Narrative and Culturally Based Approaches in Practice with Families

Abstract

This article clarifies how narrative approaches are consistent with social work's view of clients as experts on their own narratives and experiences. These approaches are also consistent with family therapy as it has evolved toward family centered practice and an emphasis on the importance of family narratives and meaning. Guidelines are provided for using narrative approaches with culturally diverse clients in a range of practice settings in combination with task-centered, solution-focused, family systems, and crisis intervention models. Practice vignettes and examples of clients’ narratives help to illustrate how practitioners can integrate those models effectively with some of the most salient narrative strategies. Such strategies include listening to and acknowledging clients’ narratives, helping them to define their challenges through their narratives, engaging in a collaborative search for meaning, increasing clients’ awareness of relationships of power and domination, facilitating clients in recounting stories of competence and strength, and affirming clients’ privilege to author their lives and co-construct alternative narratives. The discussion on narrative strategies demonstrates how to help clients move from meaning-making to individual, interpersonal, and large systems changes.