Narrative Therapy: Re-authoring the Stories We Live By

Narrative Therapy is a collaborative, respectful approach to psychotherapy that helps individuals, couples, and families explore the stories they hold about themselves and their lives. Narrative Therapy sees problems as separate from people and believes that identity is shaped by the stories we tell and the meanings we attach to our experiences.

Often, when people come to therapy, they are living under the weight of a personal story full of problems. A narrative that feels limiting, painful, or stuck. Narrative Therapy invites clients to step back, examine that story with curiosity, and discover alternative narratives that reflect their values, hopes, skills, and preferred ways of being.

The Core Principles of Narrative Therapy

• You are not the problem – the problem is the problem
• People make meaning through stories, and those meanings can be reshaped
• Our identities are multi-storied, and therapy can uncover overlooked strengths and knowledge
• Language, culture, power, and context influence how stories are formed and sustained

What Happens in Narrative Therapy?

• explore how a particular problem story came to dominate your life
• identify exceptions: times when you resisted or stepped outside of that story
• Reflect on the values and commitments that matter most to you
• Re-author a new story that feels more aligned with your sense of self
• Examine how social, cultural, or intergenerational influences may have shaped your experience

• anxiety, depression, and self-doubt
• identity concerns and life transitions
• family or relational conflict
• trauma and experiences of marginalisation
• grief, loss, or illness
• parenting challenges or generational patterns