Narrative therapy using a reflecting team: an etnographic study of therapists' experiences

Thomas St. James O’Connor, Andrea Davis, Elizabeth Meakes, Ruth Pickering, Martha Schuman

ABSTRACT: Narrative therapy in the last 15 years has been utilized by many clinicians and yet there is a lack of research on therapists’ experience of this approach. This ethnographic research explores the views and perceptions of eight narrative therapists who belonged to a narrative team in an outpatient clinic. These therapists were observed and interviewed. Five themes emerge from the data. The themes include a sense of success in reducing the clients’ problems as well as some limitations of narrative therapy. Two recommendations for research and practice involve the use of narrative therapy without a team and the use of narrative therapy in addressing issues of family violence.

KEY WORDS: narrative therapy; therapists; ethnography; reflecting team.