Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Clients
Clients
Clients
Abstract:
therapeutic process conducted by the author (SL) and the clients' as part of
After this exercise, the clients were invited to write an article about their
journal.
The main voices that will be heard are the clients' voices as they
influenced by the work of Harlene Anderson (1988, 1992) and her colleagues at
way that they have not talked with themselves or with each other before".
wondering where do they want to go and how do they want to use this
conversation. This does not mean that I don't know anything or that I don't
ideas stated by Anderson and Goolishian (1988) "In order to entertain the new
and the novel there must be room for the familiar". From that familiar stand
I am often very pleasantly surprised about the places we can reach and the
and fashions. These questions help me wonder, generate curiosity and move
tentatively along the way. They also give me the opportunity to express
the questions have for me when he says:" The question is the only tool that I
in my patient's life".
adopted by Michael White and David Epston (White and Epston, 1990).
Following their work, I have increased the use of letters and written
remains in the center of the stage and I try to keep his/her voice as close
write them. The richness of their experience can be captured through their
own language*
The Process:
I have been interested in the ideas my clients have about therapy in
general and about our work together in particular for a long time.
with their willingness to share their ideas and their need to share them with
other therapists and other clients . " I felt I had company on my journey, I
still remained very connected to my own process but never felt alone"
(Interview June 95) " Now I feel obliged to tell the story the way I feel
selling or convincing anybody that this is better than other therapies this
story is about sharing my experience in the most honest way " (personal
If you were to describe the process we had together to someone that has not
What kind of advice would you give to a therapist working with a client
similar to you ?
my work as a therapist.
clients one more time and asked them if they were willing to write their
They were and are very excited about the process in spite of the enormous
amount of work that it entitles. They have shared with me that the process of
by itself (MC ,Martha, personal comm. Jan 96). In the process of writing the
experience they have been interviewed one more time and they have spent hours
watching and transcribing their interviews. I believe this effort can be very
include in this article the description of the process as the clients' wrote
In order to respect the need of each individual client, two chose to become
co-authors with me and one person decided to provide her account if she could
*I want to thank Margarita Tarragona, for her translation and editorial work
References
White, M. and Epston, D. (1990) Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, New York:
Norton.
The Accounts:
light. Ever since I can remember the origin and cause of ones behavior was
a way to understand and see the world. I grew up believing that my conduct was
motivated by a myriad causes although they remain hidden inside the dark
unconscious. I can't remeber greater pleasure than diving in the deep waters
friends and family. That was a game. Then came the serious part of it all.
If one had learned to see and live the world in such terms, one wanted to
help others share the same vision, one wanted to help others heal the secret
and painful wounds that their miserable past had left upon their souls.
I used to believe then, that one had to hurt to overcome the pain of so many
my mind that was the road I wanted to travel. I had no doubt that the only
and to discover those crazy parts of myself that were to blame for all my
trouble. Of course I learned about the power of the analyst, about the
omnipotent wizard that heals with the touch of the magic words. I was trained
through their past experiences. I was taught also that I had to use myself
and needed other resources beside the analytic framework to deal with the
conflicts my patients had. Little was I to know the surprises that were in
complex whole that influenced it's conduct and was influenced by it. My
patients stopped being alone in the world but they were accompanied by a
myself thinking that my previous framework was not sufficient to face actual
had positive results when working with families and couples. I became more
tolerant of differences,of alternative points of view. I started to search
diagnostic criteria.
Time came when having left my analytic therapy I was in need for
previous solutions whose answers I knew by heart. I wanted different and new
answers to a problem which had it's roots in the past. I wanted a narrative
to learn a new way of thinking about reality and it's alternatives. I was
in need of grasping reality in the here and now, of compromising with myself.
I entered narrative therapy, afraid what I would find and feeling disloyal
In the process of this new focus I was being asked questions I never
enjoying every minute of it. How could a method that did not make you suffer
that passed through reason and not emotion helped you solve conflicts ?
I don't have the answer, yet I know that the opening of new pathways towards
the same problem, is a way of opening doors and windows to a light never seen
before.
egalitarian and the therapist is perceived as a warm, close human being with
solutions, in the here and now of my patients. I am more flexible, more open.
I have become humble and accepting of my mistakes. I feel more alive knowing
that I work as a team with schools, parents and patients, than before when I
as a therapist, yet I still don't know what will become of this change,
fountain of richness and alternatives, as a place where everyone has the right
Sylvia London invited me to write this article for the journal and
looking for.
Margarita Tarragona. I went to see her and from the beginning of our work the
method was very clear and I felt free to take the road that I wanted, with
her consultation and guidance. The first two sessions were basically
and the next. At that time Margarita told me that she would be leaving Mexico
to live in the USA for some time and suggested that I continue the therapy
with Sylvia London. The fourth session was the last one with Margarita and
Sylvia was also there to link the work between the two of them.
The bridge between one therapist and the other was extremely easy thanks to
because with Margarita I had felt very comfortable, we were working very
well and I did not know if the same would happen with Sylvia.
The personal working styles of the two therapists are very different.
works more from the heart, while Sylvia is more geared towards results
things about myself and I came to value a lot of what I have done in my
Can take years and might not reach - It's brief and concise, it has
determined solution a time frame time frame.
The formal nature of "The doctor" - It is more confortable and
"The Patient" takes away much informal, which creates a
of expression and openness. greater openness and freedom. .
What I like the most about this therapy was that it takes place in
the present and it focuses on what you want to accomplish in the future.
in the past, where there is nothing you can do because you can not change it.
I think that living in the past, being trapped in the past, is a way of
escaping the present and the future, since in the present you create the
misunderstandings, blame, guilt, etc., which don't serve any purpose and
it has a clear objective and a path to follow, which is the only way
to get results in a short time.
the same level, without hierarchies between one person and the other, like a
than Doctor/Patient pair. This made work easier, nicer,freer and more
horizontal.
I felt very comfortable because I stopped feeling that I was being
judged or being "cured" and being "wrong" and "needing" the opinion
you are the best "expert" on yourself and that therapy should be like a
consultation. Its goal is to help you with something specific that you do not
know how to solve. The perspective and objectivity of another person can help
you see roads, solutions or possibilities that you can not see right then.
I filled up with energy and continued on the path that I want to be on.
keep you from getting what you want in your life. I see it as a sort
of "Life Project Consultation", that takes you from where you are
today to where you would like to be, getting rid of the parts of your
past that are getting in your way and giving you the great value that
need to get the results that I want,. If in the future I get "stuck"
I think that this type of Systemic Therapy is on the cutting edge and
dated and out of touch with what people need .today. I know that in
the recent years and in the future there will be many changes in all
not know how our mental "computer" works and that everyday new
I want to recognize and applaud the work that you do. I wish all
therapists would know about this type of therapy and the results that
you are getting, so they would make strides in helping people fulfill
their potential and unchain themselves from the past that traps them.
Sincerely,
Marta Gargollo
However, there was a time when I was deprived of myself, a time when
well being and harmony of each and every person and situation around
Just like my mother had done before, I had to silence certain inner
For some years I lived under the anesthesia of this everyday life.
Today I dare explore the multiple visions that I keep inside me,
there was no place for the good and the bad or the right and the wrong
events without fear of finding those monsters that hide in the Pandora's box
very different ways, the conscience that there is no one only truth,
As months have gone by I have found in the consulting room a space for
deep into the issues that concern me in an honest and open way. I feel
that Sylvia made good use of the feeling of loss which I started
voices, I discover how this inner dialogue has become a tool that lets me
integrate what has happened to me at other times with what I think,
feel and live today, without pretending that this will be immutable.
and I want to let myself flow more organically in my inner and outer
world.