`A densely packed book with interesting and valuable research gleaned from a wide variety of therapy approaches, Narrative and Psychotherapy furnishes the reader with a cogent historical appraisal of the way psychotherapy, culture and storytelling fit together.... A good reference book for counsellors and students.... The authors′ students, and clients, must be very happy that he has the interest and the capacity to tune in to others in such a fresh manner′ - Counselling, The Journal of the British Association for Counselling
The core of psychotherapy can be seen as a process in which the client comes to tell, and then re-author, an individual life-story or personal narrative. The author of this book argues that all therapies are, therefore, narrative therapies, and that the counselling experience can be understood in terms of telling and retelling stories. If the story is not heard, then the therapist and the client are deprived of the most effective and mutually involving mode of discourse open to them.
Taking a narrative approach also requires thinking about the nature of truth, the concept of the person, the relationship between therapist and client, and the knowledge base of psychotherapy. John McLeod examines the role and significance of stories in psychotherapy from within a broad-based cultural and theoretical framework.
Table of Contents:
Psychotherapy, Culture and Storytelling
How They Fit Together
Narrative Knowing
The Nature and Function of Storytelling in Psychotherapy
Narrative in Therapy
Psychodynamic Approaches
Constructivist Narrative Therapies
Narrative Therapy from a Social Constructionist Perspective
The Process of Narrative Therapy
Strategies for the Retrieval of Meaning
Postmodern Narrative Therapy
A Case Example
Reinventing Therapy
About the Author :
John McLeod has held appointments in universities in the UK, New Zealand and Italy, and is currently Professor of Counselling at the Institute for Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, Dublin, and Professor of Psychology, University of Oslo. He is committed to promoting the relevance of research as a means of informing therapy practice and improving the quality of services that are available to clients, and has received an award from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy for his exceptional contribution to research. His writing has influenced a generation of trainees in the field of counselling, counselling psychology and psychotherapy, and his books are widely adopted on training programmes across the world.
Review :
`This is a very good book, representing a really enormous heave forward in our discussions of psychotherapy... it is crucially important to the big questions. At one point McLeod makes the point that the enormous compendium on research in psychotherapy by Bergin and Garfield (4th edition 1994) contains in its index not one reference to narrative or storytelling. I can′t believe that the same will be said of the 5th edition, now that this book has appeared′ - Self & Society
`The book... ranges over wide areas and renders comprehensible large amounts of frequently complex material. Narrative is seen... as a bedrock of all counselling practice... Narrative therapy in general, and McLeod′s book in particular, are constructions whose moment has come. As so often, McLeod brings both sophistication and lightness of touch to his contribution to the counselling literature′ - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling
`A densely packed book with interesting and valuable research gleaned from a wide variety of therapy approaches, Narrative and Psychotherapy furnishes the reader with a cogent historical appraisal of the way psychotherapy, culture and storytelling fit together.... John McLeod′s awareness of old and very new counselling practices, which underscore the importance of the client′s narrative within a social and cultural context, is well explored and stimulating. There is an extensive bibliography and case examples. A good reference book for counsellors and students, it provides exposure to different points of view about the relationship between narrative and psychotherapy.... The authors′ students, and clients, must be very happy that he has the interest and the capacity to tune in to others in such a fresh manner′ - Counselling, The Journal of the British Association for Counselling
`The "turn to meaning" in psychotherapy... is everywhere in evidence. Its most powerful manifestation in the therapeutic sphere is in the domain of narrative. We owe John McLeod an enormous debt for weaving together the disparate threads of narrative work into a splendidly illuminating tapestry. With a finely tuned sensitivity to history, culture and value, McLeod not only places this work into critical perspective, but moves discussion significantly forward. This is essential reading′ - Kenneth J Gergen
`Easy yet thought-provoking reading. While highly recommended for any practicing therapist, Mcleod also provides a strong foundation for researchers seeking to explore the role of narrative in therapy and/or the connections between narrative and society. Both types of future research are necessary to satisfy two key aspects of McLeod′s agenda: creating therapists skilled in perceiving differences in story construction and performance, and using therapy `as a means of discovering the stories that enable us to connect with each other and with the traditions that make us who we are′ ′ - Discource and Society
