Narrative Therapy: Making Meaning, Making Lives

by Catrina Brown, Tod Augusta-Scott

Narrative Therapy: Making Meaning, Making Lives offers a comprehensive introduction to and critique of narrative therapy and its theories. This edited volume introduces students to the history and theory of narrative therapy. Authors Catrina Brown and Tod Augusta-Scott situate this approach to theory and practice within the context of various feminist, post-modern and critical theories. Through the presentation of case studies, Narrative Therapy: Making Meaning, Making Lives shows how this narrative-oriented theory can be applied in the client-therapist experience. Many important therapeutic situations (abuse, addictions, eating disorders, and more) are addressed from the narrative perspective.

Rooted in social constructionism, and emerging initially from family therapy, narrative therapy emphasizes the idea that we live storied lives. Within this approach, the editors and contributors seek to show how we make sense of our lives and experiences by ascribing meaning through stories which themselves arise within social conversations and culturally available discourses. Our stories don't simply represent us or mirror lived events; they actually constitute us -shaping our lives as well as our relationships.

Narrative Therapy will be a valuable supplemental textbook for theory and practice courses in departments of Counseling and Psychotherapy and of Social Work as well as for courses in Gender and Women Studies.

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 2006

Reviews

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars, which I will round up to 5 stars.

I might be a little bias because I have worked with Dr. Brown before as her teaching assistant (TA), and I have attended training with Tod Augusta-Scott over the years but, I really enjoyed this book (textbook).

If you are interested in Narrative Therapy, pick this book up. I promise you it is worth it. Mine is so marked up just from reading it so I don't forget anything!