Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends

Author: David Epston and Michael White

Paperback

Use of letter-writing in family therapy.

New

$108.96

Or pay later with

Free 30 day returns Secure transaction

Check delivery options

Paperback

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Use of letter-writing in family therapy.

Description

White and Epston base their therapy on the assumption that people experience problems when the stories of their lives, as they or others have invented them, do not sufficiently represent their lived experience. Therapy then becomes a process of storying or restorying the lives and experiences of these people. In this way narrative comes to play a central role in therapy. Both authors share delightful examples of a storied therapy that privileges a person’s lived experience, inviting a reflexive posture and encouraging a sense of authorship and reauthorship of one’s experiences and relationships in the telling and retelling of one’s story.

Critic Reviews

"Breaking new ground in any field is a major accomplishment. To do so in different directions at the same time, and in doing so, open up whole new territories, reflects a tour de force. In my opinion, Michael White and David Epston are engaged in just this kind of trailblazing for the field of family therapy. This compact book represents a distillate of some of their major achievements. It charts a series of bold strides in their reconnaissance into the domain of human problems and stakes out some original therapeutic contributions." -- Karl Tomm, MD, University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine
"I was recently asked where the fresh new ideas were in therapy. And I replied, "from the land down under." David Epston and Michael White are pushing the frontiers with a creative new approach to effective psychotherapy. Their humanness and respect for the strengths of the people with whom they work shine through in this book. Throw some shrimp on the barbie, put your feet up, and be prepared for a treat." -- William Hudson O’Hanlon, MS, coauthor of In Search of Solutions

About the Author

David Epston, M.A., C.Q.S.W. is coauthor of Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends (1990) and Playful Approaches to Serious Problems (1997). He is a visiting professor at the School of Community Studies, UNITEC Institute of Technology in Auckland, and is the codirector of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland. Michael White (1948–2008), one of the founders of narrative therapy and co-director of the Dulwich Centre, an institute for narrative practice and community work in Adelaide, Australia, made significant contributions to psychotherapy and family therapy. He is the author of Maps of Narrative Practice and co-author of Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends.