Maps of Narrative Practice

by Michael White

Michael White, one of the founders of narrative therapy, is back with his first major publication since the seminal Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends , which Norton published in 1990. Maps of Narrative Practice provides brand new practical and accessible accounts of the major areas of narrative practice that White has developed and taught over the years, so that readers may feel confident when utilizing this approach in their practices. The book covers each of the five main areas of narrative practice-re-authoring conversations, remembering conversations, scaffolding conversations, definitional ceremony, externalizing conversations, and rite of passage maps-to provide readers with an explanation of the practical implications, for therapeutic growth, of these conversations. The book is filled with transcripts and commentary, skills training exercises for the reader, and charts that outline the conversations in diagrammatic form. Readers both well-versed in narrative therapy as well as those new to its concepts, will find this fresh statement of purpose and practice essential to their clinical work.

Genres: Psychology, Counselling, Nonfiction, Social Work, Mental Health, Narrative, Unfinished

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael White was an Australian social worker and family therapist.

He is known as the founder of narrative therapy, and for his significant contribution to psychotherapy and family therapy, which have been a source of techniques adopted by other approaches.

Reviews

[Bryan Shurigar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook. While I like the overall ideas put for in this book and some of techniques will undoubtedly be helpful in my work with clients, the writing was very wordy. This was an issue in that I struggled to pull out the techniques and how to use them. There was too much explanation and not enough practical application. Nevertheless, I think this was a decent primer, and I’m keen to purse training for narrative therapy in the future.

[Angel Martínez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una gran guía para la práctica narrativa, los casos y su desenlace son muy buenos, desde los ejercicios de externalizacion, los territorios de la acción o identidad, el andamiaje, además de esto una gran calidez humana

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you even need to ask? It's Michael White. I feel so sad that he died so young. I would have loved to study with him.

[Degan Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book about Narrative Therapy from the founder, with many examples, transcribed. He truly was a master therapist and the book also demonstrates the theory's roots in philosophy. The audiobook is an excellent entry point and suits the many dialogue sections, but I will now order a hard copy so that I can make notes.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good.

An ambitious project, outlining the various modes and stages of narrative therapy as they apply to therapeutic practice. There was substantial engagement with the philosophical underpinnings and sociological constraints on concepts of personhood and agency, which I really appreciate. This really solidified narrative therapy as a style of therapeutic practice that I'm very interested in.

[Plym Soul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, if you want to gain an understanding in the workings of Narrative Therapy then you should read definitely read White's book as co-founder of Narrative you gain an understanding on the underpinnings of the whole process.

[Kristen Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4🌟

I actually really enjoyed the points made within this book (the it was certainly wordy at times).

The main reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was simply because I personally couldn’t connect with the material well. The author frames his tips and tricks as maps that can be applied and followed, then provides actual examples with graphs of these maps in action. Personally, my brain doesnt like to compute concepts in such a manner, so I found that these graphs actually confused me even further. I likely would have understood his ideas perfectly well through his transcribed conversations with clients.

But maps and graphs aside, this book still brought forth many valuable ideas and practices that could be applied not only to myself but hopefully to several others in the future.

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael White is incredible and this book is incredibly helpful to start a foundational knowledge of Narrative as well as bringing it into practice. The transcripts were emotional, simple and so powerful! The book was incredibly dry and needed to be read slowly for optimal understanding however was wonderful!

[Saj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, inspiring and easy to read.

[CTEP]

During the month of January, I read the book Maps of Narrative Practice by Michael White, a prominent forefather of contemporary narrative therapy, which forms around the principle that human identity is shaped through narrative construction, and that we form ideas about ourselves in the same way that we author stories. By choosing which narrative threads we engage with and when, we can teach ourselves how to sidestep harmful emotional states. Conceptually this material is easily extrapolated to fit the context of teaching oftentimes emotionally unstable or reticent students. Although I am not directly counseling my students here at MERC, it is still important for me to be aware of and adaptable to their protean mental states.

The book that I read focuses on a few valuable, therapeutic techniques, which hail from this burgeoning narrative tradition. One is called externalizing conversations. This technique subvenes the idea that by characterizing a disease or challenge one can view that disease or challenge as located outside the self rather than as a part and parcel of it. A case study in the book gives the example of attention deficit disorder in a child. Michael, by guiding the boy to understand his disorder as a separate character but constant companion, was able to teach the young kid to separate the shame he felt because of his actions from his feelings about his own identity. He no longer blamed himself, but blamed the disease that accompanies him wherever he goes. This is just one example of the techniques explicated in White’s book.

This book has influenced the way I think about interacting with students to a certain degree. I would probably never arrange an outsider witness acknowledgement session (another technique elaborated upon in the book). But I have thought about how students with behavioral problems might benefit from an externalizing conversation, in which they are allowed to see their behavior as a troublesome copilot, rather than as indicative of their identity.

[Kyle Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Very long probably could have been shorter but def helped me sharpen my theoretical understanding of taking a narrative approach. I can notice certain techniques I’m using in session.

Right now I’m studying eft and I can see the incorporation of certain techniques to help deepen and bring out a set emotional experience more. Also love the effectiveness of the empty chair technique !

One more theory I have high on my lists besides eft is IFS. I think learning the attachment styles and incorporating more IFS will make for some really good therapy 🤞🏾❤️.

[Izette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because I am interested in Narrative Coaching, I wanted learn more.
This is from a more therapeutic perspective than what I had expected and was definitely more academic that what I thought.
However the accounts shared provided such incredible value and understanding.
I hope to learn more so I can incorporate it into my work.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I learned so much about narrative therapy. It is accessible writing but does have dense sections that require a lot more engagement. I look forward to putting this into practice.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Narrative Therapy, but didn’t find this book to be the most helpful one I’ve read (even though the author is the creator).

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, it was rough to find and follow a central theme in the therapy. It got better, but was a grind with some sections of insight and believable basic case dialogues demonstrating the ideas. The therapy method is compassionate and potentially has value to integrate with other techniques. Especially interesting was the explanation of using consenting witnesses to help clients unlock things, and even the witnesses tended to experience growth. He provides guidance in the setup and practice of this. Yet, I wonder if the cases shared weren't somewhat selected for better outcomes. Also encouraging was helping clients define problems, intentions, and solutions, while meeting them where they're at with scaffolding. There are helpful frameworks in it, but it can have a lot of detail that's not very memorable for the techniques presented, and this was often something to get through. Overall, the book would probably be great if the techniques and some of the concepts were summarized and left to practice and consultation to work out. Wish the entire book was 30% shorter.

[Karen Cockerill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the easiest read - I think the author’s note at the end of the book really does sum up this book - it’s a journey of how the author has successfully put together seemingly simple concept to practice, which is always the harder part. So the book outlines beautifully how to assist in self mastery, personal agency and responsible action. Along with how social collaboration is used in client development along with mapping the scaffolding (I really loved seeing how Michael white used these maps to scaffold and illustrate client grow). I feel like I need to read this hook again. 1 because on a practical level we had a country move happen in the middle of the book and 2 there is so much to take in that I think it needs a reread and time to truly grasp the technique . I found some of the other books on narrative therapy easier to read however appreciate the depth of knowledge and illustrated mapping from this book. How Michael outlines adapting and broadening Vygotsky’s original concept.

[David Reiñanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acabo de terminar el libro y quedé con la sensación de haber aprendido mucho. Son pocos los libros que termino y me dan ganas de volver a leer al instante desde el inicio.

Probablemente pase el tiempo y no me acuerde de los conceptos exactos (como “categoría de indagación” o “mapa de declaración de posición”), pero sí tengo fe en que podré recordar las ideas que estos representan.

Aprovechando que tengo los conceptos frescos en la mente, puedo decir que mis ideas favoritas fueron las de re-autoría y conversaciones de andamiaje, que me han ayudado a comprender mejor mi ejercicio como terapeuta, y en mi mente quedan las ceremonias de definición como un desafío que me atrae mucho vivir en un futuro.

Por último, referir que, si bien sólo pude conocer a Michael White a través de este libro y unos cuantos videos, me quedo con la noción de que fue un tremendo ser humano.

[Miglė · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is a greatly instructive book, containing mostly transcripts of conversations between Michael White and his clients. I found his voice quite unique and playful - just like the Narrative therapy itself - and it was quite a refreshing change of pace from analysing other, more traditional, therapy directions.

I went through this book slowly, mostly just before the sessions with my own clients - I found it grounding, and, needless to say, insightful, especially for better understanding the family dynamics and externalisation techniques.

[Islay Hawthorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for new therapists or therapists new to Narrative Therapy. I found the way that White laid out specific examples and the many therapeutic conversations in this book immensely helpful in my own professional development as a therapist. As any therapist can tell you, having an idea of what kinds of questions are likely to lead to where you are trying to help a client go is extraordinarily powerful. If you are at all interested in Narrative Therapy or if you just want to pick up a few more skills and sentence stems, this is a great book for it!

[Emili · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, I feel like it made different characteristics of narrative therapy really clear. I do wish he had more individual clients, I think almost all his clients were minors with their parents or he brought someone else in to the room. This makes some of the skills hard to understand for individual clients 😅. Specifically when he had person A tell a story and person B reflect on that story. More research shall be done but this is definitely one I will reference again 🙂‍↕️

[Montse · Rating 4 out of 5]

La técnica de por si es compleja y enrevesada de concretar y creo que por ahí hace bastante bien su trabajo. En algún momento se me hizo un poco más espeso o pesado entrando en temas más relacionados con la narrativa literària, però vale la pena dentro de la temàtica para introducirse afondo y aprender a usar con una buena guía la terapia narrativa.

[Mr. Dokkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciated the overall book and layout. Will come in handy for future reference and guidance when I’m done the school work and into the practical application of actually counseling. Will be reading more of his work.

[Christina Beebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5- stars
This was a great book! I really loved it. At times, White made some very abstract comments or things that I had to read twice or more times over to really understand what he was saying, but overall it was a great, educational read. This has helped me in my practice with clients.

[Ashton E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read these books last year on narrative therapy but I would say this book could be read by people even outside of counseling just to learn more about narrative therapy and telling your own stories.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like the structure of the book as it was too academic and spent too much time dealing with examples and didn't lay out the how and a simple bulleted kind of format. that being said I liked what the author was talking about and could see this being a beneficial book for other people

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The maps were very helpful in understanding how the process of structuring a conversation elicits change in clients.

[Leani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the ideas in this a lot. Perhaps something that could've been improved, is an overview of the entire process.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of the core concepts of Narrative practice and of how Michael White incorporated a multitude of diverse fields and ideas into co-developing this therapeutic approach.

[Rey-Philip Genaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the master himself. Not the most accessible book on Narrative therapy, but an eventual must read for those who take Narrative seriously... which I do.

[Lindita Vani · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read on Narrative Therapy. Greta learning about the personal inspiration of M.White starting with the Great Ocean Rd. Wonderful learning about the scaffolding and reauthering!