The Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy

"As no other volume brings together original contributions in narrative and psychotherapy from practitioners, researchers, theoreticians from around the world, the Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy should be purchased by libraries that support the education, practice, and research of professionals in the "helping" sciences."--E-STREAMS"This volume is an extremely valuable resource. It tells the fascinating story of the centrality of storying in human lives and their counsel - including the history of the narrative turn in psychology and the newest developments in theory and research. I recommend it most highly." --Michael J. Mahoney, author of Human Change Processes and Constructive Psychotherapy "The growing interest in constructivist approaches, nontraditional approaches towards research, and specifically narrative as an organizing concept makes it an extremely timely book. The contributors look like a who's who in the area . . . . a well planned book, with the right organization and the right people." --Jeremy Safran, The New School for Social Research, New York City "Overall, clinicians will find this book valuable because they will be introduced to different approaches to using narrative ideas in therapy, with sufficient detail and case history material to make the ideas come alive. Theoreticians will get sophisticated discussions of the nature of narrative as it relates to the nature of the person, personality development, and personality change. And finally, researchers will get 'state of the field' knowledge of narrative research on therapy and narrative methods for doing research. Overall, this is an important and exciting book on a hot topic, filled with new ideas, sophisticated research, and case examples. If you wanted to know about this important development in the field of psychology in general, and psychotherapy in particular, this is the place to come." --Art Bohart, Saybrook Graduate School "With an excellent cast of characters, both new and old, Angus and McLeod's ambitious anthology of current thought on narrative and therapy bridges the generations of scholars and therapists within this tradition, creating a lively community of the widely varying voices. Narrative is a truly integrative element of psychotherapy, applying with equal force to cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, experiential and family systems approaches. As such, this book successfully lays out the newly emergent approach, and points out new opportunities for integration at the levels of both theory and practice, with implications that reach far beyond clinical assessment and treatment, to the nature of self and culture. This book maps the territory of narrative and psychotherapy for the next generation of therapeutic narratologists." --Robert Elliott, Ph.D., University of Toledo The field of narrative-informed therapy began nearly a decade ago and has now matured to the point where a significant reference work is both timely and appropriate. The Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy is the first work to draw together theorists and practitioners representing a diverse range of approaches to describe and detail assessment and intervention strategies focusing on client story-telling and story reconstruction to promote positive change in clients. It aims to bring together multiple approaches to promote a dialogue among differing narrative traditions and synthesize a more integrated understanding of client story-telling processes in psychotherapy. The editors have achieved a balance between practice, applied research findings, and background theory. Psychotherapy practitioners and researchers in social work, counseling, nursing, and psychiatry will find this handbook of immense value. Faculty, graduate students, and librarians in clinical psychology, counseling, social work, and psychiatry departments will also find this an ideal addition to their courses and collections. No other volume brings together original contributions in narrative and psychotherapy from practitioners and researchers from around the world. Key Features: Contains an international "who's-who" of contributing authors Highlights and integrates the various approaches and dimensions of narrative therapy, including the contributions of narrative expression to psychotherapy practice, theories of personality and self development, and research strategies assessing narrative and client self change Includes therapy session examples and case materials that demonstrate narrative interventions in action Presents clear and consistent professional guidelines in each chapter