Narrative Therapy
You are not defined by your problems. Narrative Therapy aims to help you reframe painful experiences and rewrite them with strength, meaning and compassion.
What Is Narrative Therapy?
Narrative Therapy helps individuals, families, or couples reinterpret and rewrite life events into true but enhanced narratives. It is a collaborative therapeutic approach developed by Michael White and David Epston in the 1980s that views people as separate from their problems.
This approach focuses on the stories people tell about their lives and helps them re-author these narratives in more empowering ways.
The core premise is that we make sense of our lives through the stories we construct about our experiences. When people come to therapy, they often have problem-saturated stories that dominate their identity – for instance, seeing themselves as “depressed” or “anxious” rather than as people who are experiencing depression or anxiety.
Key techniques in narrative therapy include externalisation, where problems are viewed as separate from the person’s identity.
Narrative therapy is particularly effective for issues involving shame, trauma, and identity concerns, as it helps people reclaim authorship of their own life stories while acknowledging the social and cultural contexts that shape their experiences.
Key Concepts Of Narrative Therapy
Narrative Therapy can be broken down into various key concepts, namely:
Alternate Outcomes
Clinicians can help you distinguish the times when the problem was not evident or when you handled it differently, also known as “unique moments”.
For instance, someone who struggles with social anxiety could have done a class presentation without panicking, and you and the clinician would explore what was different in that moment and how you can build on it.
These exceptions become the foundation for developing alternative, preferred stories about who you are and what you are capable of. The goal is to find the most helpful outcome when reframing and rewriting.
Building Narratives (Re-authoring)
This involves building narratives and reiterating life experiences into stories. In this, clinicians may ask you to share your own life stories from various angles and perspectives, followed by you then observing each story externally. This helps you start to restructure your narratives about your life.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction in Narrative Therapy involves helping you break down and question the dominant stories, ideas, beliefs, and cultural messages that shape how you see yourself and your problems. With you, the origin of the narratives is explored, who benefits from them, and what power structures they reflect. For example, rather than accepting “I’m a failure” as truth, deconstruction explores how this story developed and what cultural messages support it.
The process challenges both personal beliefs and broader social discourses about things like gender, success, or mental health that may be contributing to one’s distress. It also questions the language used to describe problems, revealing how certain words or labels can limit possibilities.
By exposing these stories as constructed rather than fixed truths, deconstruction creates space for you to develop alternative, more empowering narratives about your lives and identities. Some techniques of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are also used.
Existentialism
Existentialism is not a core part of narrative therapy, but both share some similarities. Both emphasise that you actively create meaning and construct your identities rather than being fixed by diagnoses or circumstances. They also value authenticity – living according to one’s genuine values rather than external expectations.
Externalisation
Putting together the story of our lives allows us to observe ourselves from outside the story, helping create distance between ourselves and the problem; this is called externalisation.
A key concept of Narrative Therapy is externalising problematic stories from your identity, which can involve using positive self-talk and analysing personality traits related to the stories.
Observing different storylines that involve a specific trait can help separate it from your identity. Instead of “I am depressed,” the language shifts to “depression has been influencing my life.”
This creates space for you to examine your relationship with the problem and identify moments when you have resisted or overcome its influence. The aim is to help you separate yourself from the stories you have constructed about yourself.
How Narrative Therapy Works
Narrative therapy is seen as a collaborative, non-pathologising process in which the clinician and you work together in exploring, deconstructing and re-writing your life story.
This typically involves:
- Externalising the problem (e.g. How does anxiety influence your relationships?)
- Exploring the impacts of the problems in different life domains
- Finding unique outcomes
- Giving more importance to alternative stories with the help of documentation, reflection or audience (e.g. affirming the new narrative)
This process works to empower you to see your experiences from different angles and view yourself as agents of change in your own lives.
Benefits Of Narrative Therapy
1. Displaces Blame
In Narrative Therapy, you are encouraged to separate yourself from any self-blame and from blaming others when telling your story. You are encouraged to work through your stories without placing blame on yourself or others. Instead, they focus on recognising and challenging unwanted narratives of yourself and others.
2. Improves Respect
You are treated with respect and supported in the process of participating in narrative therapy, as it takes bravery to come forward and work through the challenges.
3. Provides Clients With Agency
Narrative therapy develops agency by helping you see yourself as active authors of your stories rather than passive victims of problems. The approach deconstructs dominant cultural messages that may have limited your sense of possibility, while exploring preferred identities focuses on who you want to become. Throughout, clinicians use questions that make you experts on your own lives, reinforcing your authority and capacity to shape your narrative and make meaningful choices.
When Is Narrative Therapy Used?
Narrative therapy can be beneficial for anyone who feels overwhelmed by thoughts, emotions or negative experiences. This form of therapy stresses the need for you not to label yourself as the problem or broken, or for you to feel powerless in your life.
Some issues that Narrative Therapy can help with include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Attachment Issues
- ADHD
- Grief
- Eating Disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
How Can Us Help You?
Experienced Therapists
Our processes and quality assurance is led by Dr Emma Waddington, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Us Therapy, with over 20+ years of experience in helping individuals in Singapore.
Holistic & Personalised Approach
Our clinicians draw from various therapeutic models to create a holistic approach. At Us, we have seen hundreds of clients and we recognise that each individual is unique. Our approach is tailored to you but always includes customised treatment plans and integrative techniques.
Thorough Assessment
At Us, we pride ourselves on our comprehensive assessment processes. We will undergo a thorough assessment process with you in your first sessions before we come up with a plan for your therapy.
Our Therapists
What To Expect In Narrative Therapy?
Storytelling and Re-Storying
You may be asked to share your experiences and examine them together with your clinician. Some clinicians may use letters or writing to support your re-authoring process.
Collaborative Conversations
Instead of a one-sided diagnostic session, you will examine elements collaboratively.
Questions
To explore meaning, values and what you desire in your future. It is important to know that you are the expert in your life; your clinician will always be a curious, respectful and empathetic listener.
Fees
Individual Counselling Rates
Clinician type
Fees and Duration
Clinic Founder
$310
Principal Psychologist
$290
Senior Clinical Psychologist
$262
Educational Psychologist
$262
Clinical Psychologist
$236
Counsellor
$170
Expressive Arts Therapist
$170
Associate Psychologist
$130
Phone calls / Emails
Clinicians rate pro-rata (10 Mins)
FAQs About Narrative Therapy
Is Narrative Therapy the same as CBT?
No, Narrative Therapy is not the same as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. While both are talk therapies, they differ in their theory, goals, and techniques. Here is a simplified breakdown:
| Narrative Therapy | CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) |
|---|---|
| Focus on how people find meaning through your stories | Focus on identifying and changing negative and distorted behaviours and thoughts |
| Sees the problem as separate from you | Sees thoughts, behaviours and emotions as interconnected within you |
| Technique: Externalise the problem eg. anger is trying to control me | Technique: cognitive restructuring eg. let’s challenge the beliefs that give me anxiety |
| Approach: non-pathologising, strength-based, collaborative | Approach: structured, evidence-focused, skills-based |
| Goal: help you to rewrite your stories to what you prefer and will value them | Goal: help you develop more realistic thinking and healthier behaviours |
What is the aim of Narrative Therapy?
Narrative therapy aims to help you re-author your life stories in a way that allows them to reflect on your strengths, values, and preferred identities, rather than being defined by your problems and diagnoses.
What are the 5 steps of Narrative Therapy?
The five concepts of Narrative Therapy are exploring alternate outcomes, building narratives, deconstruction, existentialism and externalisation.