatic exercises for mental health counseling and spiritual/religious ministration. In addition to describing the 6-component therapeutic model, the author offers intervention strategies for clinicians.
... It was born out of the social constructionist perspective that personal experience is fundamentally ambiguous and that people will reject attempts at reframing their problems unless the new framing "fits" with their life's overall narrative. Through repetition, patterned life events come to form an individual's dominant narrative (Freedman & Combs, 1996). Over time this dominant narrative becomes internalized and forms the basis of an individual's identity (White & Epston, 1990). ...
... Such a dominant narrative may derive from judgemental and negative external evaluations that have been internalized, as well as from sources of societal and systemic influence and pressure. This process of internalization may lead us to consider our problems as attributes that define us personally, and may also result in a form of a self-fulfilling prophecy where we unintentionally remain trapped in behavioral patterns that essentially reproduce and perpetuate this problematic dominant narrative (Freedman and Combs 1996). ...
This textbook describes theory and practice in analog role-playing game (RPG) design that encourage specific transformative impacts in participants, including tabletop, live action role-playing (larp), and Nordic and American freeform. We describe three types of transformative RPGs: transformative leisure, therapeutic, and educational. We present our model of nano-game design, offering recommendations for designing transformative goals; framing activities such as workshops and debriefs; narrative and culture design. This interdisciplinary book highlights theories from role-playing game studies, peace and conflict studies, psychology, social psychology, sociology, counseling, anthropology, pedagogy, and several other fields. Key concepts include bleed, alibi, RPGs as transformational containers, immersion, identity, transfer, ritual, psychotherapeutic techniques, group theories, and educational theories. We emphasize psychological safety before, during, and after games, as well as strategies for cultivating transformational communities. Key topics include working with specific populations; crisis management; sensitive content and representation. Then, we discuss working with myth, symbolism, and ritual, narrative, and postmodern magic as methods for transforming the stories of our lives. We cover forms of culture within and around RPGs, as well working with conflict in scenarios related to politics, culture, gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. We share thoughts around the use of RPGs to foster activism, advocacy, inclusion, and accessibility. Finally, we offer considerations for researchers studying transformative role-playing games, including academic argument, structure, theory, method, data collection, ethics, and other considerations. We introduce key methods, including Research through Design, ethnography, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The book closes with a summary of evidence-based research available on the cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects of role-playing games.
... Co istotne, człowiek zawsze może stworzyć nową opowieść na swój temat. W tworzeniu nowych opowieści istotną rolę odgrywa drugi człowiek, pozwalający na zmianę perspektywy (Freedman i Combs, 1996); − zawieszenie oceny moralnej, co bezpośrednio jest związane z wynikami badań psychologicznych dotyczących atrybucji moralnych dokonywanych przez podmiot. ...
The article focuses on the transtheoretical model of narrative-corrective relationships as thefoundation for the process of resocialization. The aim of the article is to present a specific relationshipmodel that can serve as the basis for the resocialization process, regardless of the methods used. Thismodel is based on interdisciplinary assumptions from fields such as psychology, psychotherapy, andresocialization. The author presents a concept in which the relationship serves as the basis for inter-actions with another person. It is a specific narrative-corrective relationship that constitutes a typeof asymmetrical relationship between its participants, in which one person assumes a dominant roleresulting from legal conditions. The person in the dominant role takes on a narrative position towardsthe other participant in the relationship, while suspending moral judgment of their behavior. In thesecond part of the article, the author cites scientific research supporting the assumptions of the narra-tive-corrective relationship model and proposes further development of this concept.
A terapia narrativa (TN) proposta por Michael White e David Epston tem conquistado cada vez mais adeptos no campo da psicoterapia no Brasil. Assim, torna-se frequente o questionamento: “como eu sei se o que estou desenvolvendo é uma terapia narrativa?”. Considerando isso, o presente ensaio teórico tem o objetivo de colaborar na oferta de um entendimento possível acerca do processo terapêutico narrativo e da relação terapêutica narrativa propostos pelos referidos autores, no sentido de buscar dar visibilidade para o “como” eles podem ser construídos, tanto de modo verbal como visual. Considera-se que compreender a relação e o processo terapêutico pode inclusive propiciar um aperfeiçoamento do uso e da adaptação de tais práticas.
Introduction: we speak of highly stressful events when a situation or event has the potential to generate negative consequences in the affected individuals, such as the presence of post-traumatic and depressive symptoms. The construction of programs that prevent the occurrence of this type of response and that are accepted by users is one of the current challenges, since it can influence the expected results.Objective: to evaluate the acceptability of a brief systemic intervention protocol aimed at providing psychological support to people exposed to highly stressful events.Methods: an exploratory sequential comparative mixed design was used. A six-session program was applied, evaluating by means of scales of depressive symptomatology, post-traumatic growth and satisfaction with life in two moments pre and post, subsequently eight users and two therapists were interviewed.Results: the participants expressed a positive evaluation of the organized structure of the sessions, highlighting the empathy of the therapists as an important element. In addition, the use of relaxation techniques and narrative techniques were indicated as indicators of emotional well-being. In addition, a decrease in depressive symptoms and an increase in post-traumatic growth and life satisfaction were observed.Conclusions: the results demonstrate acceptability of the users and therapists, resulting useful for the proposed objectives.
A travel journal by a preacher during the annual Pentecost prayer meetings in the Dutch Reformed Church is an autoethnographic description of, and reflection on historical, geographical, theological, as well as intimate and personal topics. Of prime importance is an auto-ethnographic description of two experiences by the researcher, namely two series of Pentecost prayer meetings which he conducted in May 2024 in two congregations of the Dutch ReformedChurch. These two experiences have, as background, the researcher’s personal and collegial relationship with the receiver of the Festschrift, that conveys the academic research they did together over the past few years. Throughout the course of this article, these descriptions are linked to perspectives arising from a collegial relationship with the work of the receiver of the Festschrift. Arising from these reflections, perspectives are provided for the ministry of Pentecost prayer meetings in the Dutch Reformed Church.
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