Narrative Therapy is a social constructionist therapeutic approach, which draws on anthropological, ethnographic, philosophical, communication and feminist theories.

Narrative Therapy views people as experts on their lives. It ‘separates the person from the problem’ (White/Epston 1990), which helps facilitate ‘externalising’ conversations that ‘unpack’ limiting ideas and understandings.

Narrative Therapy proposes we have ‘multi-storied’ and ‘multi-identitied’ lives, which continuously evolve relationally across time, shaping how we make sense of events and perceptions of ourselves, others and the world (White/Epston 1990, Combs and Freedman 2016).

Through collaborative, value-driven dialogue, people can become better acquainted with their competencies, skills for living, values and agency to empower them to act in line with their ‘preferred identity conclusions’ and hopes and wishes for their lives (White 2004).

Nicola will invite you to share aspects of your life, your skills, knowledge and wisdom, to get to know you outside of the problem. This can be helpful when exploring the problem and uncovering ways to respond to it in and beyond therapy in the wider contexts of your life.

Your feedback will be sought throughout the conversation to ensure we are focusing on and travelling in a direction that matters to you.

Conversations aim to deeply understand the problem from a ‘possible to know’ position and the impact this has had on your life and relationships. Curious questions help to make visible what matters to you, exceptions to the dominant problem story, your preferences for living, what you hold precious and preferred identity conclusions. This can all support you to move ahead to take committed action.

There will be the opportunity to reconnect you to people, places, and things that have supported you in life and can sustain you going forward.

You may engage in talking, drawing, poetry, improv, and other creative practices.

Narrative Therapy can be short term, or ‘Brief’, (a single session or fewer than 6 sessions) or be for a longer time dependent on your needs. Conversations may be every few weeks, or spaced apart over months, dependent on your wishes and challenges you face.

Most sessions are between 60-75 minutes.

Narrative Therapy embraces ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ witnesses to acknowledge and encourage you in your journey of change. This can be friends, family, colleagues or professionals who matter to you.

Collective Narrative Therapy is useful for groups of people who share similar issues. It allows for a supportive space to share experiences and ways to respond to the problem that makes people feel less alone and stand stronger together.

Narrative Therapy is non-structuralist and post-modernist approach and does not ascribe to measuring people up to norms, or ascribing them to a category which can be marginalising or pathologising of them or their identity.