Narrative Therapy To Rescript Your Story
Narrative Therapy Rescripting
Narrative therapy is an under valued form of psychotherapy that is often missed when thinking of self guided tools to help your healing journey. Narrative therapy was originally founded by Michael White and David Epston, it offers a refreshing way to approach life’s challenges. The founders promoted the view of your your life as a series of interconnected stories, almost like a movie with many many sequels!
The core reason I advocate for narrative therapy is that it encourages you to become the author of your own life this empowering perspective allows you to rewrite the narratives that no longer serve you. This blog is here to inspire you into the world of narrative therapy an explore practical ways to integrate narrative therapy techniques into your daily routine, helping you transform how you perceive and interact with your world.
Just picture if life were a movie and you, rather than merely acting as per the script given to you, could step into the director's chair and reshape the entire storyline. Narrative therapy empowers you to do just that. This transformative approach doesn't just acknowledge that you are living a story… it helps you realise that you are also its author, and most importantly, its director.
This blog post will guide you through making narrative therapy a part of your daily life, allowing you to actively rewrite and direct the chapters of your own life story. Narrative therapy aims to help you see the events in your life as separate from who you are as a person. This perspective shift allows you to detach from the problems and view them as external entities, not as traits of your character. Just as a director on a film set, you begin to see issues as scenes that can be edited, reshaped, or completely rewritten.
Practical Applications of Narrative Therapy
1. Step Back and Observe
Like any good director, take a step back and observe the existing narrative of your life. What themes do you notice? What recurring roles do you tend to play? What are your dominant narratives in your life?
2. Identify the Changeable Elements
Identify which aspects of your story you wish were different. Is it the tone, the setting, the supporting characters, or the main plot?
What are the key elements of your story that no longer serve you? Have you outgrown or become tiresome of a repeated storyline?
3. Scripting Your Desired Narrative
Start rewriting the scenes (Get out your pen and paper!!!). If your current narrative is one of anxiety and self-doubt, script a narrative of confidence and achievement. Use journaling to draft these new scenes, writing about your life as you wish it to unfold. Try using an alter ego to begin this process of rescripting your narrative to center it away from your current identity
4. Visualize yourself living out this new script.
How do you feel? What changes around you? What does you alter ego do differently? Start mapping out the habits and storylines that you can now embody as you take a new step into your new storyline. (REMEMBER: We have attachments to our storyline so it will not be easy, it will take time to embody and integrate our new story line. Go Gently)
5. Rehearsing New Roles
Keep bringing these new scripts into your daily life in micro ways through your interactions and daily decisions. Rehearse them in small, manageable acts to make the narrative real. Embody each day is a live rehearsal where you can refine your performance and script adjustments as needed.
5. Gather Your Support
Share your intention regarding your new narrative with trusted friends or those around you the most. Promote phrases like "I am trying to release that storyline" or "That is no longer my current character" when an old storyline arises through relationships, events and old triggers. If you have a support system allow them to validate this new script and the release of this old version of you, their validation will reinforce your new role and help solidify the narrative changes.
Your life, your story, is already being narrated, but embracing narrative therapy means you’re not just following a script. You’re taking hold of the reins and directing it. Every moment is an opportunity to revise, edit, and enhance.
Remember, in your personal story, you are the protagonist, the narrator, and the director. Embrace your power to transform your narrative, give these practices a go and observe if there are any shifts in your personal narrative;
Ready to take the director’s seat in your life’s story? Apply for the next cohort of the Inner Guide Course to learn more tools and guides to aid you in rewriting your personal narrative.