Narrative Therapy

Written By Iesha Williams

There may have been events that have transpired in your life which may have left you feeling uncertain about where to start to heal. You may be feeling robbed of your wholeness and your quality of life, due to some of the trauma that you have gone through. Though you may feel you have lost your voice, lost pieces of yourself, and may feel unsafe in a world that has not treated you well.

What if I told you that there is a way to find healing, reclaim your life, your voice, and your power?

Narrative Therapy can help you do this!

Narrative Therapy

In narrative therapy, your Therapist ensures that you are treated with respect while removing the shame and blame from your story and also making sure that you are treated as the expert. Your therapist is there to see that you are supported for your courage and bravery that it takes to face yourself and your experiences.

The premise is for you to recognize and focus on the change and shift that you want in place instead of reliving the unwanted parts of your experiences. You are the expert, and your therapist is to guide you and be a supportive partner in your process of healing. Your therapist helps you heal and grow by showing you that you have the power to change your narrative.

Narrative Can Shift Our Story

Dominant stories are the stories that we hold in our bodies, and they are comprised of our traumas and adversities. They are the stories that we continue to play over and over again, in our head, and they tend to be narratives that others have carried about us and projected on us. So if a parent or caregiver described you as lazy and worthless, then that can become a dominant story for you. Their projection controls your outlook on yourself and your reality, and it ultimately deconstructs your self-worth. This is the story that stays in the forefront of your consciousness and bleeds into your behavior, thoughts about self, relationships, decisions, and quality of life. The dominant story in our lives impacts our present but can have effects on our future.

The Process!

Narrative therapy empowers you to use your voice and speak your truth. In this process, it allows you to regain control of your life. The process of expression and storytelling can aid in navigating and processing painful emotions and finding new meaning in one’s life. In this process, you learn to trust yourself, taking on an empowered stance instead of sitting back and feeling as if you are helpless.

Your therapist will help you to tell your story by creating a new narrative and help you to view the problem separately from yourself (you are not the problem, the problem is the problem). They will help you to deconstruct the problem to help you to better understand the whole picture in addition to changing your storyline. Changing your storyline can seem hard because your story seems so concrete to you, but a therapist will help to widen our view by considering alternative stories; helping us to explore information and details about our story that may have never been allowed to have value. This information can help us to develop a healthier version of who we are, who we want to become, and what we want.

Another process is called existentialism, which helps us see the deeper meanings or lessons in our experiences. It helps you to see the details of your story where you can be empowered versus where you may have been disempowered.

Narrative Therapy works well with Expressive Arts to actively tell your story in a tangible way. Here are some examples:

• Meditation – Can be done through guided meditation to further explore the story in a spiritual and objective way.
• Journal – Prompted Questions can be used to guide your thoughts and writing process to get to a solution or a new pattern of thought regarding how you view your experience.
• Draw – drawing or painting can be used to depict your story by using symbolic imagery or even by doodling.
• Movement – movement and moving mindfully can create and express your story. While you move in your usual way, you can allow the problems to influence your movement. While moving, observe and see what changes when the problem takes hold. Once the problem takes hold, then transition into another movement to release its hold on you. Finally, you can explore how to metaphorically escape the problem.
• Visualization – looking toward the future of how your life could be with the problem and also with a new timeline, in which you embrace a new path. You can journal this visualization and/or share it with your therapist/trusted loved one. It helps you to see a new perspective in your life, with and without the problem.

Power is in YOUR story

We have the power for growth and change in our lives! Your therapist can help you find ways to take accountability for your healing by helping you to rewrite your story.

Narrative therapy takes away the shame, blame, and it changes your perception about yourself and your experience(s) in which you may have once felt disempowered. In turn, you will feel empowered and see the problem as the problem instead of attaching your power and your worth to your trauma. Releasing the blame will help you to experience a new found power and freedom to live your life in a positive and a more healthy way. When we reclaim our voice and own our story, we own our present and future!

Our Team at Healing Springs Wellness can help shift your Narrative and guide you towards healing and growth. Schedule a 15-minute consultation today!