Counseling Theory Paper

Counseling Theory Paper

Maya Angelou (2014), a civil rights activist once stated, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” (pg 51) Stories are powerful in helping people share their deep feelings, map out their thoughts, and find meaning. Richert (2003) states, “People by nature are meaning makers” who try to make sense of the world through stories (pg 203). Narrative Therapy utilizes the stories clients tell themselves, putting events into a sequence to examine their life and create new alternate narratives. I believe Narrative Therapy has some valuable benefits, challenges to be aware of, and some cultural implications that should be considered when utilizing this method of counseling. Benefits of Narrative

First it provides a client an opportunity to share their story in an environment that’s non-blaming and respectful. The client is the expert, determining the focus of the session. The counselor and the client work together in a collaborative approach to pull out the dominant stories. Together they look at times when the client was exposed to negative experiences, filtered out parts of their story or had their story trivialized. This process externalizes the problem, opening up new conversations for positive change (Sliep and Meyer-Weiss, 2003). The counselor helps the client to separate themselves from the problem to seek out an alternative story (White & Epston 1990). Externalization allows the client to think rationally about the problem, to discover new solutions and avoid feeling stuck. (Sween 1998). Counselors use a strengths based approach, utilizing the skills, values, beliefs and abilities that the client already possessed to help them change the story they are

One risk, is that the counselor may not be seen as the expert in the relationship. Through the process of collaboration, the responsibility lies on the client to guide the discussion. The counselor must continually check in with the client to verify that they are moving towards the stated goals. Research by Monk and Gerald (1996) challenged the idea that the client can speak truthfully about the success of the therapy to the counselor because of the power discrepancy that exists.

Another challenge is the potential of the client avoiding personal responsibility. The central process of externalizing the problem in Narrative Therapy, can be a potential hazard if the client doesn’t accept responsibility for problems. The client must stand back from the problem, evaluate it, then for real change to occur, apply the insight gained to reach their goals and realize change.

CULTURAL