A Short Story About Narrative Family Therapy by amy iddings

major tenets It’s not so much what happens to us; it’s how we think and talk about it. Language has power. Stories shape what we see and remember. By expanding life stories, we can help create new possibilities for growth and healing. Families deal with problems; families are not the problem. Requires the therapist to be self-reflective in terms of own narrative.

social justice! human rights! cultural humility! Meaning Transform problem-saturated stories into stories of hope and possibility: victim ——> survivor social justice! human rights! cultural humility!

social justice! ethics! human rights! cultural humility! Power The therapist co-edits the family story with the family, to help find alternative stories to the ones that are problematic social justice! ethics! human rights! cultural humility!

social justice! human rights! cultural humility! History Jerome Bruner’s (1990) theory: individuals in a socially constructed world make meaning in their lives by telling themselves stories in a narrative form Self-perceptions + interactions with others = narratives that represent our identity social justice! human rights! cultural humility!

social justice! human rights! ethics! cultural humility! Context People usually seek therapy when their dominant story is no longer working Narrative therapists work with clients to help shift the client’s current understanding of reality from the dominant to a different (subjugated) story social justice! human rights! ethics! cultural humility!

social justice! human rights! ethics! cultural humility! Possibility Externalizing: “The problem becomes the problem, not the person.” Landscape of action: “unique outcomes” Landscape of consciousness: strengths social justice! human rights! ethics! cultural humility!

That Theory Systems Grounded Strengths Structural Empowerment Critical Social

narrative therapy in expressive arts

Cinema narrative therapy using family films to externalize children’s “problems”

“Blended family problems” Boyhood “Blended family problems” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P9fmUMBcZg cultural humility!

cinematherapy.com http://www.cinematherapy.com/filmindex/family/blended.html

Sources Eron, J. B. & Lund, T.W. (1996). Narrative solutions in brief therapy. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Finn, J.L. & Jacobson, M. (2008). Just practice: A social justice approach to social work. Peosta, IA: eddie bowers Publishing. Turns, B. & Macey, P. (2015). Cinema narrative therapy: Utilizing family films to externalize children’s ‘problems’. Journal of Family Therapy, 37: 590-606.