The Narrative Metaphor

In this chapter we examine how stories are an important frame through which we make meaning of our lives. In each reading and video provided we invite you to be on the lookout for the multi-stories of people’s lives rather than a single story.

Photo: Shaun Tan: Eric (with permission)

 

This dot exercise from Jill Freedman and Gene Combs was animated by Will Sherwin to help you visualise the Narrative Therapy concept of ‘multi-storied lives’.

  For more from Jill and Gene you can go to narrativetherapychicago.com. For more from Will Sherwin and Bay Area Narrative Therapy Resource, trainings and radio shows you can go to sfbantr.org.  
 

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. In ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ she speaks about how our lives and our cultures are composed of many overlapping stories.

As you listen to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful speech about the danger of the single story, please also think about how Chimamanda’s own life experiences shape the stories she shares, including her class privilege which she has written about elsewhere.  
 

We have included here an extract from Alice Morgan’s influential and highly popular text in which she provides a brief introduction to the narrative metaphor

What is Narrative Therapy – An Easy to Read Introduction | Alice Morgan

 
 

In this short extract Michael White’s speaks about the possibilities that the narrative metaphor opened up in his therapeutic work, what attracted him to the narrative metaphor and offers an example of how the narrative metaphor shapes therapeutic conversations.

The narrative metaphor in family therapy | an interview with Michael White


 

What is the narrative of our lives – and can we influence the way our story is told? Michael White and Barbara Brooks, a memoir writer, join producer Gretchen Miller in conversation on ABC Radio National and online. Michael and Barbara joined Gretchen Miller to talk about the grand narratives of our lives and how much influence we have over the way our story unfolds

The Power of Storytelling

 

This (draft) Charter proposes a framework for considering storytelling rights. We hope it will spark discussions about the rights of people who have experienced trauma/social suffering in relation to how their stories are told and received.

Narrative Therapy (Draft) Charter of Story-Telling Rights by David Denborough

Article 1  Everyone has the right to define their experiences and problems in their own words and terms. Article 2  Everyone has the right for their life to be understood in the context of what they have been through and in the context of their relationships with others. Article 3  Everyone has the right to invite others who are important to them to be involved in the process of reclaiming their life from the effects of trauma. Article 4 Everyone has the right to be free from having problems caused by trauma and injustice located inside them, internally, as if there is some deficit in them. The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem. Article 5 Everyone has the right for their responses to trauma to be acknowledged. No one is a passive recipient of trauma. People always respond. People always protest injustice. Article 6  Everyone has the right to have their skills and knowledges of survival respected, honoured and acknowledged. Article 7  Everyone has the right to know and experience that what they have learnt through hardship can make a contribution to others in similar situations.  
 
Photo: Shaun Tan: Eric
For Reflection 
  How would you describe the narrative metaphor?   What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
 
  Please now share your thoughts & reflections below and then continue to the next chapter! Please include where you are writing from (City and Country). Thanks! 

This Post Has 1,182 Comments

  1. tkiffywiff

    The relationship between thin description and power is intriguing to me – how thin conclusions disempower people and “hide the tactics of power and control”, and how thin conclusions are often generated by those with the power to define problems and therefore others’ identities. These ideas remind me to always question: who is telling the story, who has defined the meanings, what are the alternative stories?
    Writing from Cambridge, Aotearoa.

  2. Alyssa

    A narrative metaphor, to me, looks at the often-forgotten stories which shape the way people have come to live. When working with clients, it can be easy to miss these, however, they become essential to being able to work through trauma. Being able to think about stories in this way will enable me to help clients through their problems by looking into these stories and drawing on their strengths and skills to empower them.
    – Alyssa, Broome (Australia)

  3. Mona

    The narrative metaphor is an extraordinary lens through which we could view a problem. It is thrilling to know how a single problem could have many different narratives and it is even more interesting to understand the powerful impact of the narratives we hold, on our lives. It is hopeful and encouraging to know that since the narration is a constructive process, it could be deconstructed and further reconstructed in a way that directs us towards healthy and authentic living.

  4. Sandra

    The narrative metaphor refers to the way we make sense of who we are, framing our life experiences into stories. Often, we go back to a dominant story, with a thin description that focuses on one, often “problematic” side of ourselves. We can also explore alternative stories that unearth a side of ourselves that was hidden. This alternative story, if richly described, offers possibilities, hope.
    Thinking of dominant story and alternative story put the dominant story into perspective. It’s not all encompassing anymore. The dominant story is just a limiting version of ourselves.
    – Sevilla, Spain.

  5. Kat

    The narrative metaphor contains multi-stories that are multilayered and multidimensional, not ‘thin’ or linear, which I can imagine would be incredibly freeing for an individual who feels stuck. The use of this metaphor also seems like it would be an effective way to ‘zoom out’ and develop an observing self and a safe way to heal trauma without going into it.

    I really appreciated the example in the conversation on ABC Radio National in which Michael White brought in a 3rd person to retell a client’s story from her perspective, so the client could see himself in a new light. Brilliant!

    Kat (B.C., Canada)

  6. paulsafhill-2631

    The thin story, or singular narrative that we can often impose upon ourselves or have imposed upon us is can be so damaging. i have always prided myself in working holistically along side people as a psychiatric nurse but this excites me in regards to how i could try to adopt a different approach.

  7. misstaylorhalliwell

    I find the idea of the narrative metaphor beautiful because it allows space for a person to remember other parts or increments of themselves or their events in their life. It can break cycles of thinking of one problematic story repetitively and a new story and narrative can develop.

  8. Mischa

    The Narrative Metaphor is to me an awakening, a welcome to the “whole of you”, an introduction to who you may have been, who you may be, and who you can be. The use of telling and re-telling stories which are not limiting and that instead open up possibilities is both hopeful and transformational.

    1. stephanie.opulencia

      I like the idea that narrative metaphors make space for the forgotten and ignored stories. To me this is the idea that it can be a place to celebrate the bravery, thoughtfulness and wisdom of the unacknowledged self, often ignored in deference to the thin story of the “victim”, “worthless” or “helpless”

  9. Nancy

    It’s exciting to think of the narrative metaphor as an approach that opens up never-before-told stories that capture one’s imagination and help exude confidence. Repetitive, linear, “thin” stories lose their verve and can lead to feelings of victimization. Finding new interpretations and unearthing self-affirming stories can open up horizons for helping someone to pioneer a more elevated sense of self. When I get bored with my own repeated telling of a past experience of loss or failure, I realize that it’s time to enlist the writer in me and add dimension to myself as a character by being curious and compassionate.
    Glen Mills, PA

  10. Isabel Beuve

    I have found the example of the dots very illustrative of how live and experiencies should not be seen as a Line. By learning how our different narrative voices work, we can find out new and healthier perspectives full with possibilities. It is very interesting and hopefull to learn to be able to help people re-tell their stories .
    Thank you and greetings from Spain.

  11. yevheniia.kh

    I find it great that people can transform their lives by creating alternative stories. Also it was very interesting to read and hear about thin stories – the stories generated by others. Narrative metaphor is the answer to reducing the influence of other people and different problems and to creating new possibilities for living. I’m excited to dive in deeper.
    Kyiv, Ukraine

  12. Nancy

    It’s exciting to think of the narrative metaphor as an approach that opens up never-before-told stories that capture one’s imagination and help exude confidence. Repetitive, linear, “thin” stories lose their verve and can lead to feelings of victimization. Finding new interpretations and unearthing self-affirming stories can open up new horizons for helping someone to pioneer a more elevated sense of self. When I get bored with my own repeated telling of a past experience of loss or failure, I realize that it’s time to enlist the writer in me and add dimension to myself as a character by being curious and compassionate.
    Glen Mills, PA

  13. deb.brevis

    I enjoyed the idea of Narrative being the thread that weaves its way through our life events, drawing them together more intricately so that they may create a more colourful fabric of understanding and perception.
    For me this understanding can help create a richer tapestry, one of complexity, contradiction and resolution.
    Warrnambool, Australia

  14. Ivan

    I like the notion of multiple threads of storylines, that weave meaning in our lives. Just reflecting on my personal stories, reminds me of where I have come from and what I have experienced. No single story can define anyone’s life.

  15. Sergio Chacón

    I believe that narrative metaphor is the DNA of life, with its particular expression in each of us, but always linked to a larger reality.
    It is both an approach and a working tool. Likewise, stories are both content and container.
    In my opinion, this metaphor underlies many therapeutic approaches and, moreover, nourishes the main currents of Latin American community work (Fals Borda, Freire, Montero, Zambrano, etc.).

  16. e.murphy1988@gmail.com

    I’m interested in how this narrative concept of single- v. multi-story plays out in the design and function of our social media. Here, algorithms group and promote alike things to us while filtering out that which doesn’t fit (the narrative). These biases undoubtedly impact us and shape our world view. Now, this isn’t always necessarily problematic. However, if determined to be so, the consideration of alternative and/or simultaneous stories seems an apt way to help “decalcify” the single problem-story. While it is more challenging to carry multiple stories (and this may not be our default as humans), I believe this practice might offer a better way to honour the rich, complexity of the human experience. Thanks for this — really enjoying the course so far!
    – Toronto, Canada

  17. Ronnie Dunetz

    Knowing that there are, have been and always will be “alternative stories” gives the individual and humanity hope and inspiration always! Lovely concepts here- am enjoying and learning!

  18. Hilda

    The narrative metaphor is a really powerful way to recognise just how impactful our meaning-making can be, and also, the consequences of such a tendency! It really shows how we can get stuck in a story, and be limited in how we see ourselves, others and the world. On the flip side, it also shows how we can possibly navigate outside of this limited mindset, and start to locate stories that aren’t so dominant. For me, it demonstrates a way to hope, and to new perspectives.

  19. Elisabeth

    I am in a rush, jump to conclusions quickly. I find boxes to make sense of the world, without including the world around me. I judge myself and others regularly, without questioning it, not even noticing. When I function like that, I am unaware. I do not separate the problem from the person, and I miss the many stories that could be told, heard. Once I pause, I create space. Space for multiple stories that form the people in the here and now. Stories of the past and stories of the present. Stories of culture and connection to places and land. For me narrative metaphor means pausing to create space. Space that is often missing in daily life. Space that holds stories that can emerge to be noticed, understood, told and re-told.

  20. Chris

    As meaning-making machines, I believe that we all strive to ‘make sense’ of our lives at some point or another. This initial glimpse into Narrative Therapy pokes at the alternative opportunities that lie in that ‘sense made’. By defining ourselves through a singular story, our application of selective biases reinforce our perceptions of who we believe ourselves to be. Are we breeding feelings of confidence, fear, anger, depression? Or have we missed a whole other multi-layered, 3 dimensional side of our story?
    I’m very excited to explore the applications of these unrealized story-laden narrative opportunities in both my personal work and my professional work. We don’t have to be just one self- (or other-) imposed storyline. Our lives are far too complex for that to be our only truth.
    – Calgary, Canada

  21. Bimba

    To me, the narrative metaphor is a diverse landscape, just like multi-storied version of ourselves. Often, we have thin descriptions of how our path looks like,when we are overburdened by our problem story. The intention is to be curious, about the untold stories of our lives – as demonstrated by the dot activity.

    This makes me feel hopeful to engage in conversations with people,without any sense of judgement.

    Counsellor, Naarm ( Melbourne)

  22. Maureen C

    This introduction to Narrative has blown open a whole new space in my mind of how we relate to ourselves and our lives, the story of our lives. It occurs to me this approach is a way to return to our origins in the way mythology and story has shaped our cultures. To see the events in our lives as stories is a way to embrace the thread or themes, embrace the characters, and embrace ourselves as participants in our stories allows us to also embrace the ability we have to tell the story. In so many ways we suffer because we are trying to live a storyline we have been told is the ‘right’ story for us. Many of the books and movies we celebrate include characters who have to overcome great deficits or challenges. With the narrative approach, we can see ourselves as these heroes or villans, or whomever we desire to be, in our own stories.
    Writing from Washington state, US.

  23. amyjames

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
    I would describe the narrative metaphor as the way in which certain aspects or themes of our lives become fulsome to our identity and actions and separate from the richness and complexity of who we truly are.

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    Thinking about stories in this way invites genuine curiosity to be present in conversations because when we understand we have a vulnerability to a set narrative we become aware of how it may be enlarged as we engage with the pieces that are held separate, or overlap with other stories in unexpected ways, offering a richer and more complex ‘completion’.

  24. Isabel

    Social Worker, Central Coast NSW

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
    The narrative metaphor is the dominant view of ourselves that is created through the processing and connecting of events and experiences through our lives.

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    It is very empowering to acknowledge other alternative stories and potentially change one’s negative perception about themselves. Particularly when working with vulnerable people or in the trauma space, it is important to allow the client to have their voice and guide them throughout the process. By empowering clients to see multiple events and experiences in their own story, that have been pushed aside due to the dominant discourse, they can begin to change the dominant narrative.

  25. Cameron

    My name is Cameron and I am a child counsellor in central QLD.

    So many of the children I see each week have been deeply impacted by abuse, neglect and relational trauma. At times it seems hard to increase their awareness of new possibilities and new opportunities that are already present but hidden beneath the dominate story they tell themselves and hear from others. While reviewing the material from lesson one I can see how the use of the dot metaphor can help build reflective capacity and unlock forgotten or overlooked potential in these young lives. A key element for myself is to remain curious and accepting as discussed by Alice Morgan, because when I assume the role of the expert it restricts the voice and stories that a young person can see.

  26. Suzie

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?

    The narrative metaphor is the internal processing and connecting of events and experiences, in relation to our dominant view of ourselves. This dominant view, is the plot of our life story, which often dictates our decisions and behaviors.

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    Separating oneself from the problem, being able to step back and identify other experiences, events and moments in life that are contradictory, or unfitting of this dominant narrative – empowers one to believe they can change this dominant narrative. That we can expand on the experiences that offered a different narrative, and follow different paths. Freedom

  27. Katelyn

    As a psychology student, I’ve always found the primary therapeutic modalities used by my discipline to be too simplistic (or thin) for the complexities of our internal worlds and our lived experiences. I suspect that is why I’ve found it so hard to use these modalities to help myself during difficult times—learning about narrative therapy here as a way of understanding our lived experiences and how we make sense of them has been a major personal and professional shift for me. It definitely presents opportunities for empowerment and moving beyond a problem-focused approach. While I’ve come across narrative and storytelling in the context of my research training, learning about it as a therapeutic approach here is very enlightening. I’m inspired to use the proposed charter of storying-telling rights. I was also moved by the retelling of narratives through how someone else sees you as discussed in the All in The Mind podcast. I look forward to listening more closely to the stories I, and others tell each other about ourselves, and each other.

  28. Alana D'Ambrosio

    I am an MFT-Intern and using the dot exercise in session has been particularly helpful in explaining to clients the concept of multi-storied lives. I believe this exercise helps to validate the person’s current story, but at the same time invites them to explore what other elements of their story that may be more empowering and supportive.

  29. Kyra

    Therapist, writing from the city of Philadelphia in the United States
    I recently graduated with my MSW and started a new position as a therapist in an emergency domestic violence shelter. I learned about narrative therapy in graduate school and remembered talking about how it would be an appropriate modality with survivors of DV. We talked a lot about the idea mentioned in the charter of story – telling rights – that the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem. I had not thought as much about this idea of a the danger of a single story and how narrative therapy attempts work against that. In that sense, I really enjoyed Chimamanda Adichie’s Ted Talk. It made me aware of my own tendency, even as a practitioner, to box people in to a single story that revolves around their trauma. I hope to continue to be aware of this in my work with survivors and work to maintain a sense of curiosity about people’s lives that creates space for for them to tell other stories. I am also aware of how important it is to continue to help my client’s externalize the narrative. Many of my clients have experienced significant injustice at the hands of various systems in the United States in trying to seek help and leave their abuser’s – such as the police, the criminal justice system, the housing system, etc. These unjust experiences do no come from a “deficit” within the person, but are rather an indication of larger injustices.

  30. Manpreet Kaur Mann

    I am a social work student, and I am studying at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales in Australia.

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
    The introduction about narrative metaphor helps me to understand that in a narrative metaphor, the therapists need to suppose that clients have their own stories which shape who they are and influence their steps in their life. The therapists need to be curious while working with their clients and need to work with the clients by making them expert their life.
    The dot exercise helps me to understand that the first job of the therapists is to listen to the stories of the clients with curiosity and asking questions to the clients to invite them for telling their events to the therapists and themselves and giving meaning to the memorable stories of the clients.

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    My thinking about the stories of my clients in a narrative perspective will be to see the clients as the expert about their life and listen to their stories carefully for giving meaning to their experiences and events of their life. The charter is useful because it gives information and thinks distinctly about the clients that the clients are the expert of their life, and we need to work “with” them rather than work “for” them. I am a new social worker, so, the dot narrative metaphor is an alternative method for me to make connections in a distinct method between the different events and dots of the client’s stories.

    1. lara1feinstein@hotmail.com

      Hello. My name is Lara and I am living in Stevenson Ranch, California. I am an Associate Therapist.

      How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
      I would describe this as a way for someone to identify themes/patterns that may have played out in their lives. More crucially, it can allow one to see that though they might have assumed just one story, there might be others and one dominating theme might have a different meaning from the one they had originally jumped to the conclusion of. Rather than assuming a single story, there are in fact, many.

      What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
      I feel that by allowing oneself to gain insight and feelings about different parts of how their lives have played out, one can steer away from a perception they might have had that has become overwhelming or debilitating. Often one story can come to dominate particularly when trauma is involved. By being open to a more balanced view, hope might be instigated and one might see themselves as strong in certain ways, rather than as solely vulnerable and weak, for example.
       

  31. Sami

    Hi, my name is Sami and I am coming to you from a small town near Kingston, ON, Canada. I am a white, cisgender, female MSW student nearing completion of my degree.

    The narrative approach is really resonating with me. My experience working with young survivors of sex trafficking is the primary context through which I see the value of this approach (not internalizing but externalizing the problem).

    Myself, when I think back on a ‘timeline’ of my life it is oriented around certain people and the stories of our connection, more so than a linear view of time such as in 2000 I was doing X and in 2001 I did Y. My life is oriented around “I was friends with ___” at this time, and then when I became friends with that person, something else in my life started changing. For me, then, the narrative approach is something that makes alot of sense.

    That said, I would like to do better at developing a sense of curiousity toward people. While some people are naturally curious about others, I do not feel that is me, so it is something I need to work at. Related to that, I love Alice Morgan’s 2nd principle of asking questions that you GENUINELY don’t know the answer to. I think that collaborating with clients and structuring genuinely open questions will allow me to enjoy them and get to know them much past what their intake form indicates. The way we intentionally structure these open-ended questions will allow us to, as Michael White says in his interview, scaffold therapeutic conversations. In my academic world I see the importance of scaffolding learning and knowledge, and likewise in a therapeutic setting I think scaffolding questions allows information and new stories to unfold.

  32. Sue Gordon

    My name is Sue Gordon and I am a gestalt psychotherapist living in Sydney.
    I think the narrative therapeutic approach is very much in line with the Gestalt philosophy and practice. It supports the principles of being curious and I really like the idea of asking the questions that you genuinely don’t know the answers too.

    I particularly enjoyed listening to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her talk on the danger of a single story. The point that, as children we are limited by our experiences really resonated with me and that when we see people as “one thing” that is what they can become. With this in mind I like the idea that we can work with a persons story to help them rediscover aspects of themselves that support positive changes.

    I am always looking for slightly different ways to explore people’s life stories and help them to make sense of their current situation by making links with other elements of their experiences. The narrative approach helps people to to look at the ‘whole’ of who are they rather than being stuck in, what may have become, a limited view of themselves.

    The charter of rights giving the clients whole story equal importance and the idea of working collaboratively are both concepts that I aim to work to as a therapist. I also share the belief that the client is the expert and has the ability to develop new perspectives that support positive change.

  33. Ellie Firns

    I am a social work student, studying at Flinders University, in Adelaide, South Australia.

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
    We all tell stories of our life, and we follow certain threads that are solidified by our friends and family and the retelling of stories multiple times. Is the “narrative metaphor” really a metaphor? Or is it really a descriptor of what is fundamental to how we interact with each other and our internal reality and constructions of self?

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    I like that there are multiple threads of story, and that the more focus we give them, the more they strengthen. We may follow a thread for a long time, for example, I found it difficult to tell my story when I was in the deepest parts of my unwellness, I literally had nothing to say and doubted my ability to tell stories at all. But the more I have understood that we tell ourselves certain stories the more insight I have had into the validity of my personal journey and storytelling. Thinking about stories this way allows me to investigate stories that I tell myself, or that clients tell me, and be curious about what else might be going on.

  34. Isabelle R Chesher

    I think it can be very empowering for social workers to invite clients to see the possibility that the negative beliefs they have constructed about themselves might not be true after all. Often in my (albeit limited) experience as a social work student, I have found that people may not be aware that they carry a dominant, problem-laden narrative about themselves. Asking questions that allow them to consider the complexities of who they are and what they have been through / achieved can, I think, be incredibly powerful for those who have accepted a pathologising narrative as truth. Because this narrative has been constructed and is ‘thin’, though, it can be disproven and eventually discarded.

  35. Don

    I have come to hear about Narrative Therapy late in my life & career. It does resonate with me, when I think about the number of people/patients I have known who appear to be “trapped” in Dominant story.
    I have not had much opportunity to try or see it in practice. In my personal life, a period of anxiety led me to believe that I was failing in my work & home life. I became able to control the anxiety better & develop a better story of myself as capable & still functional.

  36. Sadekie

    How would you describe the narrative metaphor?
    The use of the dots is an apt way to explain the fact that we have multiple points from which we can reflect on our lives. This means that our frames of reference can be broader than we had previously seen them.

    What might thinking about stories in this way make possible for you?
    For me this gives hope. Hope that it is possible to start fresh, at a different point and move from there. This is particularly helpful in times of disappointment. Though starting at a different point does not undo what has happened, it gives the feeling of control. In working with others, trapped in one story, or tangled in a complex story, the dot metaphor offers an alternative way to chart a new path by connecting the dots a different way or direction.

  37. kwill504

    Kam – Teacher/ Social Work
    I too resonated with Alice Morgan’s words. The examples she gave regarding her driving expertise provided visuals that consolidated my understanding about how a dominant story can be created. I think of my daughter who won awards at primary school but went to high school, was bullied and even called demeaning names by the school counsellor to my face when I went to discuss my concerns at her changed behaviour. This behaviour was withdrawal at home but apparently acting as super tough at school. Her ‘school’ dominant story became one that was negative and totally disempowering as her confidence dropped and she hated going to school. I took her out of this school, kept her at home and home schooled her till her confidence returned. I then sent her to another school, which changed her life and provided a group of friends who are still loyal to each other in their 30s. After reading Morgan’s chapter, I realised that I helped her re-author her identity and change the dominant story that wasn’t her. This also makes me consider students at school whose dominant stories are not favourable and how teachers can be at fault for continuing these stories due to frustration and lack of willingness to help the child find their alternative story.
    I found the Dot Exercise excellent and have shared this therapy with others in my school setting. It links beautifully with Alice Morgan’s explanation about how the dominant story can supersede the alternative and how people can get caught up in the thin story of their lives but forget the rich tapestry of experiences that are also present. Adichie also spoke of the danger of single stories, emphasising that everyone has more than one story and that single stories create stereotypes that are incomplete. Collaboratively finding the alternative story/ies is the key to creating a new and empowering narrative.

  38. Belinda

    Wow, this chapter has had an immediate impact for me. Chimamanda Adichie’s speech rang true for me, how we all are shaped and impacted by single stories as I grew up poor within housing commission estates (social housing) and how for many years I carried that single story as my whole story. This single story of ‘a houso kid’ stuck and many used it powerfully against me. Fortunately for me I have always been curious and wanting more than just a stereotyped version of myself and my future.
    I am really interested in the power of storytelling, my grandfather was a wonderful story teller and Barbara Brooks has inspired me to be more creative and install play into my world. I am going to attempt to connect with myself through writing.

  39. Sarah LaFleur

    The information on this page is exceptionally useful and comprehensive. I am particularly drawn to Alice Morgan’s emphasis on finding rich descriptions and alternative conclusions for disempowered narratives. I love considering judgments, criticisms, complaints, cognitive distortions, and limiting beliefs as “thin descriptions.” There are always alternative possibilities and factors that can enrich a person’s story, moving them away from labels and a single dimension to a multi-dimensional, “multistoried” existence. I also appreciate Michael White’s sentiments on the narrative metaphor and the role of the therapist as a builder of scaffolding to allow clients to explore underdeveloped or untraversed domains of experience. Like a writer, the therapist offers language and attention to these neglected, limited domains. With patience, curiosity, and bravery, the therapist offers questions and observations to enrich the focus of the client so that they can hold more colors and depths in their perspective.

  40. AvanthiB

    Counsellor, Naarm (Melbourne)

    As a visual person, the dot exercise from Jill Freedman and Gene Combs was particularly useful in understanding the narrative metaphor and how to interpret the narratives brought into my sessions by my clients. It really helped me to reframe my role as the counsellor in supporting clients with bringing forth the alternative narratives, particularly for my clients who had created dominant scripts of themselves that reinforces their sense of hopelessness.

    I’m also particularly interested in the proposed charter of story-telling rights. This is so fascinating and empowering. It’s exactly the kind of message I want to leave my clients with. Your story matters… every part of it. Your reasons, your rationales, your emotions and thoughts, it all matters. You play a role in this story, but what other roles have you played along the way and in what contexts?

    The whole notion of curiosity is something that personally guides my own practise and I love that it Alice Morgan talks about how crucial is it to this practise. Curiosity without judgement. We as the therapist are there to be taken on the journey of the client’s life with them. We just act as a torch or a guide to uncover some of those alternate scripts!

Leave a Reply