Narrative Therapy with Young People: An Introduction to Concepts and Practice

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the major concepts and practices of narrative therapy in work with children and adolescents. Drawing on archaeological and narrative metaphors, the principal concepts of externalizing conversations and reauthoring are explained. These concepts are used to derive the main tools of narrative therapy, the formulation of different types and sequences of questions. Two problem areas are used to provide extended examples of a narrative orientation with young people: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and young people's struggles with parents over issues of adolescence. Prospects for the relationship between narrative therapy and psychology are discussed.

Keywords::

• ADHD
• adolescence
• children
• narrative therapy
• parents
• social construction