Narrative therapy focusing on bodily sensations: a case of enhancing treatment proactivity of adolescent anorexia nervosa

ABSTRACT

Lack of treatment proactivity significantly affects the treatment outcomes for adolescent anorexia nervosa in China. This research illustrates a case where narrative therapy, focusing on bodily sensations, was employed for a Chinese adolescent with anorexia nervosa characterised by low treatment proactivity. The study analyses the case using a merged methodological frameworks of case study and narrative inquiry. This research delineates the client’s transformation through three primary themes: Detachment from Sensations of Dirtiness, Positive Development of Self-identity, and Enhancing Treatment Proactivity (two subthemes: Interpretation and Reversal of the ‘Dirtiness’ Bodily Sensations and Reconstruction of the Social Network). Finally, it analyses the relationships among various themes and constructs a process diagram to illustrate the entire transformation journey of the client. This study suggests that enhancing treatment proactivity could be linked to changes in understanding of bodily sensations and in self-narratives.

KEYWORDS:

• Anorexia nervosa
• adolescent mental health
• narrative therapy
• bodily sensations
• treatment proactivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/29949769.2024.2378766

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ruolin Bi

Ruoin Bi is currently a Master’s student in the School of Sociology at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, majoring in Social Work and Social Policy. Her research interests encompass adolescent mental health, parent-child relationships, and illness experience. Presently, she is primarily focused on the bodily experiences of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and the intervention methods tailored for this group. On this topic, she has published two conference papers, both of which have been recognised as ‘Outstanding Papers’.