Emplotting the traumatic self: Narrative revision and the construction of coherence

Abstract

In this article we provide a constructivist‐narrative conceptualization of the origins and psychotherapeutic methods for treating trauma. We believe that the experience of trauma ensues when lived events outpace peoples’ abilities to emplot or narrate these events from the perspective of dominant life narratives. The sights, sounds, and smells associated with traumatic events preclude such emplotment. The therapeutic objectives of narrative therapy include finding ways to develop meanings for the trauma and subsequently to integrate these with the dominant narrative. Two case studies are provided to illustrate our conceptualization and therapeutic approach.