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Family Counseling: A Narrative Therapy Approach
Sylvia D. Skinner
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Abstract
Narrative therapy relies on the concept that what we know as reality comes from the stories we
tell ourselves and the lives we live in. Narrative therapists understand that people believe and tell
stories about themselves that are negative and self-defeating. The aim of narrative therapy is to
change the negative, self-defeating thinking into stories that reflect positive thoughts. Clients are
assisted in rewriting and telling their stories. Clients are the experts on their own lives. Narrative
therapy has been successful in family counseling. This paper addressed narrative therapy in
couple counseling. It also addresses integrating narrative therapy and spirituality.
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Narrative Therapy in Family Counseling
Family therapy first began to become recognized as a field of therapy in the 1950’s.
There were three basic reasons why the growth in family therapy occurred. One reason was the
pace of individual therapy was slow with psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. A second reason
was the realization that individual therapy often was affected by the client’s family. Family
members were becoming effected by the changes happening to the client. Family members who
were not in the position to understand the dynamics that were happening to the client could
possibly jeopardize the client’s treatment. The third reason was the large number of people
seeking therapy after World War II. It was more conducive to see families together to minimize
wait time. The concept of family includes the nuclear and extended families, step families,
adopted members, foster members, gay and lesbians, and any other committed families (Kaslow,
2010).
Several theoretical models have been developed for use in family therapy. Each
theoretical approach promotes change and uses interventions to reach a desired outcome. The
theory that is chosen is based on such factors related to culture, social, religious, political, and
economical perspectives (Kaslow, 2010). The different types of theoretical models that has been
used for family therapy are:
I. Transgenerational Models: These models look at the history of the client and
client’s family in exploration current problem.
a. Psychodynamic:
b. Bowenian: Emphasizes past family relationships.
c. Contextual/relational
d. Symbolic/experiential
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II. Systems Models: Occurs in stages. Looks at the family’s emotions, past and
present then will proceed to therapeutic interventions.
a. Communications: Post World War II, information technology became a
focus of communication. System model of communication applies skills
needed to relationship dialogue (White, M. (2009).
b. Strategic
c. Structural
d. Systemic
e. Brief and solution focused
III. Cognitive and Behavioral Models: Focuses on changing the thoughts and
behavior patterns.
a. Behavioral
b. Functional
c. Cognitive behavioral
IV. Postmodern Models
a. Narrative
b. Social constructionist
Narrative therapy is a postmodern look of family therapy. Postmodernist believe that
there is no true reality. The belief is that the family has agreed upon understandings developed
through language that the family considers reality. Narrative therapy relies on the concept that
what we know as reality comes from the stories we tell ourselves and the lives we live in.
Narrative therapists understand that people believe and tell stories about themselves that are
negative and self-defeating. Narrative therapy aims to change the negative, self-defeating
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thinking into stories that reflect positive thoughts. Clients are assisted in rewriting and telling
their stories. Clients are the experts on their own lives. The therapist job is to help the client
explore alternative reasoning for negative thinking (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013).
Leading Figures
The two major figures in Narrative therapy are Michael White and co-founder David
Epston. Narrative therapy has become a major player in family therapy due to the influence of
Michael White. White’s list of practices essential to narrative therapy are (a) adopt a
collaborative co-authoring consultative position, (b) help clients view themselves as separate
from their problems by externalizing the problem, (c) help clients pinpoint times in their lives
when they were not oppressed by their problems by finding unique outcomes, (d) thicken clients
descriptions of these unique outcomes by using landscape of action and landscape of
consciousness questions, (e) link unique outcomes to other events in the past and extend the story
into the future to form an alternative and preferred self-narrative in which the self is viewed as
more powerful than the problem, (f) Invite significant members of the persons social network to
witness this new self-narrative, (g) document new knowledge and practices which support the
new self-narrative using literary means, and (h) let others who are trapped by similar oppressive
narratives benefit from their new knowledge through bringing-it-back practices (Carr, 1998).
White co-founded narrative therapy with David Epston. Epston (Lobovits, Freeman, &
Epston, n.d.) says that narrative therapy involves listening to and retelling stories about people,
their challenges and problems in their every lives. Narrative therapy was influenced by Epston’s
application of the analogy of a story. The premise being that what events that are happening
today, shape what will be in the future as much as what was in the past (Besley, 2008).
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Historical & Current Events
Michael White and David Epston first developed Narrative Therapy in 1990 in Narrative
Means to Therapeutic Ends. This book lead the way to the extension of narrative therapy in
many counseling settings (Besley, 2008). Positioned in the context of social constructionist,
postmodern, and poststructuralist dialogues narrative therapy takes a new look at the traditional
psychological and humanistic counseling methods (Besley, 2008). Narrative therapy helps
individuals see the negative stories dominating their lives and develop an alternative positive
story (Besley, 2008). The stories that represent the history in our lives will explain the current
actions that impact our future (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013).
Within our stories are assumptions that clients hold on to. When counseling families,
assumptions come into play. They could be cultural assumptions. Couples may come into
counseling with the notion that the therapist will be able to fix their problem live (White, 2009).
They have the belief that they know what the reason is for their issue and assume they know the
resolution. Assumptions have to be evaluated. The development of stories can come from
conclusions that family members have about other’s behavior towards them. They’ve decided
that they no longer will accept mistreatment. So the assumptions is that the conclusions came
from a position in one’s life that they believed at one time. Now they have a new story to tell.
Assumptions provide a therapeutic inquiry foundation that contribute to the richness of the
stories of one’s live (White, 2009). Changing assumptions people have that are negative stories
of their lives help clients in constructing new stories.
Narrative therapy is a progressive therapy. Meaning that each client is unique and the
counseling process is guided by each client’s unique story. The dominant story in a person’s life
develops by being validated by others, such as family members and significant others (Van Wyk,
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2008). These dominant stories are ingrained in individuals. The dominant stories can prevent
client’s from seeing the positive and lead to self-fulfilling assumptions. Narrative therapy looks
to free individuals and empower them to tell their own stories and be experts over their own
lives. The objectives is to encourage clients to explore their lives (Clark, 2014).
Techniques
With relationships, people establish relationships with their problem. In narrative therapy,
problems are considered distinct from the person. So the need is for people to change the
relationship they have with their problem so that the problem is distinct from the person (Clark,
2014). Instead of them being identified as the problem they start to understand and separate the
problem from their identity. There are various techniques that can be applied in narrative therapy
to help individuals deal with their problems. One technique is called externalizing conversation.
This process will help the individual and families to stop internalizing the problem to themselves
but to take it and put in outside of themselves (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). Individuals are
lead to take a problem that has been identified with an individual and give it its own identity. For
instance, a person that is depressed can begin to look at the depression separate from the
individual. The language would no longer be, “I am depressed”. Instead the statement would
shift to “depression has taken over my life”. This gives depression its own identity.
Therapist will use ceremonies allowing the client to tell new stories to outsiders.
Therapist will sometimes use therapeutic letters. These letters are sent to clients and are used to
keep clients motivated with their alternative stories. They can also be summary letters to
summarize session discussions. For people who have learning disability, a mapping technique
can be used. This is where the therapist ask questions to help client identify issues (Goldenberg
& Goldenberg, 2013).
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Similarities & Dissimilarities in Theories
Some other theories used in family therapy are mentioned earlier in this paper. Following
are similarities and differences in other therapeutic models. They include Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy, Solution-Focus therapy and Collaborative therapy.
Cognitive therapy differs from narrative therapy in that it focuses on changing the way
people think. It helps clients to recognize negative and distorted thinking. Cognitive behavior
therapy looks to modify and change the way people think.
Solution-focused therapy differs from narrative therapy in that it focuses on solving a
problem by changing the problem. It’s similar to narrative therapy in that it places the work in
the hands of the client. It also includes dialogue. Both solution-focused and narrative consider
the client the expert.
Collaborative therapy is similar to narrative therapy in that it uses language and
communication. In collaborative therapy language and conversation plays the key role in
counseling. The focus is on discussion among family members. The difference is the members
talk about the problem and collaborate on solutions.
Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the belief that the events of ones past is the cause for
issues in the present (Kurweil, S., 2012). Treatment is based on the relationship between the
client and the counselor, where the counselor is the expert and it’s assume the counselor will
resolve client’s issues. This is different than narrative therapy as to where the client is the expert
and draws on their own life story. The counselor takes the position as a facilitator.
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Integration of Spirituality and Family Counselling
Religion and spirituality is trending in family therapy and in psychotherapy in general.
The role as counselor in attending to the needs of client’s religious and spiritual outlook has been
important in treatment. Historically, however, counselors have not been encouraged to include
their own spirituality to augment relationships with their clients. (Carlson, Erickson & Seewald-
Marquaredt, 2002). Psychotherapist are understanding how spirituality and religion play in the
healing process for their clients. Counselors have become increasingly aware of the need to bring
into conversation the client’s religious/spiritual beliefs (Blanton, 2007). As a Christian counselor
my goal is to integrate Christian biblical principles into family therapy.
Gockel (2009) states, between seventy to ninety percent of individuals turn to religion
and spirituality when suffering with mental and physical health issues. When faced with terminal
sickness, the loss of a loved one, substance abuse, depression or other debilitating problem,
people get to the point where they can’t cope or don’t understand the situations that face them.
When dealing with crisis, research has shown that religion and spirituality has been beneficial in
the healing process (Gockel, 2009). Wessels (2013) says, “…that the meaning of life is often
associated with the divine.”
Narrative therapy focuses on relational ethics and is more about moral and ethical
necessities in relationships (Carlson, Erickson & Seewald-Marquaredt, 2002). As a Christian and
Christian counselor, Christian beliefs are foundation of who we are. It is difficult to separate
religion and spirituality from our personal lives. Spirituality is a source of strength, comfort,
peace, and hope in people’s life (Carlson et al., 2002). In our field of psychotherapy, ethically we
are told not push our spirituality on our clients, and we shouldn’t. However, we are not to ignore
the significant benefit for our clients be incorporating spirituality in treatment. The qualities of
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love, caring and empathy for our clients are qualities that counselors would like to have and be
able to show those qualities to the clients. Carlson et al., (2002) suggest that therapist take one of
those qualities and use it to guide them in their relationship with their client. With this in mind,
the counselor’s professional work takes on a perspective that impacts their work in a meaningful
way.
In using narrative therapy with spirituality, it’s necessary to begin by having clients
understand and tell their own stories of what religion and spirituality mean to them. They use
their own language to tell their stories. Participants will have different concepts of spirituality
and it’s important that their concept of spirituality is explored. The assumption is as they write
and tell their stories they become more open to religion or spirituality for change in dealing with
their issue. Once they have developed into a spiritual perspective they begin to see themselves
not just as a physical body dealing with pains and hurt, but they start to see themselves as a soul,
or spiritual being empowered to change and heal. Clients go through the process of undoing their
old way of thinking and making a decision to commit to change. As counselor, it’s my
responsibility to help them explore their stories.
As a Christian counselor I would make it known in the informed consent that I am a
Christian counselor and apply Christian principles and biblical interventions to counseling. In
couple therapy Ripley & Worthington Jr. (2014) speaks of an intervention referred to as
‘Narrative of a Better Future’ taken from the hope-focused couple approach. This approach is
Christian based but can be applied to and used to counsel Christians and non-Christians. This
particular intervention is based on narrative therapy. There are three steps to this process. In step
1 each person writes their story from the beginning of their relationship to the present time. It’s a
good practice to give couples a minimum numbers of pages they can write. They start by
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writing how they met up to the point of the problems they are experiencing today. Step 2 is
where the couples bring in their stories. They talk about how things would be if the stories they
told changed and become more positive. They generate ideas that give them a better outlook for
the future. In step 3, they are giving homework to write a story about how a good future for them
would be. Their story should include events that could change their life and how they would be
effected by it. They are to think about the events that give them a positive future. Finally, step 4
is where the couple share their stories with each other. As they share their stories, the counselor
helps them work through roadblocks (Ripley & Worthington Jr., 2014).
There are other problems presented that can benefit from narrative therapy. We will look
at treating the older population using narrative therapy approach. It is thought that older people
tend to turn to spirituality as the get older. The older adult takes on concerns about their future,
which now they see as limited. Narrative therapy could be used to help older individuals see their
futures in a more positive perspective. Woodward (2011) speaks of four categories to be
considered when thinking about older individuals staying healthy as they get older. The first
category is the need for physical health. The second category is intellectual fitness. The third
category is social relationships. The fourth category and the one we will be discussing is the
purpose or spiritual fitness. This category involves self-esteem and control over one’s life. This
becomes more important as people get older. Using narrative therapy in helping older couples
deal with life issues is beneficial. The key is to get older individuals to write their stories. By
doing so they can see how their lives did have meaning. They can also look at those conflicts that
keep arising, overcome problems and heal relationships. When older people can review and see
their life over the years, they can began to see the contributions they made in their lives. As they
write their narratives they can review major time periods in their life, family, their career or job,
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health and body image, the love and hates over their lifetime, sexual identity, sexual roles and
sexual experiences, their experience with death and dying, and their life goals (Woodward,
2011). Spirituality becomes a major emphasis in their life as the approach and seek meaning in
life.
Once the older adult has written their story, they then proceed to review their story, and
take a close look at the way they lived their life. During their review they will see areas that they
would like to forget or severe. Then they can go on to write new activities and stories as they
would like their lives and future to be. As they write their stories they realize the changes that
take place. They deal with retirement, health, partners and other relationships. This process will
help them to have a feeling of fulfillment in life as the look positively towards the future.
(Woodward, 2011). As mentioned earlier, spirituality becomes more significant as people age.
They become more spiritual. The look at their lives and desire to have lives with a closer
relationship with God. The desire to search their souls and enquire of the meaning of life
(Woodward, 2011). The healing takes place as the older adult looks at the negative aspects of
their life and realize the positive aspect of life and the future with God.
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Conclusion
Narrative therapy has been proven to be a successful model in working with families and
couples. It has its place in religious and spiritual realms of counseling. In researching this topic
of narrative therapy, the knowledge I acquired is that narrative therapy can also be used to bring
healing and health in people with substance abuse issues and healing for the older adult
population. Narrative therapy is a non-confrontational model that puts the responsibility of
healing in the hands of the client. They are responsible for telling their stories and rewriting their
future. Our responsibility as counselors is to facilitate that process and help them explore their
issues.
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