Talk:Narrative therapy

Wikification
Wikified as part of the Wikification wikiproject! JubalHarshaw 15:14, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Change in narrative therapy information.
I am getting my Masters degree in social work and I attended a workshop by Michael White. From that workshop I wrote a paper on Narrative Therapy. When I examined this site there was only an unreadable (in my opinion) overview of narrative therapy and some common elements. So, after I wrote my paper, I incorporated it into this site. I hope it is informative and helpful. Feel free to cut out, or shorten any long winded paragraphs. Or remove it entirely if you deem it garbage. I left the original authors overview and common elements. Even if I don't like it, it may be useful to others. I hope this is acceptable Wikipedia behavior, I have never made such a big change to an article.

User: Aptdwn26

I have recently returned from a Michael White workshop of two weeks in Adelaide (April 2007). After reading the text in this overview of Narrative Therapy (NT) I am grateful for the articulate exposition of the author. For one bit, however, someone has interpolated a passage on Sorrow, as pasted below, which in my opinion has little if any association with Narrative Therapy because: 1) White doesn't use the term "sorrow" or consider it a key part of his conversations with people; 2) in the source referenced and elsewhere White doesn't use a heavily delvelopmental perspective and, again, no use of "Sorrow," though he's very familiar with and interestested in the developmental knowledge of Vygotsky as applied to Trauma; 3) the source referenced (White, 2000) does not use the word "Sorrow" nor contain the cocnepts attributed to him; 4) a close reading of the text below reveals no interest or relevance to Narrative Therapy and a shift to much less focused sentences. Now for the bogus text, as pasted below, which I have deleted from the Wikipedia entry on NT:

Examination of Sorrow
Problems happen to every person in this world. On the day we are born, we are taken away from what is comforting and what is certain. As we progress through our lives more problems emerge that we must face, and that causes us sorrow. This sorrow is identified by its bearer, who remembers it as he passes through life. Through the telling of this sorrow, the client and the therapist can identify what the client finds significant within her life. The examination of a client’s sorrow can show him the inverse. This can broaden the client’s understandings about her moral convictions and bring to light what beliefs and values she holds dear. This examination may also show clients a purpose they have always had in life but failed to recognize, or important commitments within their lives that they have neglected (White, 2005, pp 19).

Different experiences cause different levels of sorrow of every individual. The strength of this psychological pain can show to what degree they hold such values, morals, or purposes. By identifying the severities of their problems, the therapist and the client can understand what the client finds the most important in life.

Within the process of therapy, these instances of pain and sorrow are identified and fully explored. Through this exploration, concepts that the client first believed as true, may now be identified as false. This revelation by the client can empower clients to make changes in their lives, improve their current situations, and alleviate their inner turmoil (White, 2005, pp 20).

No history??
Does Narrative therapy recognize any historical precursors of its method, or do its creators give credit to any philosophical or psychological schools of thought which have contributed to, or preceded it such as existentialist or phenomenology pioneers? I hope that the authors would be humble enough to give credit to their sources. If they have done so in any one of their publications then I suggest this material be immediately added to the entry, particularly as increasing criticism on the WWW cites the cultish exclusivity of narrative psychology/therapy, as well as its leader's supposed messianic overtones (not giving credit to historical sources). 124.177.174.58 (talk) 13:06, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

In-text citations needed
Please add in-text citations. This request is indeed a "dominating cultural narrative" from Wikipedia policy, sorry if it interferes with the individualist narrative of not wanting to provide citations. 124.177.174.58 (talk) 06:32, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Further reading section removed
I removed the following listing, which seems to be little more then a bunch of linkspam. A listing of ten key books is more then enough here. -- Marcel Douwe Dekker (talk) 19:11, 1 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Denborough, D. (Ed.) (2002). Queer counselling and narrative practice. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Denborough, D. (Ed.) (2006). Trauma: Narrative responses to traumatic experience. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Diabetes Counseling (2006). Outsider Witness Register. Retrieved November 23, 2006
 * Epston, D. (1998). ‘Catching up’ with David Epston: A collection of narrative practice-based papers published between 1991 & 1996. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Epston, D. & White, M. (1991). Experience, contradiction, narrative and imagination: Selected papers of David Epston and Michael White, 1989-1991. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Freedman, J. & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. New York: WW Norton.
 * Freedman, J. & Combs, G. (2002). Narrative therapy with couples…and a whole lot more!: A collection of papers, essays and exercises. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Freeman, J., Epston, D. & Lobovits, D. (1997). Playful approaches to serious problems: Narrative therapy with children and their families. New York: W.W. Norton.
 * Hedtke, L. & Winslade, J. (2004). Re-membering lives: Conversations with the dying and the bereaved. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing.
 * Madigan, S., & Law, I. (1998). Praxis: Situating discourse, feminism and politics in narrative therapies. Vancouver: Yaletown Family Therapy Publications.
 * Monk, G., Winslade, J., Crocket, K., & Epston, D. (Eds.) (1997). Narrative therapy in practice: The archaeology of hope. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 * Morgan, A. (2000). What is narrative therapy?: An easy-to-read introduction. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Payne, Martin. (2000). Narrative Therapy, An Introduction for Counsellors. London: Sage Publications.
 * Russell, S., & Carey. M. (2004). Narrative therapy: Responding to your questions. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. (1995). Re-authoring lives: Interviews and essays. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. (1997). Narratives of therapists’ lives. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. (2000). Reflections on narrative practice: Essays and interviews. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. (2005). Narrative practice and exotic lives: Resurrecting diversity in everyday life. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. (2005). Workshop Notes. Retrieved November 25, 2006
 * White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. NY: W.W. Norton.
 * White, M. and Epston, D. (1989) Literate Means to Therapeutic Ends.  Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * White, M. & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York: WW Norton.
 * White, M. & Morgan A. (2006). Narrative therapy with children and their families. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
 * Winslade, John & Monk, Gerald. (2000). Narrative Mediation: A New Approach to Conflict Resolution. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  ISBN 0-7879-4192-1
 * Zimmerman, J. & Dickerson, V. (1996). If problems talked: Narrative therapy in action. New York: Guilford.

Further comment
I will re-add some of those publications myslef as references, where mentioned. -- Marcel Douwe Dekker (talk) 19:21, 1 October 2009 (UTC

General Comment on Overview
The opening of this article (and indeed much of the body of it) uses too much jargon, and employs ridiculously turgid language such as--"By conceptualizing a non-essentialized identity..." What the what? The result is text that is almost unapproachable for even an educated reader. I am generally skeptical of philosophical and psychological systems that rely excessively on neologisms and the manipulation of narrowly defined technical terms, e.g., NLP. As it stands, the opening of this article gives the impression that one is encountering just such a questionable system here. If this is not the case, then plainer language should suffice for an introduction to the subject matter.Thaliomiles (talk) 21:34, 1 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, this article sucks. If someone proposes deleting it, let me know. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:13, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Psychology Capstone
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