Narrative approach in psychology. Part 1

It looks like big changes are coming in the field of psychology and psychiatry. And all thanks to a new direction that arose quite recently - at the turn of the 70-80s of the 20th century. It is not for nothing that the narrative approach is considered a magical solution to all problems. Supporters of classical psychotherapy only criticize and shrug their shoulders skeptically - how can you cure a terminally ill person by asking simple questions? Magic and nothing more! And all because narrative specialists take on even the most neglected patients, whom all other doctors refuse. And they cure! Such practices solve almost all psychological and even psychiatric problems - from the most insignificant at first glance to the “incurable”: couples are reunited, children get rid of fears, older people regain the joy of life... What is the secret? To do this, you need to understand the essence of the new approach.

The essence of the approach

Narrative practice began with the enthusiastic joint work of Australian psychologist Michael White and New Zealander David Epston. Why was the new direction named this way? The fact is that from Latin “narrative” (narratio, narratus) is translated as story, narration. And the basis of this approach is precisely the story with the help of which a person comprehends his life experience. Have you noticed that when you talk to someone, you tell some story about what happened to you, some incident, an experience you had. For example, how you met your future husband/wife, how you graduated from school or entered university, how children or grandchildren appeared... and there are a lot of such stories - everyone has their own and even always different, depending on who you are telling it to speak for a moment. But it is through storytelling that a person always talks about himself.

Let's define the terminology. In narrative practice, history is understood as a sequence of events in time connected by a single theme and plot. In this regard, the new approach in psychology is closely related to literature, art, culture and, in fact, takes its roots from there. The very concept of history was taken from literature by the great American psychologist and educator Jerome Bruner. He wrote: “We organize our experience and memory primarily in the form of narratives—stories, myths... (1991). Narrative does not simply reflect and imitate life, it constructs it” (Live as Narrative, 1987). His own words: “Life is probably the greatest work of art we create.” It was from his ideas that Michael White took the idea that we figuratively comprehend, organize, convey to other people and voice in the form of stories. Bruner himself borrowed this from literary theory, from literary ideas about stories. And narrative practitioners now quite successfully and effectively use such experience in their practice.

Any events in your life (both small and large) develop in a certain sequence. All sequences have a theme that relates to you. There are stories where you are brave and where you are cautious, where you are smart and where you feel like fools or not knowledgeable enough... There are a lot of them! And at the same time you perceive yourself in one certain way.

When a patient comes to a narrative practitioner, he usually tells some kind of problematic story. On the one hand, our psychologist listens to the person’s story, and on the other, he tries to find in him something that does not fit into this problematic story at all, something positive. The narrative practitioner begins to work out and develop this “something,” but into a new story.

The essence of the new approach can be described in just three points:

Separating a person's life from his problems.
Challenging those “problematic” life stories that people perceive as dominant, subjugating.
Rewriting history to accommodate alternative, preferred ways of living.

People are people. Problems are problems. The main idea of narrative practice is that all people are okay. It’s just that from time to time some problem comes to a person from the outside and violates something very important to him: values, goals, hopes.

Narrative practitioners believe that problems are NOT intrinsic qualities of a person. This is where the most important difference between our approach and others adopted in counseling and psychotherapy lies (for example, from those described in the article 10 popular trends in psychology). There it is assumed that a person has certain personal qualities that predetermine him. For example, an individual sees himself as lazy, disorganized, living some kind of meaningless life. Narrative practitioners think this is not very useful. When a person is asked to work with the fact that he is lazy, he has to look inside himself. This is very inconvenient, because it’s difficult to do anything with yourself like that, it’s easier to come to terms with - well, this is how I am and there’s nothing you can do about it. It is very uncomfortable to fight with your beloved self; to do this you need to admit that you are bad.

The narrative approach offers a different way of looking at the problem. This is called externalization - a way of perceiving a person as separate from his problems. The narrative practitioner makes the interlocutor feel that everything is in order, that everything is fine with him, that this problem exists separately and, when it comes, it can be influenced.

A narrative practitioner is a person who does not tell stories, but listens to them and asks questions. He is not an expert in the life of another, he is an expert in asking questions. Because a person himself has the right solution to his problems, and not a narrative or any other practitioner.

What is a narrative?

Narrative (English and French - narrative, Latin - narrare) is a linguistic act, the client’s transmission of interconnected stories and life events. Based on these stories, the therapist helps the client find a solution to his problem and look at it from a different angle. Thanks to dialogue and correctly asked questions, new opportunities open up for the client.

The origin of this term is associated with the famous authors Australian Michael White and New Zealander David Epston. They published a book in 1990 called Narrative Means for Achieving Therapeutic Goals. In their book, they reveal the importance of customer stories. How exactly do they tell them, what do they attach great importance to, what events are endowed with positivity and negativity...

How is the narrative approach different?

The differences between the narrative approach and others accepted in the classical psychotherapy we are accustomed to are too radical. This is probably the main reason for criticism from the mastodons of human psychology and psychiatry.

Firstly, the task of a psychotherapist is to make your unconscious work for you. The classical “science of the human soul” believes that your unconscious “knows everything”, and that is where the problem lies. In narrative practice, it is believed that, first of all, you are helped by values, knowledge, skills, as well as past experience, and not by something abstract sitting in your head. The new approach has a special look at people. Here he is considered to have everything he needs to cope with his problem, since he is active, reacting to the oppression of his values.

Secondly, in conventional psychology, a person with problems is considered to be “sick”, something is wrong with him, he has a “bad character”, “schizophrenia”, “mania” and so on. The narrative practitioner perceives the interlocutor as healthy. In general, he is fine by himself, it’s just that sometimes problems come to him in the form of Panic, Hysteria, Bad Mood... and persistently begin to ruin his life. And then the person just needs extra help to cope with all this. By the way, the “normal” attitude of a narrative practitioner towards his patient is very encouraging and inspiring for the latter. A person feels that he is not being judged or evaluated, and therefore trust immediately arises, which ultimately leads to faster results in therapy.

Thirdly, an ordinary psychologist is mainly interested in what a person is currently feeling. Narrative practices are always based on human actions. Their main question is: what are you doing? Using narrative, the specialist determines the person’s core values, hopes, and aspirations and helps him rewrite his story, in which problems are under control or disappear altogether.

Basic Techniques

1st reception: Externalization

This terrible word means an attempt to “take” a person beyond the boundaries of the problem. So that he can look at her from the outside, without getting particularly emotional and without “pulling up” the experience gained earlier in a similar situation. Because, for example, as long as the assigned information about his own personality “lives” inside him, it will influence his actions, relationships, and so on.

Some story can cause feelings of guilt and shame that are toxic to the body. Why a person will not be able to feel pleasure from life. Because he will be in a state of anticipation of condemnation, punishment, etc. Methods such as research, clarification, and mapping are used. Sometimes it happens that a client presents a difficult episode from his life, which he considers a problem. But the therapist discovers completely different reasons for his difficulties.

Therefore, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of the material. If everything is clear, then you should map - study the degree of influence of the problem on the client’s existence, what areas it extends to, and what kind of harm it causes.

For this process, it is important to consider aspects such as:

Duration . That is, how long it has bothered him, when exactly it started, and what changes have occurred during his existence. In some cases, you can fantasize and try to anticipate the likely outcome of the situation.
Latitude . The study of the breadth of the negative consequences of complexity affects such areas as feelings, relationships, resources, condition, health, activity, success, achievements, etc.
Depth . It becomes clear how serious the problem is and how much inconvenience it causes. To do this, you can simply ask questions about how painful it is, how scary it is, etc., or ask them to indicate on a scale, say, from 1 to 10, how much it interferes with life, where 1 means it doesn’t interfere at all, and 10 means you have no strength to endure.

5 more tricks

Deconstruction . During this period, the question of who and how benefits from the condition that arose in the one who turned to the therapist is explored.

Recovery . Involve other people to provide feedback on the client's story. That is, what they felt while listening, what thoughts and images arose.

Dealing with external witnesses . That is, the above therapy participants share their experiences. They put forward theories about how the story was useful and what it can teach and warn.

Writing letters . In addition, certificates, diplomas and certificates are created.

Working with communities . Virtual groups are organized where various techniques and exercises are indicated that help to cope with life's troubles.

What does the narrative approach work with?

The narrative approach solves almost all problems, even “incurable” ones:

— Family: relationship problems in couples and families.

— Intrapersonal: problems of personal self-esteem and poor performance, loss of meaning in life and lack of goals, shame, guilt, and resentment are removed.

— Organizational: problems of agreements and building connections within an organization or community.

— Social: problems with oppression and non-compliance with human rights, as well as violence, work is carried out with victims of natural disasters, assistance is provided to marginalized sections of the population - those who have lost their homes, jobs, parents and loved ones.

Narrative practice also helps terminally ill people. Here the disease is separated from the person, especially if he feels that he can somehow interact with this disease, for example, come to an agreement with it if it is impossible to get rid of it.

The narrative approach has also shown itself to work well with teenagers. Here, problems of academic failure, choice of profession, relationships with parents, lack of time, first love and others characteristic of a young age are solved very effectively and relatively quickly.

There are no restrictions or contraindications in using the new approach - it is available to anyone.

Narrative practice is very fun and easy, which may be why the most insoluble problems of the human psyche burst here like soap bubbles.

In this article we examined the theoretical part of the narrative approach, so to speak. To find out more, be sure to read the publication Narrative Approach in Psychology. Part 2, where the basic principles of the new practice are described using a real-life example.

Is it possible to rewrite yourself?

Narrative practices are actively used not only during sessions with therapists, but also in social work, in adaptation projects (for example, children after moving or transferring to another school) or rehabilitation (after experiencing trauma).

There are two big directions in working with your stories that are available to everyone.

Keeping diaries or notes

This method has something of a teen romantic comedy feel to it, but you can keep a diary thoughtfully and consciously, instead of writing incriminating evidence about yourself. You can dedicate notes to your own emotions that you experienced during the day, pay attention to trigger events and, for example, prescribe alternative ways to resolve a conflict or difficult situation. It is not necessary to focus on events that made you feel heavy or anxious: on the contrary, you can pay attention to more positive emotions and situations. For example, you could record three events every day that brought you joy.

Reviews and comments

If you have any questions, share them in the comments to this article. We will also be happy to accept your arguments in favor or against the narrative approach.

Author: Ekaterina Panikova

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
The Foundation for Creating a Mindful Life
Storyteller lifehacks
How studying history helps self-development
Storytelling
Books on storytelling: learning from the masters
Life story reframe
Narrative therapy
7 Key Storytelling Techniques
10 Storytelling Tips: How to Write a Breathtaking Story
Storytelling as a means to success

Key words:1Psychoregulation

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