What Is Narrative Therapy? Poststructural and Narrative Thinking in Family Therapy Practice

Abstract

The introductory chapter to this book on “Poststructural and Narrative Thinking in Family Therapy Practice” gives a brief description of narrative therapy as well as a rendition of what has become possible in the furthering of narrative ideas and practices. The work of narrative theorists and practitioners has a wide reach from the Southern Hemisphere to countries across the globe; the selections in this book not only emphasize concepts that originated with Michael White but also expand his thinking to new possibilities. The emphasis on meaning, positioning, and understanding problems as created by a cultural understanding cuts across all the chapters. It may seem that a therapist may not have a solid foot on which to stand, but then, no one really does. So, from a narrative/poststructural perspective, the work is to co-create an agreed upon place to co-research possibilities for future-preferred performances—a stance of both protest and wonder.