Have you ever imagined being the narrator of your own life story? Have you thought about the possibility of displaying the most important events in great detail? Life is full of moments that are part of a person’s own history. Sometimes, when remembering a situation, only the most relevant factors are available, but the details that enrich a plot are not taken into account.
In fact, when we consult a mental health specialist, it is often the case that what we talk about in a session lies in what we have considered most important to us. With a different approach, it is possible for the therapist to approach a problem from another perspective and generate another type of participation on the part of the patient. If you find these data interesting, this article may be useful to you. Do you want to know more about this? In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about the Narrative therapy: what it is and what techniques it uses.
What is narrative therapy
Narrative therapy is a psychological therapy developed in the 1970s by social workers Michael White and David Epston, which consists of tell the story of our life in third person. Thanks to narrative therapy, it is possible that the patient can better understand her problems and thus seek new strategies to deal with them.
Fundamentals of narrative therapy
When we talk about narrative therapy, we may be curious to know what its main foundations are. So, below, we show you the main aspects on which this therapeutic approach is based:
- Allows the patient to provide a lots of details referring to his life.
- Enables the patient to actively participate.
- Allow problems take on a new meaning from the story of the life story.
- Avoid blaming of the patient. In this article you will find information that will show you.
- It allows the patient to separate themselves from their problems.
- Look for the identity according to each person in particular.
Objectives of narrative therapy
The main purpose of narrative therapy lies in the fact that the patient can realize the moments in which he is not immersed in his problems. This allows you Focus on the most positive and beneficial aspects for your life. In this article more information about.
As a result of this fact, the patient can adopt another type of perspective that allows him to change his way of acting when obstacles arise in his daily life.
Role of the professional in narrative therapy
How is the therapist positioned from narrative therapies? One of the most important aspects that must be taken into account about this psychological therapy is the role that the professional acquires. On the one hand, the narrative therapist is responsible for help the patient build their story through concrete questions that allow us to build scenes from life.
On the other hand, the role of the professional in narrative therapy also implies not only maintaining a state of curiosity that helps the patient to display the most important moments of their life, but also pointing out and help you make certain problems less consistent in its history.
When to apply narrative therapy
There are some moments in which it is necessary to apply narrative therapy. Next, we show you when to apply narrative therapy with examples that allow you to more precisely understand its use as a therapeutic approach:
- Identity crisis. If you want to know what it is, we recommend this article on .
- Situations that trigger stress, anguish, anxiety and/or depression.
- Family problems.
- Addictions.
- emotional disorders.
- School guidance.
- Social works.
- Job orientation.
It should be noted that the decision to apply this therapy or not must be made by a health professional, given that narrative therapy is applied according to the characteristics that the person manifests.
What techniques does narrative therapy use?
There are some techniques that are frequently used in psychological treatments carried out through narrative therapy. Next, we will see what the main techniques of narrative therapy are:
- Narrative construction: The therapist has an active role, because he guides the patient through questions to build the story on which he is going to work. The purpose of this narrative therapy technique is to find a new meaning in the patient’s narrative.
- Outsourcing: When the construction of the patient’s life history is carried out, an attempt is made to modify the perception that he or she has about the problems. In this way, the objective is for the person to stop facing these obstacles.
- Of construction: one of the narrative therapy techniques that seeks to specify the origin of the problem that the patient presents. To achieve this, the therapist tries to separate different situations in which a problem manifests with the aim of finding some type of solution.
- Unique results: The objective of this technique lies in constructing a new narrative in which situations are presented that can benefit the person, instead of harming them. In other words, an attempt is made to change the patient’s perspective in the face of a problematic situation.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- López De Martín, SR (2011). Brief therapies: the proposal of Michael White and David Epston. III International Congress of Research and Professional Practice in Psychology, XVIII Research Conferences Seventh Meeting of MERCOSUR Psychology Researchers. Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires.
- Reyes Aguirre, SV, Losantos Velasco, M. (2016). Narrative therapy applied to a person with a female identity crisis. Ajayú. Scientific Dissemination Body of the Department of Psychology of the Bolivian Catholic University “San Pablo”, 14 (2), 352-370.