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We believe stories have power in our lives. They develop in relation to other people and to the circumstances of our lives. If the stories we hear about ourselves are mainly positive, they will likely have us feeling good about ourselves. However, if the stories are largely unhelpful, blaming, or judgemental it is likely we will reach negative conclusions about our identity. These conclusions, whether they be negative, positive, or a mix of both will affect the way we see ourselves and how we experience our day to day lives.

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In a narrative approach people are invited to judge for themselves those stories that are useful in their lives and those that have adverse impacts. The stories that have the most negative impacts are most often the ones that bring people to counselling. Narrative therapy seeks to carefully and respectfully tease these problem stories apart so that they can be considered in different ways and gently challenged in order to make space for the many other more positive stories that stand in their shadow.

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As narrative practitioners we take a position of curiosity about the stories that shape our lives because although stories do have the power to shape us, we are, in turn, able to shape the stories we hold about ourselves. Through the use of questions narrative therapy invites people to evaluate what they want more, or less of, in their lives and to consider different ways of relating to the problems facing them.