If Problems Talked: Narrative Therapy in Action (The Guilford Family Therapy Series) - Hardcover

Zimmerman, Jeffrey L.; Dickerson, Victoria G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1572301295 ISBN 13: 9781572301290

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1996

Synopsis

This unique book explores how clients' problems are defined by personal and cultural narratives that can be identified and retold in therapy. The authors share their therapeutic vision through a series of stories, fictionalized discussions, and minidramas, inviting readers to participate in an ongoing conversation by reflecting on their own responses to the case material presented. Written in an engaging and personal style that brings the theory to life, the book challenges normative ideas about both narrative and the therapeutic relationship.

About this title

About the Author

Jeffrey L. Zimmerman PhD, is Co-Director, with Victoria C. Dickerson, of Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates in Cupertino, California. Drs. Zimmerman and Dickerson train therapists in the Narrative Family Therapy Externship at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto and have collaborated on many book chapters and articles.

Victoria C. Dickerson, PhD, is Co-Director, with Jeffrey L. Zimmerman, of Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates in Cupertino, California. Drs. Dickerson and Zimmerman train therapists in the Narrative Family Therapy Externship at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto and have collaborated on many book chapters and articles.

From the Back Cover

In this unique book, noted family therapists Jeffrey L. Zimmerman and Victoria C. Dickerson explore how clients' problems are defined by personal and cultural narratives, and ways the therapist can assist clients in co-constructing and reauthoring narratives to fit their preferences. The authors share their therapeutic vision through a series of stories, fictionalized discussions, and minidramas, in which problems have a voice. Written in an engaging and personal style, the book challenges many dominant ideas in psychotherapy, inviting the reader to enter a world in which she or he can experience a radically different view of problems, people, and therapy. A wealth of stories told from the clients' point of view illustrate the creative ways they begin to deal with problems: Individuals escape them, couples take their relationships back from problems, kids dump their problems, and teenagers work with their parents to fight their problems. Training and supervision from the perspective of students are also discussed. As entertaining as it is informative, this book will be welcomed by family therapists both novice and experienced, from a range of orientations. Offering a creative and accessible approach to clinical work, it also serves as a supplementary text in courses on family and narrative therapy.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I. If Problems Talked 1. This Is Not Kansas 2. If Problems Talked 3. Finding the Enemy and It's Not Us 4. I Knew Who I Was When I Woke Up This Morning 5. Things Are Closer Than They Seem II. Clients Strike Back 6. If Clients Talked 7. Feel Like a Stranger 8. Just Let Children Talk 9. Dis-ing Separation 10. Making Ourselves Up III. Bringing It All Back Home 11. When Students Talk Epilogue: Eyes of the World

Edition details

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1572301295
• ISBN 13: 9781572301290
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320