Narrative Therapy

Narrative therapy was developed in Australia and New Zealand by Michael White and David Epston in the 1980s, drawing on social constructionism and the philosophy of Michel Foucault. It is built on the insight that we understand ourselves and our lives through the stories we tell — and that these stories are always selective, always constructed, and always open to revision. The problem is never the person; the problem is the problem. And by examining and re-authoring the dominant narratives that have shaped how we understand ourselves, we can find new and more expansive possibilities for who we are and how we live.

Core Practices of Narrative Therapy

• Externalizing the problem: separating the problem from the person's identity ("I have anxiety" rather than "I am anxious")
• Tracing the history of the problem: when did this story begin? whose voice is in it?
• Finding unique outcomes: times the problem did not dominate; exceptions to the problem story
• Re-authoring: building an alternative, thicker narrative that includes these exceptions
• Witnessing: inviting others to witness and affirm the new story
• Definitional ceremony: rituals of recognition that solidify emerging identity

Narrative Therapy and Identity

Narrative therapy is particularly powerful for questions of identity — for people who have internalized limiting or harmful stories about who they are, often transmitted by family, culture, or dominant social norms. The question "is this story actually true?" can be revolutionary. Many people have organized their lives around a story that was never really theirs to begin with — the "identified patient" in a family system, the "troubled child," the "failure," the "outsider." Narrative therapy offers a way to examine these stories and choose what to keep, what to revise, and what to leave behind.

Narrative Approaches at NEST

NEST clinicians who work with narrative approaches bring a deep respect for the uniqueness and complexity of each person's story. Narrative therapy at NEST is not a formula — it's a stance of genuine curiosity about your experience, your history, and the meanings you've made of your life. It is particularly well suited to work with life transitions, identity, grief, and any situation where the central task is making new meaning from difficult experience.