POSTMODERN APPROACHES

KEY CONCEPTS

• Therapy tends to be brief and addresses the present and the future
• The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem
• Externalize the problem and look for exceptions to the problem
• Therapist and client co-create solutions
• Identify when problem did not exist   
• Client can create new meanings for themselves and fashion a new life story (Corey,2009)

GOALS OF THERAPY

• To change the way clients view problems and what they can do about these concerns.
• To collaboratively establish specific, clear, concrete, realistic, and observable goals leading to increase positive change.
• To help clients create a self-identity grounded on competence and resourcefulness so they can resolve present and future concerns.
• To assist clients in viewing their lives in positive ways, rather than being problem saturated. (Corey,2009)

 TECHNIQUES

• Main technique is change talk, with emphasis on times in client's lives when a problem was not a problem.
• Creative use of questioning, the miracle question, and scaling question, which assist clients into developing alternative stories.
• In narritive therapy, specific techniques include listening to a client's problems and saturated story without getting stuck, eternalizing and naming the problem, externalizing coversations, and discovering clues to competence.
• Narrative therapists often write letters to clients and assist them in finding an audience that will support their changes and new stories. (Corey,2009)

FOUNDERS

• Insoo Kim Berg
• Steve de Shazer
• Michael White
• David Epston  (Corey,2009)

 

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psycotherapy. Fullerton: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.