Article by Cora Miller
The goal for any therapeutic setting is to provide a supportive and confidential environment where people have the opportunity to explore and express their thoughts, emotions, and concerns. Usually people seek counseling when they feel their problems are too overwhelming and there is no sense of hope I’m overcoming these problems alone. For some, counseling is a place to affirm decisions or to feel validated and understood. For others, it is a place to sit in uncomfortable emotions, to shed tears, to grieve, to feel emotions that have been difficult to face.
A skilled counselor will listen with sincere empathy, and will collaborate with clients to understand their unique experiences. It’s a collaborative process where clients can expect non-judgmental guidance, personal growth, and the exploration of new perspectives. As a counsellor it is our job to ask questions which cater to enhancing understanding of the person’s experiences. We discuss the ethics around confidentiality and consent in counseling and abide by the ethical codes we work under. The ethical principles help us ensure we protect people from harm and so it is one place where you can trust that your vulnerability can be shared safely and respectfully. You should always have a written consent form signed (or guardians signing on behalf of children) to ensure there is mutual understanding of confidentiality and consent.
We can offer support for children, youth, adults, families and couples at Together Talk. Using narrative therapy allows for people to share their story, as a truth that has deep meaning for them. This can include different kinds of narration such as expressive letter writing, narrative art, and of course, story telling and re-writing the stories. We not only respect the unique life experiences of each person we work with, but we want to highlight the strengths and celebrate people’s differences. Narrative therapy is person-centered which means that the client is the expert of their life and the counsellor does not guide the conversation or make assumptions without asking for clarity.
Narrative therapy approaches counseling beyond the normative tools.
At together talk, we allow one visit per week, and there are no specific limitations to the number of sessions a person can have with one of our counselors. We openly discuss how the sessions feel, how they are helpful or what might be better to talk about. Narrative therapy approaches counseling beyond the normative tools. Most people have knowledge and access to the tools that traditional therapy utilizes. Breathing. Reflecting. Recognizing triggers. You can look up a list of tools at any given time to help manage a problem….and if that worked as well as we hoped there would be very little need for talk therapy! Tools and solutions can help, yes, of course. We just know that if we offer solutions it undermines the gravity of someone’s problems. It can be pathologizing or even minimizing to hand over labels and tools. So narrative therapy seeks to empower the person and may ask questions such as:
What would you call your problem if someone else hadn’t given it a name for you?
Would you call anxiety by that label or might you say, the tingle, the worry, or the tight chest? How would you define your feelings and problems differently if they were authored by YOU?
Our problems are unique to us much like our DNA because we perceive things so differently based on the map of our experiences that shape understanding. So in narrative counseling, we want to hear about the tools you’ve tried, what you call them, why they do or do not work, and what you believe makes your problems stronger or weaker. Maybe you can describe the size of the problem as it exists now, and share when you noticed it shrink or grow before. You can set goals if you so choose.
Narrative therapy’s main intent is for you to feel you understand your problem, to tell those stories and to perhaps even rewrite your stories to see them differently, in a way where the problem is separate from you, outside of yourself. It is also possible that you may tell stories that shine light on unique outcomes where the problem did not have the expected impact, to see hope where you did not see it before.
We all have stories, and often the ones we overlook, or undermine, display the glimmers or sparkling moments where our greatest parts shine through.
We hope to support you as you re-tell, re-remember and reauthor your stories.