Narrative therapy was proposed by specialists Michael White and David Epston, who were developing it during the 1970s and 1980s. This psychological technique consists of placing the patient as the expert of his own story, that is, he begins to play the role of narrator. Psychologist Adrián Triglia explains that this strategy proposes that the patient’s experiences be “interpellated and reformulated” through the story of the events. The key to narrative therapy is to separate the person’s problems, so that they do not define them and limit how they perceive reality.
Through this type of therapy, the patient is able to externalize the problem, as something separate from the individual, which will have an impact when it comes to expressing himself verbally in a different way. Instead of having their perception of the problems limited, the patient will develop alternative narratives, which will be useful for both therapist and patient to reach certain conclusions or explanations.
To better understand what narrative therapy consists of, it is worth clarifying some of its characteristics. Carlos Chimpén, psychologist and president of the Spanish Association of Narrative Therapy, explains what the premises of this technique are. One of the pillars being the concept of separation between the fact and the individual: “The problem is the problem and the person is the person.” Therefore, it is essential that these are analyzed apart from the patient, that they are externalized.
On the other hand, narrative therapy helps to overcome all those conditions that mark and limit stories. “The word history has to do with a series of events that are related through a temporal sequence,” says the specialist. And, to build this chain of events, a process of choosing and discarding has been undertaken among all those who are part of the story. Which is also defined by cultural and social factors, as highlighted by Carlos Chimpén.
The main function of narrative therapy has to do with allowing a person to reconstruct their own identity and history through an adaptive narrative mode. For this reason, it is important that you be able to externalize the problems and your story, as well as leave aside all those limitations and conditions that affect the story and prevent you from contemplating other relevant facts and/or points of view.
So narrative therapy also serves that purpose, taking into account different elements that were left out in the sequence of events that was originally created by the patient. This will have a positive impact on his vision of the future and the way he is able to express himself.
