Self-Narratives: The Construction of Meaning in Psychotherapy - Hardcover

In this book, Hubert J. M. Hermans and Els Hermans-Jansen elaborate a model of the clinical use of self-narratives--the stories people use to construct meaning out the events in their lives--in counseling and psychotherapy. Based on extensive case studies and filled with a rich variety of illustrative examples, this integrative work covers the model's theory, methodology, and clinical applications.

In using this model, the narrative becomes the core of each therapy session. When a client tells personal stories, he or she gives special significance to certain events, which illuminate their personal meanings. The therapist works in collaboration with the client to analyze the content and organization of these stories. As the stories are told and retold over time, changes in the narrative illustrate a gradual shift in the client's concerns, problems, and goals, which forms the basis for the therapeutic process.

Chapters describe how clinicians can work with what is openly discussed and how to ascertain less conscious events and motives. In laying out the model, a framework is provided for better understanding the interrelationship of diverse phenomena such as autonomy, love, anger, unfulfilled longing, powerlessness, and isolation. Specific treatment strategies are detailed for forms of dissociation and dysfunctional personal meanings, including those associated with depression, overdependence, grandiosity, hopelessness, helplessness, and hostility. Finally, the book provides an overview of lifelong development of the basic motives (self-enhancement and the desire for contact and union with others), paying particular attention to the notion of transition and crisis.

A special section comprises a detailed manual that features a variety of practical suggestions for application, adaptation and extension of the method. Moreover, guidelines are provided for the novice psychologist, who may perform a self-investigation and become aware of the pitfalls of countertransference.

A powerful clinical tool that enhances cooperation between the client and therapist, the model delineated in this volume can be used in a wide variety of settings and is easily integrated with a range of orientations. Providing complete guidelines for its clinical use, Self-Narratives is an ideal resource for psychotherapists and counselors alike. Teachers or trainers who want to educate students in self-knowledge and self-reflection will find here an ideal method for stimulating these processes.