What is Narrative Therapy?
You are not the problem. The problem is the problem.
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Narrative Therapy is a collaborative approach to therapy that recognizes people as the experts in their own lives.
We all make meaning of our experiences through stories. These stories influence how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and the possibilities we imagine for our futures.
But our lives are never defined by just one story.
At Mountain View Therapy, we're interested in exploring the stories that have shaped your life, questioning the ones that may be limiting you, and making room for stories that better reflect your values, hopes, and commitments.
Our Lives Are Multi-Storied
Think about the many ways you might describe yourself.
You might be a parent, a friend, a partner, an artist, a student, a caregiver, or someone who values justice, creativity, or connection. You might also describe yourself as anxious, overwhelmed, unsuccessful, or someone who struggles with relationships.
All of these descriptions come from experiences you've had, but none of them can tell the whole story of who you are.
Sometimes, certain stories become so powerful that they overshadow everything else. A story about not being good enough, for example, might make it difficult to recognize the many moments when you've demonstrated courage, care, persistence, or creativity.
Narrative Therapy creates opportunities to explore those overlooked experiences and understand what they might reveal about you.
Your life has always contained more stories than any one problem could tell.
The Person Is Not the Problem
One of the foundational ideas of Narrative Therapy is that the person is not the problem; the problem is the problem.
Rather than seeing anxiety, depression, self-doubt, or conflict as defining characteristics of a person, we become curious about how these problems operate in their lives.
For example, instead of asking, "Why am I such an anxious person?" we might explore:
When does anxiety have the strongest influence over your life?
What does anxiety try to convince you about yourself?
How has anxiety affected your relationships or the things you care about?
Have there been moments when you've been able to respond to anxiety differently?
What might those moments tell us about what matters to you?
These conversations help separate people from the problems they're experiencing and create space to explore their relationship with those problems.
The stories we tell are shaped by culture.
The stories we tell about ourselves don't develop in isolation.
From an early age, we're surrounded by messages about who we're supposed to be, what makes a successful relationship, what a good parent looks like, how our bodies should appear, and what it means to live a meaningful life.
These messages come from families, communities, schools, workplaces, media, and larger social systems.
Over time, some of these expectations can become so familiar that we stop noticing their influence.
Narrative Therapy invites us to question them.
Where did these expectations come from? Whose interests do they serve? How have they influenced the way we understand ourselves? And do they actually fit with the lives we want to live?
At MVT, we believe it's important to recognize how experiences of power, privilege, oppression, and social expectations influence the problems people encounter and the stories available to them.
What Does Narrative Therapy Look Like?
Narrative Therapy is a conversation, but it's not simply telling your therapist your story.
Your therapist will ask questions that invite you to examine experiences from different perspectives, notice connections you may not have considered, and explore the meaning of moments you might otherwise overlook.
You might find yourselves talking about:
How a particular problem has been influencing your life.
The expectations you've inherited about who you're supposed to be.
Times when you've stood up for something important to you.
People who have helped you recognize your strengths, values, or commitments.
Experiences that challenge the way you've come to understand yourself.
What you want your relationships and future to look like.
Your therapist isn't there to tell you what your story should be or decide which parts of your life are most important.
Instead, you'll work together to explore the stories that feel meaningful to you.
Making Room for Preferred Stories
Narrative Therapy isn't about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones or pretending difficult experiences haven't happened. It's about recognizing that even when problems have had a significant influence on our lives, they haven't been the only things happening.
There may have been moments of resistance, connection, care, determination, or hope that deserve more attention.
When we explore these moments, we can begin to understand the values and commitments that have guided us, even during difficult times.
Over time, these conversations can help develop richer stories about who we are, what matters to us, and how we want to live.
Narrative Therapy in Action
Imagine someone comes to therapy feeling like they're never good enough. They might describe themselves as a failure, pointing to moments when they've disappointed others or fallen short of expectations.
Rather than accepting “I'm a failure” as a fact about this person, a Narrative Therapist might become curious about how this story developed.
When did the idea of not being good enough first enter their life? What expectations have helped keep it going? How has this story influenced their relationships, choices, and sense of possibility?
As the conversation unfolds, the therapist might ask about moments that don't fit this story.
Perhaps this person remembers standing up for a friend, making a difficult decision that reflected their values, or continuing to care for someone during a challenging time.
Together, they might explore what these moments reveal about the person's commitments, knowledge, and ways of responding to difficulty.
The goal isn't to convince someone that they're actually a success instead of a failure. It's to make room for a fuller, more complex understanding of their life—one that isn't dominated by a single problem story.
Why Mountain View Therapy?
Narrative Therapy isn't simply one approach among many that our clinicians occasionally use. It's the foundation of our practice.
Our therapists share a commitment to learning and practicing Narrative Therapy, while bringing their own personalities, experiences, and areas of interest to their work.
We believe that being part of a community of Narrative Therapists makes our conversations richer. Through collaboration, supervision, and continued learning, we support one another in asking thoughtful questions and exploring new possibilities.
Our name reflects something we love about this work.
As we travel through life, we collect mountains of stories. Some are easy to see, while others become hidden beneath the influence of problems or the expectations around us.
Sometimes, changing our perspective allows us to notice trails and connections we hadn't seen before.
At Mountain View Therapy, we hope to help people discover those overlooked paths and explore where they might lead.
Curious About Working With a Narrative Therapist?
You don't have to understand Narrative Therapy before beginning. You just need a willingness to have conversations about your life and what matters to you.
Explore our clinicians and find someone whose interests and approach feel like a good fit.
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