ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how a narrative therapist’s job is to help people supplant, subvert, and question the domination of normative judgments; to recognize, celebrate, and spread the news of meaningful lives lived beyond the pale of the dominant culture. Inspired by the writings of Michel Foucault, narrative therapists assist in bringing forth and witnessing stories of nonstandard lives—lives lived meaningfully and fulfillingly in response to unjust norms. Drawing on a mix of personal anecdote and clinical example, the chapter describes some of the subtleties of taking what Michael White called a “decentered but influential” therapist stance.
