Chapter 16: Constructivist Theories, Solution-Focused and Narrative Therapies – Flashcards

-part of the fourth force of psychotherapy -the role of the social constructivist therapist is to help clients interpret their subjective agreement with their beliefs regarding what is fact. -two specific theories associated with constructivist counseling: solution-focused and narrative therapies.

an intellectual movement in the behavioral sciences that informs a social collaborative.

-stems from the brief therapy tradition and was developed primarily by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Beg in the 1970s at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. -stresses two conditions: the counselor is truly engaged and the client is motivated toward key variances in the therapeutic process. -plays on the idea of social constructivism and encourages the client to look past the problem in the present and focus on how reality will look once the problem is solved. -techniques focus on solutions, are goal directed, and are future oriented.

-having roots in family therapy and postmodernism, narrative counseling was originally created by Michael White and David Epson in the 1970s. -the major purpose of narrative therapy is to interpret and alter the stories people create in order to make sense out of their lives. -The principle can be interpreted by two other concepts: a) people can only view the world based on their own experiences b) people often compare and identify their lives based on their experiences. -human beings' lives are woven by the stories they share.

-includes essential elements: activity, ordering, and reflexivity -emphasizes the developmental process across the lifespan.

implies that human beings are not passive in the way in which they live their lives. Rather, they are actively and dynamically involved in the construction of their lives.

human beings will automatically acquire a skill or respond to their environment and then create a pattern or a habit to create new patterns of thinking and feeling.

allows for self-reflection and self-awareness in an orderly fashion.

-the process of human development within a narrative approach focuses on coherence in an individual's autobiographical story. -identification stabilization that increases with age.

suggests that human beings develop themes that underlie events and behaviors

occurs when individuals narrate their experiences juxtaposed with their own identity.

-anything a person knows is bound by his or her sense of time and perceptions of their culture -nothing can ever truly be known/be truly objective -solution-focused counseling has roots in family systems therapy.

1. if it is not broken, do not fix it. 2. once you know what works, do more of it. 3. if something does not work, don't do it again; do something different.

-highlight the need for client agency and a collaborative relationship between the client and the counselor. -includes family systems, feminist, cognitive-behaviorial, solution-focused, and narrative approaches

-clients are seen as agents of their own transformation -counselors serve as facilitators of that change -client and counselor are equals in the collaborative process of meaning making. - the mechanism of change is restorying so that clients so that clients walk out of counseling with energetic narratives that drives their lives and the way they see themselves.

-reminiscence and life review, storytelling, journaling, and externalizing the problem.

-reflect social justice and culturally informed perspectives -metaphors, critical reflection, proverbs/dichos, folktales, testifying -culturally informed tools

-focused on narrative exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral interventions. -treats post traumatic stress disorder among refugees and individuals -CBT is used to treat severe mental illness

-been explored with various clinical issues. -clients from a wide range of backgrounds can benefit from constructivist approaches. -demonstrates cultural applicability

-too all-encompassing -doesn't focus on gender or power differentials -unsympathetic towards the plight of the client -counselor may seem cold -high cost -basically ignores outside environment -so-called experts -too intellectual -little qualitative research