Narrative Therapy

As humans, we all live our own “story.” This narrative of our lives becomes ingrained in our psyche, self-esteem and how we relate to others. When you suffer drug or alcohol addiction, that substance use disorder takes over as your narrative. But you are so much more than this jaded view of yourself, as you learn in narrative therapy.

What is Narrative Therapy?

Narrative therapy helps you separate yourself from your problems. In this way, you can pull yourself away from your story and see how your narrative helps, shields or even hurts your life. From this new point of view, you feel empowered to make changes in your thoughts about yourself. You work on creating new thought patterns and behaviors to rewrite your narrative and build the life you want. Many people enter this type of therapy program each year, including individuals, families, and couples. The method works best in an array of addiction therapy services used for recovery. Red Oak Recovery^® treatment for men with addiction includes rewriting your narrative for a fresh start and the lifelong sobriety you want. This counseling works very well for people who see themselves as their problems. If you include yourself in this group, you frequently define yourself as the struggles you face. For example, you say, “I am a drug addict” or “I am an anxious person.” Through narrative therapy, you learn to view yourself and your problems separately without labeling yourself.

What to Expect from Your Narrative Counseling Sessions

At the start of your narrative therapy sessions, your therapists will ask you what you want to talk about. They guide you through this conversation and regularly check to ensure you still want to discuss the same subject. At some point, the therapist guides you talk about positive stories from your life. These help you see your positive traits and skills. It also flushes out skills you can use to fix your life problems. Through this therapy and discussion, you discover your own ability to think positively about yourself. You also see the productive ways you can view your life and future. You realize you only need to stop labeling yourself, as it holds you back from your real potential. As part of your therapy, you start seeing your life events as stories in the bigger picture of your life. Some traumatic or highly positive events come out as more significant than smaller stories. You tend to rely on the negative ones to shape your identity. So as your therapy progresses, you start seeing yourself like your therapist does, as a multi-tiered person with great potential. Your narrative therapist does not take the position of an expert in your sessions. Instead, you are your own expert in your life. So you hold the power to unveil the dreams, goals, skills, and values you want to pursue in your life. These all lead you to a better narrative about yourself, a more accurate self-portrait.