Social work theory · Volume H: Integrative & Practice-Oriented

Narrative therapy

Narrative therapy is a collaborative approach to counselling and community work developed by Michael White in Adelaide and David Epston in Auckland.

1. What it is

Narrative therapy is a collaborative approach to counselling and community work developed by Michael White in Adelaide and David Epston in Auckland. It proposes that people make sense of their lives through stories, and that problems become entrenched when a single, problem-saturated story dominates how a person understands themselves (White & Epston, 1990). The approach applies the ideas of narrative theory and social constructionism (see Narrative theory and narrative approaches) to practice. Its central aims are to separate people from their problems, to bring forward experiences that the dominant story leaves out, and to help people develop richer, preferred accounts of their lives (White, 2007). Narrative practitioners treat the person as the expert on their own life and adopt a decentred but influential position (White, 2007).

White and Epston. White and Epston (1990) drew on the anthropologist Gregory Bateson, the psychologist Jerome Bruner (1986) and the philosopher Michel Foucault. From Bruner they took the idea that people organise experience into stories that select some events and exclude others. From Foucault they took an analysis of how dominant knowledges and “normalising judgement” shape identity. Their book Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends set out the core practices and introduced the use of therapeutic letters and documents.

Externalising conversations. Externalising treats the problem as separate from the person, so that the person’s relationship with the problem becomes the focus of the conversation (Morgan, 2000). A child described as “encopretic” might instead talk about the influence of “Sneaky Poo” on family life (White & Epston, 1990). Externalising conversations map the problem’s effects on the person’s life, relationships and identity. They then invite the person to evaluate those effects and explain their position. This reduces blame and shame and opens space for collective action against the problem (White, 2007).

Re-authoring. Re-authoring conversations help people develop alternative storylines about their lives. White (2007) described two “landscapes”: the landscape of action (events, sequences and circumstances) and the landscape of identity (what those events show about the person’s values, intentions and hopes). The practitioner moves between the two, linking events across time into a preferred story that can guide future action.

Unique outcomes. Unique outcomes, also called exceptions or sparkling events, are experiences that contradict the dominant problem story (White & Epston, 1990). Examples include a time when a person resisted the pull of alcohol or stood up to anxiety. Unique outcomes serve as entry points to re-authoring. The practitioner asks about how they happened, what they mean, and what they say about the person.

Outsider witness. Outsider witness practices invite an audience to listen to a person’s story and then retell what they heard (White, 2007). Witnesses may be family, friends, other service users or practitioners. They respond to particular questions: which expressions caught their attention, what images these evoked, how they connect with their own lives, and where the conversation has moved them. The person then responds to the retelling. These layered tellings and retellings help preferred stories become more richly described and socially acknowledged.

Definitional ceremony. White (2007) drew the idea of definitional ceremony from the anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff’s work with elderly Jewish communities in California. Definitional ceremonies are rituals in which people perform their preferred identity claims before an audience who acknowledge and authenticate them. In narrative practice, outsider witness sessions are structured as definitional ceremonies, so that identity is shaped in community.

Dulwich Centre, Adelaide. The Dulwich Centre, founded by Michael White and Cheryl White in Adelaide in 1983, became the international hub for narrative practice through training, publishing and community projects. Its publications include the International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work. Since White’s death in 2008, the centre has developed collective narrative practice (Denborough, 2008). It has also worked with Aboriginal communities in Australia (Wingard & Lester, 2001).

2. Historical development

Narrative therapy emerged from the family therapy movement of the 1970s and 1980s. White and Epston moved away from the cybernetic metaphors of early systemic therapy toward a text and story metaphor. Their shift drew on the “interpretive turn” in the social sciences, and its explicit attention to power and dominant discourse made it a distinct tradition.

Narrative ideas entered social work through family therapy, counselling and critical and postmodern social work (Healy, 2014; Payne, 2021). Their focus on power, voice and the social shaping of identity fitted social work values. Australian origins and the Dulwich Centre’s community work have given narrative practice a strong presence in Australian social work education and practice.

3. Practical guidance

The following practices translate narrative ideas into everyday social work.

• Listen for the dominant story and its effects. Note labels such as “bad mother” or “difficult client”, and ask how these descriptions affect the person’s life and relationships (White, 2007).
• Externalise the problem. Invite the person to name the problem in their own words, such as “the worry” or “the drink”, and explore its tactics and influence.
• Search for unique outcomes. Ask about times the problem had less influence. Then ask what the person did, what it says about what they value, and who would not be surprised.
• Thicken preferred stories. Link unique outcomes across past, present and future, and connect them to the person’s values and relationships.
• Use documents. Letters, certificates and written summaries record preferred stories and extend the work beyond sessions (White & Epston, 1990).
• Bring in witnesses. With consent, involve family, peers or community members to acknowledge the person’s preferred identity.
• Work collectively where appropriate. Collective narrative methods, such as the Tree of Life, can support groups and communities affected by shared hardship (Denborough, 2008).

4. Critical evaluation

Strengths. Narrative therapy is respectful, non-pathologising and attentive to power. Externalising reduces blame and helps families and services work together against a problem. Its focus on culture and community suits work with marginalised groups, including Aboriginal communities, when practice is shaped with those communities (Wingard & Lester, 2001). Its methods can be adapted for children, groups and community projects.

Limitations. The research base is small compared with CBT and consists mainly of case studies, qualitative studies and small trials (Etchison & Kleist, 2000). Some studies are promising, including an Australian trial for adults with depression (Vromans & Schweitzer, 2011). The approach’s language can be difficult to learn, and fidelity is hard to define. Minuchin (1998) argued that narrative therapy’s focus on individual stories can lose sight of family interaction. Externalising may also be inappropriate when a person needs to take responsibility for harm, such as in family violence, unless used carefully.

Overall importance. Narrative therapy is one of Australia’s most significant contributions to international practice. It gives social workers practical conversational tools that connect individual identity to culture, power and community. Its values align closely with anti-oppressive and strengths-based social work.

5. References

• Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press.
• Denborough, D. (2008). Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma. Dulwich Centre Publications.
• Denborough, D. (2014). Retelling the stories of our lives: Everyday narrative therapy to draw inspiration and transform experience. W. W. Norton.
• Etchison, M., & Kleist, D. M. (2000). Review of narrative therapy: Research and utility. The Family Journal, 8(1), 61–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480700081009
• Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. W. W. Norton.
• Healy, K. (2014). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Minuchin, S. (1998). Where is the family in narrative family therapy? Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 24(4), 397–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1998.tb01094.x
• Morgan, A. (2000). What is narrative therapy? An easy-to-read introduction. Dulwich Centre Publications.
• Payne, M. (2021). Modern social work theory (5th ed.). Red Globe Press.
• Vromans, L. P., & Schweitzer, R. D. (2011). Narrative therapy for adults with major depressive disorder: Improved symptom and interpersonal outcomes. Psychotherapy Research, 21(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503301003591792
• White, M. (1995). Re-authoring lives: Interviews and essays. Dulwich Centre Publications.
• White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. W. W. Norton.
• White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. W. W. Norton.
• Wingard, B., & Lester, J. (2001). Telling our stories in ways that make us stronger. Dulwich Centre Publications.