Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends

14 May 2024

Territory Rights — Worldwide, excluding Australia and New Zealand.

David Epston (Author), Michael White (Author)

Description

Use of letter-writing in family therapy.

White and Epston base their therapy on the assumption that people experience problems when the stories of their lives, as they or others have invented them, do not sufficiently represent their lived experience. Therapy then becomes a process of storying or restorying the lives and experiences of these people. In this way narrative comes to play a central role in therapy. Both authors share delightful examples of a storied therapy that privileges a person’s lived experience, inviting a reflexive posture and encouraging a sense of authorship and reauthorship of one’s experiences and relationships in the telling and retelling of one’s story.

Reviews

"Breaking new ground in any field is a major accomplishment. To do so in different directions at the same time, and in doing so, open up whole new territories, reflects a tour de force. In my opinion, Michael White and David Epston are engaged in just this kind of trailblazing for the field of family therapy. This compact book represents a distillate of some of their major achievements. It charts a series of bold strides in their reconnaissance into the domain of human problems and stakes out some original therapeutic contributions." — Karl Tomm, MD, University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine

"I was recently asked where the fresh new ideas were in therapy. And I replied, "from the land down under." David Epston and Michael White are pushing the frontiers with a creative new approach to effective psychotherapy. Their humanness and respect for the strengths of the people with whom they work shine through in this book. Throw some shrimp on the barbie, put your feet up, and be prepared for a treat." — William Hudson O’Hanlon, MS, coauthor of In Search of Solutions

Also By: David Epston

Narrative Therapy in Wonderland: Connecting with Children's Imaginative Know-How
David Epston, Laurie Markham, David Marsten
Paperback, 2024
The remarkable power of connecting with children’s voices and imagination in narrative therapy.
Narrative Therapy in Wonderland: Connecting with Children's Imaginative Know-How
David Marsten, David Epston, Laurie Markham
E Book, 2016
Recognising and utilising the power of children’s voices and imagination in narrative therapy.
Biting the Hand that Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia
Richard Maisel, David Epston, Ali Borden
Hardback, 2004
This important book immediately draws the reader into the world of those struggling with anorexia/bulimia (a/b), whose stories, poems, and first-person accounts expose the 'voice' of these deadly...
Playful Approaches to Serious Problems: Narrative Therapy with Children and their Families
David Epston, Jennifer Freeman, Dean Lobovits
Hardback, 1997
The "grown-up talk" of therapy is likely to turn off children - especially if it focuses on their problematic behavior. The highly effective techniques of narrative therapy include children by...

Also By: Michael White

Narrative Practice: Continuing the Conversations
Michael White
E Book, 2011
Final thoughts from the now-deceased leader of narrative therapy.
Narrative Practice: Continuing the Conversations
Michael White
Hardback, 2011
Final thoughts from the now-deceased leader of narrative therapy.
Maps of Narrative Practice
Michael White
Hardback, 2007
Michael White, one of the founders of narrative therapy, is back with his first major publication since the seminal Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, which Norton published in 1990.