Maps of Narrative Practice

Michael White

Overview – Contents – Excerpt

From Maps of Narrative Practice:

The maps that I will review are, like any maps, constructions that can be referred to for guidance on our journeys; in this case on our journeys with the people who consult us about the predicaments and problems of their lives. I have formulated these maps over the years principally in response to requests from others to render more transparent the therapeutic processes that I have developed. I will emphasize here that the maps of this book are not the maps of narrative practice, or a ‘true’ and ‘correct’ guide to narrative practice, whatever narrative practice is taken to be. Maps like these shape a therapeutic inquiry in which people suddenly find themselves interested in novel understanding of the events of their lives, curious about aspects of their lives that have been forsaken, fascinated with neglected territories of their identities, and, at times, awed by their own responses to the predicaments of their existence. And I believe that maps like these shape a therapeutic inquiry that con- tributes to the rich development of therapists’ stories about their work and about their lives generally, which can be a source of inspiration. This has certainly been true for me. On occasions, in teaching contexts, I have been asked why it is necessary to have maps for therapeutic practice. My response: ‘It is not at all necessary.’ However, I believe that we all refer to guiding ideas of some sort in the development of therapeutic conversations, although very often these guiding ideas have become so taken-for-granted and accepted that they are rendered invisible and unavailable to critical reflection. I believe that this is a hazardous development, for it has the potential to restrict us to the unquestioned reproduction of what is familiar in terms of therapeutic practice, irregardless of the consequences of this to the lives of the people who consult us. Having stated this, I do appreciate the fact that not every- one will relate to the ‘maps’ and ‘journey’ metaphors, and that there is a whole world of metaphors that can be taken up in characterizing therapeutic practices generally, and for that matter, in characterizing the therapeutic practices described in this book into terms associated with alternative metaphors. For me, though, taking a journey into the unknown with a map in hand always fills me with anticipation. I hope that in the writing of this book I have managed to convey a sense of the delight and fascination that I routinely experience in journeys undertaken in therapeutic conversations.

ISBN 10: 0-393-70516-1
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-70516-4
May 2007 / 288 pages / Cloth