ABSTRACT
We find archetypes embedded in the great myths and stories of the world, and Jung recognized that we each have an individual myth that we live. Jung also understood that the meaning we bring to the events of our lives is more important than the events themselves (Singer, 1972/1994). In the 1970s, Michael White and David Epson developed a method of therapy that focused on the stories that people tell about their lives. Called “Narrative Therapy,” it offers a way to work with the personal narratives that shape our client’s realities. White and Epson became fascinated by how, in the vast territory of lived experience, certain events stand out as “important,” while others recede into the background. These defining events become the proof text for how clients conceptualize themselves, others, and life itself. One of the valuable principles of Narrative Therapy is to encourage clients to externalize a problem so that “the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem.” This opens up a space to develop alternative story lines, draw different conclusions, and construct preferred identities (Freedman & Combs, 1996; White, 2007).
