ABSTRACT
People’s problems, and examining family members’ identities and roles as constructed through family relations, culture, and history, have always been part of the common themes for family therapy even though family therapy theories are very diverse. Family members’ narratives, centering on their life stories, and based on post-modern viewpoints, have become an influential family therapy framework over the past several decades (Freeman & Couchonnal, 2006; Nichols, 2013). In this approach, the therapist’s role in the process of therapy is based on social constructionist ideas, which is a major paradigm shift in the family therapy field (Legg & Stagaki, 2002; Nichols, 2013). Social constructionism’s main ideas center around understanding the processes people use to explain, describe, rationalize, and eventually view themselves and the world around them (Legg and Stagaki, 2002). Based on this post-modern perspective, narrative theory values multiple realities and experiences and rejects the idea of a universal truth. Furthermore, clients are experts about their own life stories, and their perspectives are valued and honored. In this approach, the therapist’s view of the problem is perceived as simply one perspective and not necessarily the main or the privileged one (Legg and Stagaki, 2002; Nichols, 2013).
