So You Want to Do Narrative Therapy?: Letters to an Aspiring Narrative Therapist

by Sanni Paljakka, Tom Stone Carlson

So You Want to Do Narrative Therapy? is an engaging and accessible introduction to contemporary narrative therapy practice. Each of the ten chapters is written in the series of letters personally addressed to a real student who is learning how to do narrative therapy at a narrative therapy agency. Each letter highlights the most useful discoveries during the authors’ years of practicing in a narrative therapy agency, both as a therapist and as supervisors. Each letter also contains transcripts from therapy sessions showing the principles and practices in action and ends with a therapeutic poem that was given to the client based on their own words from a therapy session. While written for narrative therapists at any level of experience, this book is especially useful for graduate-level theory courses in therapy training programs in counseling, psychology, social work, and family therapy.

Genres: Counselling

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2024

Reviews

[Petr Doležal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is honestly one of the best books on psychotherapy I’ve ever read. It puts clients right at the center, as the main protagonists of their lives, while at the same time reminding us of the crucial role we as therapists play in the process. We carry the responsibility of creating the kind of space where clients can weave living stories of their lives—with all the dilemmas, hardships, and joys that come with them. If you want to walk alongside clients as they find their own voices and stories, this book is for you. I also found its reflections on cultural discourses and master narratives—so central to narrative therapy—invaluable, as they show how easily these broader stories can silence or constrain the voices of our clients.

[Joe Reeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite different from what they teach in school. The idea that you should treat every client as an interesting and complex protagonist in the fascinating story of their life is essentially why I was drawn to therapy in the first place, so it's nice to find a modality that aligns with that

[Nicole Aceves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and still incredibly colorful, Sanni’s voice is tenacious and inspiring. Hope to see her speak one of these days :)