ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the practice of scaffolding in narrative therapy and its importance in creating social engagement in single session therapy. It demonstrates through past research that scaffolding is present in single session therapy and outlines the therapeutic effects of this for brief therapy. The chapter explores the neurobiological effects of scaffolding on social engagement and elaborates this as shown through new research that looked at the effects of this kind of conversation on EEG measures and changes in alpha-amylase and cortisol. It explores the impacts of the research findings on clinical work and teaching. In new research in the area of neuroscience and single session therapy, the chapter discovers evidence that supports powerful neuro-biological effects of brief narrative conversations. Scaffolding conversations are organized according to a map with a hierarchy beginning with naming and characterizing the problem or initiative, referred to as “low-level distancing”.