Narrative Therapy
NARRATIVE THERAPY
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Dr David Hall is a licensed counsellor and family psychotherapist in practice in Knoxville, Tennessee. He holds a masters in marriage and family therapy and a doctorate in psychology. David is the founder of the Narrative Institute, a training organisation for equipping people in narrative theories as applied to counselling, theology, education, and medicine. He is also a trainer for the Institute for Sexual Wholeness, to address healthy sexuality from a Christian perspective. He is married to Brandy, who also works a counsellor. For more information, visit www.davidhallmft.com
Overview of Narrative Therapy
Developed out of post-modern philosophy that places a high importance on language, Narrative Therapy was jointly developed by psychotherapists Michael White and David Epston in the 1980s. Narrative therapy holds that our identities are shaped by the accounts of our lives found in the “narratives” of our lives, both the stories we tell and ones that other people tell about us. A narrative approach to counselling is interested in helping others describe their stories, modes of living, and possibilities associated with the future. Also the therapy investigates a problem's many influences, on the person themselves, on their family and other relationships. The therapist is a collaborator with the client in the process of discovering richer narratives that emerge from descriptions of experience, thus taking away the hold of negative narratives upon the client. This is done by engaging the client in their personal stories, or by looking at the greater cultural narrative they are drawn to in films or books. From a Christian perspective, a therapist may look to the example of how Jesus often used stories to convey deeper levels of truth. Narrative Therapy will focus on the theory and practical application in counselling, with particular note to cases and populations where Narrative Therapy has been shown particularly effective. In addition significant time will also be spent in looking at how it can be integrated with other therapies, notably Jungian and Ericksonian/Solution-Focused therapies, as well as integrated with Christian theology and spiritual transformation.
