Narrative Therapy

It’s All About the Story

Experiences create stories.

Stories create our identity.

Sometimes, those stories have unwanted or unhelpful parts, affecting our identity, and thus our lives.  Narrative Therapy helps us separate our past experiences from our identity, allowing us to let go of those unwanted or unhelpful parts of ourselves.

Narrative Therapy for Trauma Healing at The Bridge to Recovery

Narrative Therapy is often very in-depth, which makes our environment of healing a perfect platform for its use.  We utilize Narrative Therapy at The Bridge in the following ways:

Writing Your Story

This process allows us to explore our story in detail.  Writing it down allows us to dig deep into our conscious and subconscious memory. We are able to:

• Find our voice.
• Identify the meaning.
• Identify unwanted or problem parts of our story.

Un-Owning Our Story

Stories become our identity, even the unwanted parts.  With the help of our group process and trained clinicians, we can step back from our stories and:

• Observe ourselves from a different perspective, putting space between ourselves and our story.
• Open up our stories to change.
• Let go of the unwanted and unhelpful parts of our story.
• Break down our story into small, manageable parts to help identify problem areas, making it feel more approachable. 

Becoming Un-Stuck in our Story

We can become stuck in our stories, which can feel very concrete and unchanging, making the problems and unwanted parts of those stories feel very concrete and unchangeable. Through the use of Narrative Therapy, we become un-stuck by:

• Being able to accept that there may be alternative stories.
• Improving our problem solving skills.
• Challenging unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaving.
• Allowing us to forgive and heal.
• Find and use our voice for positive things.

Narrative Therapy has been found to be successful because it treats the client with respect and with a non-blaming focus.  It also allows clients to be an active participant in their own stories, leading to emotional wellness.

For more information on this or any therapies we utilize at The Bridge to Recovery, or to see if our program may be a good fit for you, a loved one, or a client, please call us today.