ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explains how postmodern, social constructionist, and narrative literary theories have shaped narrative therapy's practices, and the implications for how the sense of ‘Self’, or ‘identity’, is understood within these practices. In particular, narrative therapists understand that people's sense of identity is shaped by the stories they tell of themselves to themselves and others. The usefulness of these approaches is highlighted as well as how, regardless of this usefulness, there are some inconsistencies and gaps in how narrative therapy theorizes the whole person. For instance, what part of the person tells the stories of the Self? What part of the person makes judgments about the preferences, hopes, and dreams? Following these explorations, the author highlights how some practitioners are drawing upon both postmodern narrative practices and an understanding of spirituality, although none have previously explored the language of the soul.
