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Abstract
Family systems are basic structures based on social, cultural, economic, and other factors.
Successful cooperation requires people to accommodate the needs and demands of their kin.
Family therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that helps families and couples to solve problems,
encourage change, and maintain progress. There are three parts to this paper. A review of the
literature on narrative therapy is presented in the first section. This part will concentrate on the
primary players, strengthening the essential assumptions and critical modes of thought, key
concepts, tactics, and similarities and differences between Structural Therapy and narrative
therapy. I will also discuss my attempt to integrate my faith and family counseling approach.
Section three of this paper covers my reflection on the SYMBIS report results. Finally, In the
conclusion, I will sum up all three parts and what I have learned throughout writing this paper.
Keywords: Family, Systems, Counseling, Narrative, Therapy
Part I
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Family Counseling Approach Research
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Introduction
As narrative therapists, we assist our clients in developing their stories. Through this
process, the person may discover their voice, examine life events, and examine the meanings
they have given to those events. The patient observes their narrative as it is put together and
looks at it alongside the therapist, trying to figure out which story is the dominant and
troublesome one (Wallis et al., 2012). In order to help clients perceive themselves as capable and
capable of living the way they need to live, narrative therapy (NT), a quality-based approach to
psychotherapy, works in collaboration with the client or family and the therapist. (Flaskas et al.,
2017) The clients' self-constructed narratives about themselves and the therapists' replies to them
are the core components of narrative therapy, sometimes known as the "talking cure" (Byng-Hall
et al., 2017).
Leading Figures
Narrative therapy was founded in the 1980s by New Zealand-based therapists Michael White
and David Epston to empower clients and provide non-blaming, non-pathological psychotherapy
(Hutto et al., 2017). Australian social worker Michael White and anthropologist David Epston
created narrative therapy. Anthropologist and psychologist Gregory Bateson, born in 1979, is one
of the creators. White's work with clients was inspired by his ideas on the subjective nature of
reality and "news of a difference." He discovered that many clients were required to have their
focus brought to the subtle adjustments that came along with their treatment of difficulties. He
discovered that by imparting this "news," he might encourage fresh perceptions of their ability
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and give them a greater understanding of how to proceed in a different, more fruitful manner
(Monk, 2013).
Development of the Theory/Historical Events
The principles of Erickson were acceptable to David Epston, a skilled hypnotist. He had also
completed community development coursework in Scotland and had a degree in anthropology.
Michael White has worked as a community organizer for Australian persons with mental
illnesses. Compared to America, where the focus on practice and training equally favored
psychoanalysis, their conception of social work was far more "social" (Beels, 2019). As though
anthropologists were attempting to assist the village in whatever way they could, they had a
method of working with proactive and focused communities. Their community discussions were
quite different from the professional-bureaucratic confusion of what had been referred to as
"community psychiatry" in America throughout the 1970s. (Beels, 2019).
An intriguing aspect is that Michael White worked with people with schizophrenia in the
community and created papers outlining the techniques they had found most helpful for
coping with the experience of hearing voices. These records were then published from 1997
to 1999. The groups considered the voices to be their biggest issue. White and Epston
identified themselves as the projects' writers, librarians, and editors in both this and the Anti-
Anorexia League, while the actual authors were the original clientele (Crocket, 2018).
Basic Assumptions and Key Philosophy
For many reasons, narrative therapy is a very distinctive technique. It aims to do away with
terminology often used in conventional psychotherapy that tends to be pathologizing and
hierarchical as a postmodern psychotherapy approach. The idea of externalizing difficulties is
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one especially effective strategy used in narrative therapy to achieve this. To "recast" an issue as
its unique character in the client's tale is to externalize the problem. As a result, clients may feel
less guilty, ashamed, and hopeless since they will understand that they did not cause their issues.
The therapist teaches the client to picture themselves as battling against a problem rather than as
having a problem or being a problem. Additionally, narrative therapists work to alter the way that
clients' families and other significant figures in their life see them. By locating individuals in the
client's life who can "team up against the issue," narrative therapists work to assist clients in
finding support. As therapists see it, a member of this "anti-problem crew" is simply another
person. Counselors purposefully avoid adopting a hierarchical "expert/patient" posture and
instead partner with clients to solve issues and create more powerful stories (Huntley, 2014).
Key Concepts
The following are fundamental ideas in narrative therapy: 1) The deconstruction of
problematic and dominating stories or narratives, 2) Dividing the story into smaller, easier-to-
follow sections 3) Rewrite the scripts for the troublesome and prevailing stories. 4) Broadening
the client's perspective and shifting to healthy stories (also known as the unique outcomes
approach) may aid in improving the client's comprehension of their events and emotions. 5)
What applies to one individual may not apply to another, 6) Externalizing the issue as it is not
your concern, and 7) A strong story can also assist us in finding meaning and a higher purpose
(Rice, 2015).
Researchers and practitioners from various backgrounds have recognized client narrative
expression as the common denominator of social discourse in psychotherapy. The emphasis of
narrative therapy is on the client's comprehension of his or her own story and how the client's
feelings, behaviors, and issues fit within the story's overall framework. This method aims to
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accomplish one of three things: either adding "untold" details from the client's history to their life
story, assisting them in emotionally rewriting their tales, or assisting them in creating new
interpretations of stories that may surface during therapy (Angus, 2012).
Techniques
Utilizing a variety of practical strategies, narrative family therapy may provide some
techniques for families and couples. To name a few, they consist of "Constructing a Narrative"
To communicate the client's narrative in their own words, and the therapist and the client
collaborate. In the session, the therapist and the client search for fresh interpretations of the
narrative that can assist them in changing the client's prior narratives or generating new ones. Re-
authoring or "re-storying" are terms used to describe this technique. This is based on the concept
that several interpretations and meanings may be attached to the same occurrence (Vinney et al.,
2021).
The "Externalization” technique aims to alter a client's viewpoint, so they stop seeing
themselves as the problem. Instead, they see themselves as a flawed individual. This externalizes
their issues and lessens their impact on the person's life. "Deconstruction"- Deconstructing a
problem entails making it more precise to focus on its essential components. When a narrative
has dominated our life for a while, we may overgeneralize it and find it challenging to identify
the true nature of the issue. A narrative therapist works with clients to break down the story into
its constituent components to identify their issues (Ackerman, 2022).
The "Unique Outcomes" technique entails altering one's script. In narrative therapy, the
client attempts to create a narrative that provides meaning to their experiences or creates a good
and valuable identity. This is a method for helping people create tales that are supportive of life,
not as erroneous as "thinking positively." "Existentialism" Existentialists often hold that there is
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no intrinsic meaning to the universe; as a result, humans may construct their meaning.
Existentialism and narrative therapy complement one other in this manner. Instead of looking for
an ultimate truth that may or may not connect with the person, narrative therapy enables people
to discover their meaning and purpose (Standish, 2013).
