Constructing Therapeutic Narratives

Patients of psychotherapy often have pre-developed, powerful stories about themselves when they come for treatment, and these are usually characterized by bleak self-portrayals, inexorable plots, narrow themes, and demoralizing meanings. This book aims to help the psychotherapist in creating a new story for the client that is so close to their own experience that they may view it as their own story. However this story must be different enough from the previous one so as to allow for new meanings and options to be perceived. The aim is that once the client is freed from his original story he can begin to be freed from his problem altogether. Teaching the therapeutic principles of narrative reconstruction, this book shows how to improve in the following: characterizing, constructing plot, outlining and developing themes, and conveying meanings.