Overview:
Narrative therapy was developed by Michael White and David Epston. These individuals were influenced by Michel Foucault who thought that normalizing practices were damaging to individuals. He believed that these practices undermine people's efforts to lead their own life. Narrative therapy looks at clients' innate strengths and resources, and pay attention to patterns of meaning in life histories. This is a therapy in which therapists emphasize stories of people's lives. This makes a difference in clients' lives by telling and retelling stories. Narrative therapy works to separate the problem from the personal identity of clients. This concept is referred to as externalization. Also, this form of therapy requires the therapist to listen intensely and to be persistent. The therapist must track the problem's effect on the clients' lives and look at how the problem "influences, tricks, or recruits" the client. Another strategy used by therapists in narrative therapy is the use of "exception questions." An example of an "exception question" is "What's the longest time you stood up to booze?" Therapists then use these stories as evidence that a person is strong. This is also how the client and the therapist work to "rewrite the life story." After this, the client works to think about future developments of the new life.
Impact on Addictions:
Narrative therapy could have an impact on the treatment of addictions. This therapy could work to help clients in numerous stages, especially the shame, guilt, and anger stage. In this stage, therapists using narrative therapy could use an exception question and help the person to see that they are strong and that they can work to change their lives. This therapy could help to break this cycle by showing the client that there is hope and that in rewriting their life story, they can break their addiction.
Helpful in My Future Career:
This approach could help me in the future with my career in that I can use it to work with clients. I can have them tell stories and intrepret these stories in a therapeutic way. Also, I can use exception questions to help clients understand their strengths and have hope for the future.
References:
Van Wormer, K, & Davis, D. R. (2008).
Addiction treatment: A strengths perspective. (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
The narrative therapy approach seems very beneficial for clients. It would also be helpful in my future career as an occupational therapist. As an OT, it is important to focus on the whole client, including their history. This therapy would be beneficial to help clients express their feelings during the stages of the addiction cycle. It may also be helpful to understand the underlying components of the addiction. For example, if a client was abused when they were younger, they may be more likely to experience addiction problems. Therefore, this approach would address the underlying issues of their past. The narrative therapy approach would be very helpful in occupational therapy especially when working with clients with mental health issues to determine why they began the addiction and how it can be treated.
ReplyDeleteI think this approach would be very beneficial to the clients. I found it interesting that narrative therapy works to separate the client from the problem or addiction. I believe that this is very important in showing the client that the addiction does not need to exist in their life. It could also show them the benefit of what their life was like and what it could be like without addiction. The "exception question" is a really strong way to give the client hope that they have the ability to beat the addiction. I found this blog post very informative and helpful to my understanding of narrative therapy.
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