Narrative Therapy

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 15, 2026

Quick answer: narrative therapy holds that "the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem" and helps people re-author problem-saturated life stories.

Contents

1. Background
2. Key techniques
3. Characteristics
4. References

Background

Michael White in Australia and David Epston in New Zealand drew on social constructionism and Michel Foucault's ideas about discourse, arguing that people make sense of their lives through stories that shape identity. Their key book is Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends (1990).

Key techniques

Externalizing the problem: "when depression bothers the child" rather than "a depressed child".
Unique outcomes: moments when the problem did not win.
Re-authoring conversations: weaving unique outcomes into an alternative story.
Definitional ceremonies: outsider witnesses acknowledge the new story.
Therapeutic documents: letters and certificates that record change.

Characteristics

The therapist is a curious collaborator rather than an expert, and clients are treated as experts on their own lives. It is used in family therapy, child and youth counselling and trauma work.

References

White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. W. W. Norton.
White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. W. W. Norton.
Nichols, M. P., & Davis, S. D. (2020). Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods (12th ed.). Pearson.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

There are no materials dedicated to this theory yet, but you can search related reports in the CampusDown library (Korean).

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This article was last updated on October 15, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.