How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 168

Narrative therapy topics
Concept
Narrative therapy holds that our identities are shaped by the accounts of our lives found in our stories or
narratives. A narrative therapist is interested in helping others fully describe their rich stories and
trajectories, modes of living, and possibilities associated with them. At the same time, this therapist is
interested in co-investigating a problem's many influences, including on the person himself and on their
chief relationships.
By focusing on problems' effects on people's lives rather than on problems as inside or part of people,
distance is created. This externalization or objectification of a problem makes it easier to investigate and
evaluate the problem's influences.
Another sort of externalization is likewise possible when people reflect upon and connect with their
intentions, values, hopes, and commitments. Once values and hopes have been located in specific life
events, they help to “re-author”