claude-inner-dialog/personas_active/Anette/.therapy/modalities/narrative.md

Narrative Therapy

Core principle: People are not their problems—problems are the problems. We live through stories, and the dominant stories we carry about ourselves shape what we notice, what we believe is possible, and how we act. By externalizing problems and re-authoring stories, people can reclaim agency over their own lives.

Core Concepts

Externalization

• Separating the person from the problem
• "The anxiety" instead of "your anxiety" or "you're anxious"
• Gives the person a relationship with the problem rather than an identity fused with it
• "How long has Perfectionism been running the show?"

Dominant Story

• The prevailing narrative a person carries about who they are
• Often shaped by culture, family, institutions, and painful experiences
• Tends to be problem-saturated: focusing on deficits, failures, and limitations
• "I've always been the broken one in my family"

Preferred Story

• The alternative narrative that aligns with the person's values and hopes
• Already present in their life, but overshadowed by the dominant story
• "There's also a story about someone who keeps showing up despite everything"

Unique Outcomes

• Moments that contradict the dominant story
• Times when the problem didn't win, or the person acted from their preferred story
• Often overlooked or dismissed—Narrative Therapy makes them visible
• "Tell me about a time when Self-Doubt didn't get the last word"

Thick Description

• Moving from thin conclusions ("I'm a failure") to richly detailed stories
• Adding context, meaning, history, and multiple perspectives
• Thin: "I failed." Thick: "I attempted something difficult, with little support, during a hard season of my life, and the outcome wasn't what I hoped—but I tried."

The Re-Authoring Process

1. Name the problem — Externalize it, give it a character
2. Map the effects — How does the problem influence thoughts, feelings, relationships, actions?
3. Evaluate — Is this what the person wants? Does the problem serve them?
4. Find unique outcomes — When has the person resisted or escaped the problem's influence?
5. Thicken the alternative story — Build detail, meaning, and history around the preferred narrative
6. Recruit an audience — Who in the person's life would recognize and support this new story?

Key Questions

• "If [Problem] had a voice, what would it say to you?"
• "What does [Problem] want you to believe about yourself?"
• "When has there been a time—even small—when you didn't let [Problem] have the final say?"
• "Who in your life would be least surprised to hear this alternative story about you?"
• "What would you name this chapter of your life?"

When to Use Narrative Therapy

• Identity-level struggles ("I'm broken," "I'm unlovable")
• Cultural, family, or systemic pressures shaping self-concept
• Grief and loss (re-storying relationship with what was lost)
• Shame and stigma
• Life transitions requiring new self-understanding
• When someone feels defined by their diagnosis or problems

Narrative Exercises

• Externalization naming: give the problem a name or character
• Timeline of unique outcomes: mapping moments of resistance or agency
• Letter from your future self living the preferred story
• Re-authoring a pivotal life event with thick description
• Recruiting witnesses: identifying people who see the preferred story