The story you’ve been telling yourself about who you are isn’t the only one. Therapy can help you find the others.
Somewhere along the way, you started carrying a story about yourself. Maybe it sounds like “I’m too much,” “I’m not enough,” “I always mess things up,” or “this is just who I am.”
These stories feel like facts. They shape how you see yourself, how you show up in relationships, and what you believe you deserve. They can keep you stuck within patterns that don’t fit the person you actually want to be.
But here’s the thing: you didn’t write most of them alone. Family, culture, past experiences, and others’ expectations all played a role in shaping the narrative you carry.
The problem is the problem. You are not the problem.
Narrative therapy starts from that idea. And it changes everything about how therapy feels.
Narrative therapy is built on the belief that your identity is not fixed. The stories you carry about yourself can be examined, challenged, and rewritten.
Your therapist helps you step back from the dominant story, the one that says you’re broken or incapable, and look at it with fresh eyes. Together, you explore where that story came from, whose voice it belongs to, and whether it still serves you.
Then you start finding the exceptions. The times that don’t fit the old narrative. The times you were brave, capable, or resilient that got lost in the noise. Those moments become the foundation for a new story, one that’s actually yours.
Therapeutic Techniques
Externalizing the Problem
Separating who you are from what you’re struggling with. The anxiety, the self-doubt, the anger become something you have, not something you are.
Deconstructing Dominant Stories
Examining the beliefs and narratives which have formed your identity and asking whether they’re true, helpful, or even yours.
Re-authoring
Identifying overlooked strengths, forgotten moments of fortitude, and alternative storylines that paint a fuller, more accurate picture of who you are.
Witnessing and Accountability
Sharing your new story with people who matter, strengthening it through relationships rather than keeping it private.
Investigating
Cultural and Social Context
Understanding how family, culture, gender, and societal expectations have influenced the stories you internalized.
Narrative therapy doesn’t focus on what’s wrong with you. It focuses on what’s been hidden.
The strengths, the endurance, the values you already hold but can’t see clearly because an old story is in the way. Your therapist helps you uncover what’s already there and build on it.
You don’t need to be fixed. You need a better story.
If you’re curious about narrative therapy, book a free 15-minute phone call. No commitment, no pressure. A conversation about what you’re carrying and whether this approach might help.
Session Cost
$165–$185 per individual session
Location
First Step
Our Team
Our Space
Book a free 15-minute phone consultation. No commitment, no pressure. Just a conversation about what you are going through and how we can help.
Or call us directly at (613) 539-5707
