Narrative Therapy

What it is

We all carry stories about who we are: "I'm the anxious one." "I always ruin relationships." "I'm just not a confident person." These stories often form early, get reinforced over years, and start to feel like plain fact. Narrative Therapy treats them as stories — powerful ones, but not the only version available.

One of its central practices is externalising: talking about a problem as something separate from you. Instead of "I'm depressed," we might talk about "the heaviness" and how it shows up, what it tells you, and when it has less influence. That small shift in language can create enough distance to see yourself more clearly. From there, we look for moments that don't fit the old story and begin re-authoring a fuller one.

What a session looks like

Sessions are conversational. I'll ask a lot of questions — about the problem's history, its tactics, and the times you've resisted it, even in small ways that might be easy to overlook. You're treated as the expert on your own life, and my role is to help you notice what's already there.

We also pay attention to the wider context: family expectations, culture, gender norms and other forces that shape which stories get told. Many of the messages people absorb about toughness, self-sufficiency and worth didn't start with them — and seeing that can be a relief.

What it can be helpful for

Narrative Therapy can be helpful for self-esteem and confidence, for making sense of trauma and painful histories, and for relationship and attachment patterns. It often suits people who feel defined by a label or a past event and want to reconnect with a truer sense of who they are.