Narrative therapy holds space for the stories of peoples' lives
Narrative therapists are curious about peoples’ lives
Written by Karen Mittet
Think of a Narrative Therapist as an investigative reporter. What does an investigative reporter do? They come from a place of curiosity, of not knowing, and ask questions to learn more about the person they are interviewing. When an investigative reporter asks questions, they document responses. With this information, they write stories about the person and the topic. Narrative Therapists do the same. In a session, they are genuinely interested in the person they are interviewing and want to learn more about their life, especially the often forgotten and neglected stories that take a back seat to the overwhelming problems. Narrative Therapists take extensive notes during each session so that what is been said is not lost or forgotten. Narrative Therapists come from a position of wonder and understand that, despite everything a person has experienced, they still had the courage to make an appointment and share their life with someone.
After each session of narrative therapy, the notes gathered from the interview, which are a compilation of a person’s own words and phrases, are seen as treasured literature and used by the therapist to write a therapeutic document. Sometimes the document is a letter from the therapist, other times it is a poem created from a person’s own language, or it is written from the perspective of the problem. Narrative therapy has a strong foundation in letter writing and research has shown that one letter is worth three therapy sessions. The letters become their own therapeutic entities that a person can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Narrative Therapists do not rely on theories of personalities, psychoanalysis or the DSM-5. They derive insight from a person’s own lived experience. In this way, the person seeking counselling is positioned as the expert and the therapist is the curious listener, the inquisitive question-asker, the compassionate companion. Creating a safe space, like being wrapped in a soft, cuddly blanket, or sitting by a warm fireplace, is what Narrative Therapists try to create. Narrative therapy offers a place where a person is heard and respected, not judged and blamed. A Narrative Therapist tries to understand what is important to people and is concerned with how people respond to difficulties and make sense of their actions. No action is insignificant. Even the smallest response has meaning.
Narrative Therapists recognize the dignity of human responses even in the worst case scenarios. They know that problems do not happen in a vacuum and acknowledge that culture, economics, capitalism, colonialism and neoliberalism all play a role in hardships. As an investigative reporter, Narrative Therapists ask questions to reach the stories that have people standing up to society’s expectations and living life on their own terms.
People respond to what life presents to them, even in the midst of trauma. Narrative Therapists are curious about these responses and will often slow down the conversation to learn more about them, simply by asking questions. Questions are an important part of truly listening and hearing another person’s story. It takes a great deal of knowledge to learn what is important to people and knowledge takes time, so asking questions, not going too fast, are all stalwart aspects of narrative practice.
“Effective therapy is about engaging people in re-authoring compelling plights of their lives, to arouse curiosity about different ways to reimagine their lives.”
Michael White
