【Narrative Therapy and Community

Ⅰ. What did the writings offer?

The four articles in this episode tell us how to find the absent but implicit key points in re-engaging history through double listening, and open the door from problem stories to preferred stories.

Conceptually, the four articles focus on two main ideas of narrative therapy:

1. "Absent but implicit" is the key point to turn the problem story into preferred story ( Michael White and Jill.freedman’s articles)

2.Recognizing the impact of mainstream culture on personal problems or dilemmas can help further externalize problems (David and Sophie's articles)

Ⅱ. Were there any aspects of the writings that resonated with your own experiences or learnings in different aspects of your practice? If so, in what way?

In terms of practice, I have gained two enlightenments:

1. Show enough respect to reduce clients’sensitivity to "intrusion"in narrative questioning

I asked a client who could not continuously and stably consult to me in ground room but finished 60 hours of on-line video consulting, what it meant for her to meet me from the Northen China to Southen by airplane just for once, I provoked her. In her feelings, asking her about the “meaning”was a kind of denial and rejection.When I was reading Michael White's and other narrative therapists’articles, I found that they would use "Could I/Do you mind if I ask some questions about...” to start questioning, with a friendly tone and a respectful gesture, which really makes people feel better. As a way to replace the "non naturalistic" expression, the narrative questioning needs to be paved with the relationship building and the conversation atmosphere creating, so that this questioning based method can be smoothly opened and progressed.

2. Inspire clients to enrich their own stories, rather than directly guide negative thinking and answers to change

Behind the double listening is our assumption that "the other side of the negative story has positive significance", but the narrative therapy is not to directly express our assumption and "reverse" the inherent thinking of the clients, but to create enough safe and friendly space for the clients to enrich these exceptional stories by themselves, and finally replace the emptiness and despair feeling like "the glass is half empty" with the filling and hopeful feeling like"the glass is half full", "Action landscape" and "identity landscape" are practical maps for us to find appropriate questions. A lot of examples in reading tell me how to use questions to inspire rich stories of clients.

Ⅲ. How did/could you put the ideas in the readings into practice?

First of all, I thought of the client who was provoked by the question about "meaning" and told me only after the conversation (after 60 sections of conversation, she showed and expressed strong transference to me, and often tried to break through the boundaries and gain privileges outside the consultation, which is also the recurrence of her mode in intimate and interpersonal relationships in life, affecting the stability and space required for reflection in consultation). By treatment letter, I explained and apologized, interpreted my narrative therapy orientation based working way and my consideration of our direction, and invited her to think and decide whether we can reach a consensus on the consultation direction and goal, whether we can match with each other, whether she was willing to continue working with me, and the client gave me feedback that she was so sensitive and easy to be provoked, It is necessary to find out whether she needs a “tree hole”to release her emotions or can really enter into the mentalization journey, and made an appointment with me to decide whether to continue the counseling after one month. I think she had felt my respect and recovered her calm thinking. All I have to do is to wait.

I finished the 225th conversation session with another young man who was trapped by his mother's mental abuse and coercion. At present, he has been away from his parents' home and is studying in Europe. His recent experiences on vacation and travel had enabled him to break through his fear, try to make a deeper connection with his family and outsiders who were opposed and blocked by his mother in the past. He found that he is willing to help others and has strong artistic appreciation from others' feedback, We entered the extended dialogue for the preferred story. Such a process to enrich the preferred story is very meaningful for the client to find his true self and liberate himself from the shadow of his mother's control.

Ⅳ. What differences did/could the ideas make to your practice?

For the former client, the narrative therapy method mainly helps me to integrate the methods in conversation(listening, questioning, feedback, etc.) and out of conversation(correspondence, etc.), which is more flexible but without losing principle and framework, and is very helpful to deal with the boundary issues with the client.

For the second client, the study of narrative therapy enables me to use more detailed questions to help the client enrich the story.

Ⅴ. What questions and/or dilemmas did they raise?

I still have some questions about the differences and connections between the concepts of retell, re-engaging and re-membership in narrative therapy.

Ⅵ. In what areas did they spark your curiosity?

The suppression and influence of mainstream culture on individual personality is a social and psychological problem that puzzles many people, especially in China's collectivist discourse system. The feelings of "dryness",”traps”and "cotton life" will arouse a lot of resonance in society. I have more curiosity to learn and try how to deal with such issues in individual and collective narrative practice.