ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author describes some concepts in Daniel Stern’s model and discusses their relevance to the issue of the relationship between the individual and the system, and between the individual and shared experiences and narratives. He demonstrates how his theory has been an inspiration to his in the author works with families, while at the same time being firmly rooted in systemic family therapy. The author explores special use of Stern’s description of the five domains of the senses of self and his concept of key therapeutic metaphor. He examines this in relation to the significance of the concept of family premises within systemic family therapy. The issue concerns both how an individual narrative can become a shared and common experience and how common experiences leave their traces in different ways in the individuals in a family. The author explores the conception of the concepts of key therapeutic metaphor and family premises.
