1. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy TENTH EDITION
Gerald Corey
Cengage Learning

2. Postmodern Approaches
Chapter 13
Postmodern Approaches

3. Social Constructionism
The client, not the therapist, is the expert
Dialogue is used to elicit perspective, resources, and unique client experiences
Questions empower clients to speak and to express their diverse positions
The therapist supplies optimism and the process
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4. Social Constructionism Therapy Goals
Generate new meaning in the lives of clients
Co-develop, with clients, solutions that are unique to the situation
Enhance awareness of the impact of various aspects of the dominant culture on the individual
Help people develop alternative ways of being, acting, knowing, and living
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5. Social Constructionism: Key Concepts
Postmodernists assume there are multiple truths
Reality is subjective and is based on the use of language
Postmodernists strive for a collaborative and consultative stance
Postmodern thought has an impact on the development of many theories
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6. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (slide 1 of 2)
Therapy grounded on a positive orientation—people are healthy and competent
SFBT shares similarities with positive psychology
Past is downplayed, while present and future are highlighted
Therapy is concerned with looking for what is working
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7. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (slide 2 of 2)
Therapists assist clients in finding exceptions to their problems
There is a shift from “problem-orientation” to “solution-focus”
Emphasis is on constructing solutions rather than problem solving
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8. Basic Assumptions of SFBT (slide 1 of 2)
The problem itself may not be relevant to finding effective solutions
People can create their own solutions
Small changes lead to large changes
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9. Basic Assumptions of SFBT (slide 2 of 2)
The client is the expert on his or her own life
The best therapy involves a collaborative partnership
A therapist’s “not knowing” affords the client an opportunity to construct a solution
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10. Questions in SFBT (slide 1 of 2)
Skillful questions allow people to utilize their resources
Asking “how questions” that imply change can be useful
Effective questions focus attention on solutions
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11. Questions in SFBT (slide 2 of 2)
Questions can get clients to notice when things were better
Useful questions assist people in paying attention to what they are doing and can open up possibilities for them to do something different
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12. Types of Relationships in SFBT
Customer-type relationship: Client and therapist jointly identify a problem and a solution to work toward
Complainant relationship: A client describes a problem, but is not able or willing to take an active role in constructing a solution
Visitors: Clients come to therapy because someone else thinks they have a problem
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13. Techniques Used in SFBT (slide 1 of 3)
Pre-therapy change: Therapists ask, “What have you done since you made the appointment that has made a difference in your problem?”
Formula first session task: Homework a therapist gives clients between their first and second sessions that offers hope that change is inevitable
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14. Techniques Used in SFBT (slide 2 of 3)
Exception questions: Therapists direct clients to times in their lives when the problem did not exist
Miracle question: Therapists ask, “If a miracle happened and the problem you have was solved while you were asleep, what would be different in your life?”
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15. Techniques Used in SFBT (slide 3 of 3)
Scaling questions: Therapists ask, “On a scale of zero to 10, where are you with respect to __________?”
Therapist feedback to clients: Therapists take a short break during each session to write a summary for clients
Terminating: Termination begins at the first session
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16. Application to Group Counseling (slide 1 of 2)
Group is focused on solutions and the members’ ability to find solutions in their own lives
Leader shifts focus from the problem by providing members the opportunity to view themselves as resourceful and competent
Group members provide a supportive audience to observe one another being confident and competent
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17. Application to Group Counseling (slide 2 of 2)
Group members can offer input and point out exceptions to problematic situations in each others’ lives
Questioning is used to facilitate client’s establishing goals early in the group process
Goals for therapy are small, realistic, and achievable
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18. Narrative Therapy Therapists: Listen to clients with an open mind
Encourage clients to share their stories
Listen to a problem-saturated story of a client without getting stuck
Demonstrate respectful curiosity and persistence
Believe the person is not the problem, but the problem is the problem
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19. The Therapeutic Process in Narrative Therapy (slide 1 of 2)
Collaborate with the client in identifying (naming) the problem
Separate the person from his or her problem
Investigate how the problem has been disrupting or dominating the person
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20. The Therapeutic Process in Narrative Therapy (slide 2 of 2)
Search for exceptions to the problem
Ask clients to speculate about what kind of future they could expect from the competent person that is emerging
Create an audience to support the new story
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21. Functions of the Narrative Therapist (slide 1 of 2)
To become active facilitators
To demonstrate care, interest, respectful curiosity, openness, empathy, contact, and fascination
To believe in the client’s abilities, talents, and positive intentions
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22. Functions of the Narrative Therapist (slide 2 of 2)
To adopt a not-knowing position that allows being guided by the client’s story
To help clients construct a preferred story line
To create a collaborative relationship—with the client being the senior partner
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23. Questions in Narrative Therapy
Used to generate experience rather than to gather information
Always asked from a position of respect, curiosity, and openness, and from a not-knowing stance
Are used to assist clients in exploring dimensions of their life situations
Can lead to taking apart problem-saturated stories
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24. Externalization
Externalization is a process of separating the person from identifying with the problem
Externalizing conversations help people
To free themselves from being identified with the problem
To identify times when they have dealt successfully with the problem
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25. Deconstruction and Creating Alternative Stories
Problem-saturated stories are deconstructed before new stories are co-created
The assumption is that people can continually and actively re-author their lives
Unique possibility questions enable clients to focus on their future
An appreciative audience helps new stories to take root
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26. Application to Group Counseling (slide 1 of 2)
Narrative therapy has been used for group work in school settings
Group work provides an appreciative audience with which a client can discuss the new developments of his or her life
New identities can be rehearsed in the group setting
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27. Application to Group Counseling (slide 2 of 2)
Wide range of uses for group-based narrative therapy in schools including:
Anger management
Grief counseling
Academic management
An adventure-based program
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28. Strengths from a Diversity Perspective
Social constructionism is congruent with the philosophy of multiculturalism
Clients are encouraged to explore how their realities are being constructed out of cultural discourse and the consequences that follow from such constructions
Narrative therapy is grounded in a sociocultural context
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29. Limitations from a Diversity Perspective
Adopting a “not knowing” stance may lead clients from some cultures to lose confidence in the therapist
Postmodern-oriented therapists must convey to clients that they have expertise in the therapeutic process but clients are the experts in knowing what they want in life
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30. Contributions of the Postmodern Approaches (slide 1 of 2)
Due to the optimistic orientation of these approaches, clients can make significant progress in building more satisfying lives in a short time
The postmodern approaches remind us that people cannot be reduced to a specific problem
Practitioners adopt a nonpathologizing stance
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31. Contributions of the Postmodern Approaches (slide 2 of 2)
A major strength of SFBT and narrative therapy is the use of questioning, the centerpiece of both approaches
Brief therapy has been shown to be effective for a wide range of clinical problems
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32. Limitations of the Postmodern Approaches (slide 1 of 2)
Therapists must be skilled in implementing brief interventions
Therapists may employ techniques in a mechanistic fashion
Reliance on techniques may detract from building a therapeutic relationship
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33. Limitations of the Postmodern Approaches (slide 2 of 2)
Narrative therapists must be careful to approach client’s stories without imposing a preconceived notion of the client’s experiences
For some clients, the therapist’s “not knowing stance” may compromise their confidence in the therapist as an expert
More empirical research is needed
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