Narrative conversations are a collaborative dialogue between client and therapist. The client is a central part in mapping the direction of narrative therapy conversations. The narrative therapist strives to understand what the client would like to focus on and continue to check in with their preferences for the conversation (e.g. "How is this conversation going for you?", "I was wondering if you're more interested in my asking you questions about this or that thing?").
Narrative Therapy views problems as separate from people and holds the belief that people have many skills, values, and abilities that will assist them to reduce the influence of problems in their lives.
Narrative Therapy involves becoming aware of the stories we hold about our lives, our relationships, our identities, our abilities, our competencies, our achievements and failures. As humans, we are meaning-making beings and the stories we have is determined by how we have linked certain experiences together in a sequence and by the meaning we have attributed to them.
It allows clients to get some distance from challenges so that they can better see their relationship to the problem. With this perspective, clients feel more empowered to make changes and "rewrite" their story for a future that reflects who they really are, what they are capable of, and what their purpose is.
Interested in the narrative approach? Work with a Narrative Therapist on our team!
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