| Imagine yourself back in time a long time ago. You | | | | felt helpless. Then she pushed me out of a second |
| are a child sitting cross-legged near the central village | | | | story window. |
| fire. Firelight dances on the faces of those seated | | | | Thousands of vignettes and criss-crossed story lines |
| around you. Your eyes are wide with excitement! | | | | make up lives. Narrative therapy involves the process |
| Your little heart pounds like thunder! Your tiny hands | | | | of drawing out and amplifying these story lines, |
| clutch bits of grass as the old and wise storyteller | | | | focusing on the most meaningful intentions, influential |
| recounts stories of the heroic acts of courage and | | | | relationships, turning points, treasured memories and |
| history. The storyteller's ancient hands rise up toward | | | | how they all connect. Part of the process is helping |
| the night sky as sparkling embers spiral upwards to | | | | patients and clients understand their experiences. |
| join the stars. Through the careful weaving of these | | | | What was most meaningful? What choices, |
| stories, the storyteller brings the past, present and | | | | intentions, relationships have been most important? |
| future together. You listen. You learn. You remember. | | | | It's more about poetry and prose than it is about |
| --Excerpt from The Wisdom Tree | | | | archeology. |
| Storytelling is as old as the first homosapien who | | | | Second draft: My mother was shaking me. It was |
| picked up a stick and scribbled in the dirt. Native | | | | dark and I smelled smoke. A black man in a big coat |
| Americans chisel on the walls of caves; Nanas all over | | | | appeared at the window and my mother handed me |
| the world--with a gaggle of grandchildren at their | | | | over to him. |
| feet--spin yarns passed down from prior generations; | | | | Narrative therapy works by helping people |
| teenagers lock their diaries and hide them. So why | | | | 'deconstruct' unproductive stories in order to |
| have first-person narratives ranked on best seller lists | | | | 'reconstruct' positive ones. In the process of |
| and in book reviews with so much fervor? Well, it | | | | re-storying experiences, especially where unhappy |
| goes something like this, Once upon a time... | | | | emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety and depression |
| Narrative therapy proposes that people use certain | | | | dominate, new and more empowering events can |
| stories about themselves like the lens on a camera. | | | | restore lives. It operates from the view that most |
| These stories are selected and framed memories and | | | | people don't want problems in their lives. By stepping |
| information that are repeated over and over. But | | | | away from problem saturated and oppressive stories, |
| stories don't mirror life, they shape it. Stories organize | | | | they can discover the 'untold,' preferred account by |
| the information from a person's life. They guide how | | | | exploring the turning-points, the key relationships, and |
| people think, feel, act, and make sense of their | | | | those particular memories not dimmed by time, and |
| experiences, thus have the power to control people's | | | | focus on the intentions, dreams, and values that |
| perspectives of their lives, their histories and their | | | | have guided their life, despite the set-backs. |
| futures. Because people tend to become these | | | | Oftentimes, the very process of writing brings back |
| stories they tell about themselves, whether inspiring | | | | memories that have been overlooked--surprising |
| or oppressive, narrative therapy focuses on how | | | | stories that speak of forgotten competence, |
| these important stories can get written and | | | | strengths and even heroism. |
| re-written. It provides a means to refocus the lens | | | | Third draft: There were a couple of times in my life |
| on this camera and help reshape a person's | | | | when I was really scared. One time was when our |
| self-image, self-esteem and relationships. | | | | house caught on fire in the middle of the night. My |
| However, often by the time a person or family | | | | mother and I waited for the fire engine together. "Be |
| comes to therapy, they feel isolated, defective and | | | | brave," she instructed me, as she wrapped me in a |
| depressed. Their lives have become completely | | | | blanket and led me to safety, and I was. |
| dominated by 'problem-saturated' stories that work | | | | Discovering through new stories, the hopeful, |
| to oppress them, divide them, hinder wellness, and | | | | preferred, and previously unrecognized and hidden |
| sometimes actually make them ill. | | | | possibilities and strengths contained within patients' |
| Problem-saturated stories can also become | | | | lives is referred to as 're-authoring.' By listening to |
| identities-for example, if someone calls himself or | | | | patients and helping them to externalize problems, |
| herself "a failure" or "a victim" or "a depressive," | | | | deconstruct pessimistic life stories, and convey |
| there is really one story and it's a devastating one. | | | | unswerving confidence in their ability to re-champion |
| First draft: When I was four, I remember my mother | | | | certain events, we have a powerful tool for change, |
| was screaming and it was pitch black outside and I | | | | healing and personal satisfaction. |