Narrative Therapy
Examining the story you’ve been told about yourself—and
rewriting the parts that aren’t yours.
“I realized at some point that the voice in my head—the critical one, the one that said I was too much and not enough at the same time— didn’t actually sound like me. It sounded like someone else. I just needed help figuring out whose voice it was and how to stop letting it narrate my whole life.”
What Is Narrative Therapy?
The voice in your head isn’t entirely your own. It’s been shaped by the people who raised you, the cultures you moved through, the relationships that hurt you, and the stories that have been told about you for as long as you can remember.
Some of that internal narration is useful. It guides you, motivates you, keeps you connected to your values. And some of it is borrowed—assumptions about who you are, what you deserve, what’s possible—that you took on so early you never thought to question them.
Narrative therapy is the work of separating the two. Together we look at the dominant stories running in your life—about your worth, your relationships, your identity, your future—and we trace where they came from. Whose voice is that, really? When did you first hear it? What did believing it cost you? What’s the story you’d tell if you didn’t have to carry the weight of someone else’s version?
This isn’t reframing for the sake of feeling better. It’s the slow, deliberate work of reclaiming authorship.
When Narrative
Therapy Fits
- Identity work, particularly around being LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, or growing up in a family or culture that didn’t see you clearly
- Healing from gaslighting, manipulation, or relationships that distorted your sense of self
- Releasing the long shadow of a parent’s voice that still narrates your inner life
- Working with shame, self-concept, and the chronic feeling of being “too much” or “not enough”
How I Work With Narrative Therapy
We begin by mapping the stories that have shaped your sense of self —the narratives you inherited, the ones imposed on you, and the ones you’ve been quietly writing in resistance.
I use externalizing conversations to separate you from the problem, so that the story doesn’t define you—you define the story.
I often integrate narrative work with IFS and EMDR, since the stories we tell ourselves frequently live in parts of us and in our bodies as much as in our thoughts.
Together we find the alternative story—the one that honors what you’ve actually lived, what you’ve survived, and who you’re becoming.
What Narrtive Therapy Looks Like in Session
Externalizing the Story
We separate you from the problem. You are not the story — you’re the author. This shift alone can transform how you hold your own experience.
Tracing the Origin
We trace where the dominant narratives came from: family systems, cultural messages, relationships that distorted your self-image. Understanding the source loosens its grip.
Reclaiming Authorship
We co-author an alternative story — one grounded in your actual values, strengths, and lived experience, not in what others decided about you.
Integration with IFS and EMDR
Narrative work is woven together with IFS (to identify which parts carry which stories) and EMDR (to process the body-level charge that keeps old stories feeling true).
Questions
Find answers to common questions about Narrative Therapy and how it works.
Narrative therapy is a collaborative, non-pathologizing approach that views people as the experts on their own lives. It separates individuals from their problems by examining the stories that shape their identity and helping them rewrite narratives that no longer serve them.
Yes. Narrative therapy has a strong evidence base, particularly for trauma recovery, identity challenges, and family systems work. It is recognized by major psychological associations and has been widely researched since its development by Michael White and David Epston.
Most therapies focus on changing thoughts or behaviors. Narrative therapy focuses on the stories themselves — where they came from, whose voices they carry, and how they can be rewritten. It’s especially powerful for clients who feel their sense of self has been shaped by others more than by themselves.
Not necessarily in a creative writing sense. Narrative therapy is primarily a conversational practice. We use language, questions, and reflection to examine and re-author the dominant stories in your life. Some clients find journaling or writing between sessions helpful as a complement.
Take the next step
Book a consultation and take the first step toward reclaiming your life.
