Postmodern therapies Flashcards
What are two major types of postmodern therapies?
- narrative therapy
- solution focused brief therapy (SFBT)
What is postmodern therapy’s view of human nature?
■ Postmodern (PM) therapists assume that realities are socially
constructed. There is no absolute reality
■ PM therapists see people as healthy, competent, resourceful
■ PM therapists believe that people have the ability to construct
solutions and alternative stories to enhance their lives
What are postmodern stance/beliefs?
■ The client, not the therapist, is the expert
– Therapist takes a “not-knowing” stance
■ Dialogue is used to elicit perspective, resources, and unique client
experiences
■ Questions empower clients to speak and to express their diverse
positions
■ The therapist supplies optimism and the process
what are the strengths of postmodern therapy
▪ Depathologizing, strengths-based, empowerment of the client
▪ Draws upon strengths of other approaches: collaborative, cognitive, attention to past experiences, future oriented
▪ Social constructionism is congruent with the philosophy of multiculturalism
what are the limitations of postmodern therapy
▪ Few rigorous empirical research studies
▪ May not be appropriate for very specific, concrete behavioral concerns, severe psychopathology, cognitive impairment
▪ For some individuals, the therapist’s “not knowing stance” may compromise the client’s confidence in the therapist as an expert
What are assumptions of narrative therapy?
■ People make meaning out of their lives through the construction of
narratives, or stories
■ Narrative is like a thread that weaves events together, forming a story
■ When these stories are problem-saturated, we experience distress
– Dominant and alternative stories
How do problems develop according to the narrative therapy?
■ Clients get stuck in living out dominant stories that are problem-
saturated
■ They adopt stories in which they and their problems are fused (i.e.,
they are the problem)
→have a limited perception of their capacities
How does change occur according to the narrative therapy?
■ The client must rewrite their story
■ First, they identify or name the problem
– Give the problem a life of its own
– Identify how the problem has contributed to the client’s problem-
saturated story
■ Separate the person from their problem
■ Search for exceptions to the problem-saturated story
■ Ask clients to speculate about what kind of future they could expect
from the competent person that is emerging
■ Create an audience to support the new story
What are four techniques of narrative therapy? (an example for each)
■ Interviewing the problem
- What do you hope to do to (client) over the
long term? What is your goal?
■ search for exceptions
- unique outcome questions
- tell me about a time that anger showed up in your life but you resisted, what did it feel like?
■ externalizing the problem
- separate person from problem
- I am a depressive person -> depression has made my life difficult
■ supporting the new story
- reinforcing new story that has been developed
- sharing new story with audience, helps new story take root
What is the role of the therapist according to the narrative therapy?
■ To demonstrate care, interest, respectful curiosity, openness,
empathy, and fascination
■ To adopt a not-knowing position that allows being guided by the
client’s story
■ To help clients construct a preferred alternative story
■ To create a collaborative relationship—with the client being the senior
partner
What are assumptions of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT)?
■ The problem itself may not be relevant to finding effective solutions
– Thus, the past is downplayed, while present and future are
highlighted
– A shift from “problem-orientation” to “solution-focus”
■ People can create their own solutions
– A therapist’s “not knowing” affords the client an opportunity to
construct a solution
■ Small changes lead to large changes
What is the role of the therapist according to the SFBT?
■ Create a collaborative partnership because the client is the expert on
their own life
■ Ask skillful questions because they:
– Allow people to utilize their resources
– Imply change (especially “how” questions)
– Focus attention on solutions
– Help people pay attention to what they are doing and can open up
possibilities for them to do something more/different
What are techniques of SFBT? (example for each)
■ Pre-therapy change
– What have you done since you made the appointment that has
made a difference in your problem?
■ Exception questions
– Is there a time in your life when the problem did not exist?
■ Miracle question
– If a miracle happened and the problem you have was solved while
you were asleep, what would be different in your life?
■ Scaling questions
– On a scale of 0 to 10, where are you with respect to ____ ?
