references/foundation.md
# Narrative Therapy — Background and Theory
> Foundation reference for Narrative Therapy. Loaded on demand.
## Origins
Narrative Therapy is a postmodern, social constructionist approach to psychotherapy developed by Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand) in the 1980s. It holds that our identities are shaped by the stories we tell about ourselves and that are told about us. When people are dominated by "problem-saturated" stories, they lose sight of their competence, values, and agency.
## Core Philosophical Commitments
1. **People are the experts on their own lives** — the therapist is not the authority
2. **The problem is the problem, not the person** — problems are external, not internal defects
3. **People have skills, competencies, and values** that the problem obscures
4. **Identity is socially constructed** through language, culture, and relationships
5. **There is no single "true" story** — multiple stories can describe any life
6. **Thin descriptions** (labels, diagnoses) reduce people; **thick descriptions** (rich, multi-layered stories) liberate them
## Definitional Ceremony
Adapted from anthropologist Barbara Myerhane's work. A structured practice where a person tells their preferred story to outsider witnesses who then retell what they heard.
**Four-part structure:**
1. **Telling:** The person tells their story while outsider witnesses listen.
2. **Retelling (by outsider witnesses):** Witnesses respond to:
- **Expression**: "What expression caught your attention?"
- **Image**: "What did that evoke about this person's values?"
- **Resonance**: "What in your own life was touched?"
- **Transport**: "How has hearing this moved you?"
3. **Retelling of the retelling:** The person responds: "What struck you?"
4. **Debrief:** Open conversation.
## Therapeutic Letter Writing
Epston discovered that a single therapeutic letter could be worth 4.5 sessions. Letters serve as portable, re-readable documents of preferred stories.
| Type | Purpose | When |
|------|---------|------|
| Summary letter | Document session discoveries | After a significant session |
| Letter of invitation | Invite reflection on a theme | Beginning therapy |
| Counter-referral letter | Challenge thin description | When referral uses deficit language |
| Prediction letter | Predict future steps | When momentum builds |
| Redundancy letter | "Fire" the problem | When person has outgrown it |
**Template — Summary/Witness Letter:**
```
Dear [Name],
I wanted to write about what I noticed in our conversation.
You told me about how [Problem] has been [its effects]. That
sounded really difficult.
But then something caught my attention. You mentioned [unique
outcome]. I was struck by [quality/value it revealed].
I wondered about the history of this [quality]. Has it always
been there, quietly working?
If [quality] had a voice, what might it say to you right now?
[Name]
```
## AI Guidelines for Narrative Therapy
1. **Use externalizing language consistently** — always separate person from problem
2. **Prioritize unique outcomes** — ALWAYS search for exceptions
3. **Thicken, don't thin** — ask for details, context, meaning
4. **Position the person as expert** — "You would know better than anyone..."
5. **Be curious, not knowing** — ask genuine questions, not interpretations
6. **Document preferred stories** — offer summary letters
7. **Avoid why-questions** — "Why" invites self-blame. Use "How" and "What."
## References
- Michael White & David Epston, *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends* (1990)
- Michael White, *Maps of Narrative Practice* (2007)
- Michael White, *Narrative Practice: Continuing the Conversations* (2011)
- Alice Morgan, *What is Narrative Therapy?* (2000)
- Dulwich Centre: https://dulwichcentre.com.au
- Narrative Practices Adelaide: https://www.narrativepractices.com.au
SKILL.md
---
name: narrative-therapy
version: "1.1.0"
description: "Narrative Therapy (Michael White & David Epston) - Separate the person from the problem and re-author life stories through externalization, unique outcomes, and definitional ceremonies"
user-invocable: false
tools:
- Read
- Write
- Skill
---
# Narrative Therapy Skill
> "The person is not the problem. The problem is the problem." — Michael White
> Background and theory: Read references/foundation.md
## Sub-commands
| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `/narrative` | Full narrative therapy exploration |
| `/narrative:externalize` | Externalization — separate person from problem |
| `/narrative:unique` | Search for unique outcomes / sparkling moments |
| `/narrative:reauthor` | Re-authoring conversation |
| `/narrative:letter` | Therapeutic letter writing |
---
## Core Techniques
### 1. Externalization
Transform the problem from internal identity to external entity.
| Internalized | Externalized |
|-------------|-------------|
| "I'm anxious" | "When Anxiety shows up..." |
| "I'm a procrastinator" | "How has Procrastination influenced your life?" |
| "I'm angry all the time" | "When did Anger first start recruiting you?" |
**Conversation map:**
1. **Name it** — "If this problem had a name, what would you call it?"
2. **Map its influence on the person** — "How has [Problem] affected your life? Relationships? What has it told you about yourself?"
3. **Map the person's influence on the problem** — "Have there been times you didn't let [Problem] take over? What does [Problem] NOT know about you?"
4. **Evaluate** — "Is this the influence you want [Problem] to have?"
### 2. Unique Outcomes / Sparkling Moments
Exceptions to the problem-saturated story — seeds of an alternative story.
**Finding them:**
- "A time when [Problem] tried to win but didn't?"
- "A moment when you felt even slightly different from how [Problem] wants you to feel?"
- "What would surprise [Problem] about you?"
**Developing them (thickening):**
1. **Landscape of action** — What happened? What did you do?
2. **Landscape of identity** — What does this say about your values, skills?
3. **Link across time** — Has anything like this happened before?
4. **Project forward** — If this quality grew, what would life look like?
### 3. Re-authoring Conversations
```
Problem-saturated story → Externalization → Unique outcomes
→ Landscape of action → Landscape of identity → Link to history
→ Re-membering → Preferred story → Project forward
```
### 4. Re-membering Conversations
Revising the membership of one's "club of life":
- "Whose voice has [Problem] been amplifying?"
- "Whose voice would you like to turn up?"
- "What would [role model] want you to know?"
---
## Example Dialogue
**Person:** "I've been struggling with self-doubt for years."
**Response:**
"So Self-Doubt has been around a long time. If it were a character, what would it look like?
[explores]
Now — has there ever been a time when Self-Doubt was talking but you did something anyway?
[recalls a moment]
Tell me more. What did you draw on? Where did that come from?
That sounds like something important — courage, determination? What would you call it?
If that quality could talk back to Self-Doubt, what would it say?"
---
## Anti-patterns
1. **Re-internalizing** — "YOUR self-doubt" instead of "when Self-Doubt shows up"
2. **Premature re-authoring** — Jumping to preferred story before mapping the problem
3. **Thin unique outcomes** — Finding exception without thickening it
4. **Therapist as expert** — Telling the person what their story means
5. **Ignoring social context** — Problems often have cultural, gender, economic roots
6. **Externalization as gimmick** — "Let's name your anxiety!" without follow-through
7. **Avoiding the problem story** — Re-authoring requires first honoring the pain
8. **Treating unique outcomes as proof** — "See, you CAN do it!" turns discovery into demand
---
## Output Format
```
## Narrative Therapy Analysis
**Situation:** [brief description]
### The Dominant Story
[Problem-saturated narrative]
### Externalization
- Problem name: [what shall we call it?]
- Its influence: [on life, relationships, identity]
- Person's influence on it: [where they have resisted]
### Unique Outcomes
[Moments of agency, competence, values]
### Landscape of Identity
[Values, skills, commitments revealed]
### Emerging Preferred Story
[Alternative narrative taking shape]
### Re-membering
[Whose voices support this preferred story?]
### Next Steps
[Thickening the preferred story]
```