Narrative Family Therapy

Narrative family therapy is a therapeutic approach that helps you and your family examine and rewrite the stories you tell about yourselves, your relationships, and your problems. Developed by Michael White and David Epston, this approach recognises that the stories you create about your experiences shape your identity and relationships.

Rather than viewing problems as inherent characteristics of family members, narrative therapy sees problems as separate from people and focuses on helping your family develop new, more empowering stories that highlight your strengths, values, and preferred ways of being.

Understanding Narrative Family Therapy

Stories Shape Reality

Your family's stories about yourselves and your experiences significantly influence how you see yourselves and interact with each other.

Problems are Separate

Problems are viewed as separate from people rather than as inherent characteristics or pathologies within family members.

Multiple Stories Exist

There are always multiple possible stories about any situation, and therapy helps you discover and develop more helpful narratives.

Strength-Based Focus

The approach focuses on identifying and building upon your family's existing strengths, skills, and resources.

Cultural Sensitivity

Narrative therapy recognises the importance of cultural context and how dominant cultural stories may impact your family.

Collaborative Process

Therapy is a collaborative process where you and your family are the experts on your own lives and experiences.

What Narrative Family Therapy Addresses

Problem-Saturated Stories

Helping your family move beyond stories that focus primarily on problems, deficits, and failures.

Identity and Self-Concept

Exploring how family members see themselves and helping develop more positive, empowering identities.

Family Relationships

Improving family relationships by developing new stories about how family members relate to each other.

Cultural and Social Influences

Examining how cultural and social messages affect your family's stories and relationships.

Trauma and Difficult Experiences

Helping your family develop new meanings and stories about traumatic or difficult experiences.

Future Possibilities

Opening up new possibilities for your family's future by developing alternative stories about your potential.

Research and Evidence

What Studies Show

Research demonstrates that narrative therapy is effective for treating family problems, depression, and trauma, the approach helps families develop resilience and coping skills, narrative techniques improve family communication and relationships, and the method is particularly effective for families from diverse cultural backgrounds.

International Applications

Studies from Europe, Asia, and Australia show that narrative principles apply across cultures, with particular effectiveness in cultures that value storytelling and collective meaning-making traditions.

Core Concepts

Externalisation

Separating problems from people by talking about problems as external entities that affect your family rather than as part of family members' identities.

Unique Outcomes

Identifying times when the problem was less influential or absent, and revealing your family's existing skills and resources.

Re-authoring

Helping your family develop new, more empowering stories about yourselves and your relationships.

Preferred Identity

Exploring who your family members want to be and what values and qualities are important to them.

Audience

Recognising the importance of having witnesses to your new stories and achievements.

Definitional Ceremony

Formal processes for acknowledging and celebrating your family's new stories and achievements.

Therapeutic Techniques

Externalisation Conversations

Talking about problems as separate from people, giving problems names and exploring their influence on your family. This often involves problem naming, where the problem is given a specific name, and problem mapping, which explores how the problem influences different areas of your family's life and relationships.

Unique Outcome Questions

Asking questions that help identify times when problems were less influential or when your family demonstrated strength.

Landscape of Action Questions

Exploring what happened in situations where your family was successful or demonstrated preferred qualities.

Landscape of Identity Questions

Exploring what these successful actions say about your family's values, skills, and preferred ways of being.

Re-membering Conversations

Exploring relationships with people who have supported your family's preferred stories and identities.

Outsider Witness Practices

Having others witness and reflect on your family's new stories and achievements.

Cultural and Individual Considerations

Cultural Stories

Understanding how dominant cultural stories and messages affect your family's narratives and self-perception.

Individual Differences

Recognising that each family member may have different stories and perspectives that need to be honoured.

Power and Privilege

Examining how issues of power and privilege in society affect your family's stories and opportunities.

Language and Meaning

Understanding how language shapes meaning and working with your family's preferred ways of expressing themselves.

Spiritual and Religious Narratives

Incorporating spiritual and religious stories that are meaningful to your family.

Community Context

Understanding how your community and social environment influence your family's stories.

Professional Applications

For Mental Health Professionals

Practising narrative therapy requires understanding of postmodern principles, cultural competence, skill in asking questions that reveal unique outcomes, and ability to help families re-author their stories.

Integration with Other Approaches

Understanding how narrative techniques can be integrated with other therapeutic approaches for comprehensive treatment.

Re-authoring Process

Story Deconstruction

Examining current problem-saturated stories and understanding how they developed.

Alternative Story Development

Identifying and developing alternative stories that highlight your family's strengths and preferred ways of being.

Evidence Gathering

Collecting evidence that supports new, more empowering stories about your family.

Story Thickening

Developing rich, detailed stories that provide a strong foundation for new identities and relationships.

Audience Development

Finding people who can witness and support your family's new stories.

Working with Trauma

Trauma Externalisation

Separating traumatic experiences from your family members' identities and exploring their effects.

Survival Stories

Identifying and celebrating the ways your family has survived and coped with difficult experiences.

Resistance Narratives

Exploring how your family has resisted the negative effects of trauma and maintained important values.

Healing Stories

Developing new stories about healing, growth, and resilience following traumatic experiences.

Meaning-Making

Helping your family create new meanings about traumatic experiences that support healing and growth.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Identifying ways your family has grown stronger or developed new capacities following difficult experiences.

Maintaining New Stories

Daily Practices

Developing daily practices that support and reinforce your family's new stories.

Documentation

Keeping records of your family's progress and achievements to support new narratives.

Ongoing Reflection and Growth

Regularly reflecting on your family's stories and understanding that story development is an ongoing, lifelong process.

Story Sharing

Sharing your family's stories with others who might benefit from hearing them.

Resilience Building

Using narrative approaches to build resilience and cope with future challenges.

Legacy Creation

Developing stories and values that can be passed on to future generations.

Conclusion

Narrative family therapy provides a powerful approach to family healing and growth by helping you examine and rewrite the stories that shape your family's identity and relationships. This approach recognises that you have the power to author new, more empowering stories that highlight your strengths and create possibilities for positive change.