A Social Constructivist Perspective

• Holds that our lives and identities are formed and reformed in our interactions with each other.

• Our lives and identities are ongoing projects. • We are continually immersed in negotiating viable understandings of our lives (and in conveying that understanding to others).

• We may live our various realities with different people and at different times. We are multi-storied.

An Excerpt from the video

Reflecting Processes: Dialogues about Dialogues about the Dialogues

Tom Anderson, 1992

Expressing Oneself – comprises both giving information to oneself and others about what one thinks, – but it is also an affirmation of oneself, – which means to constitute and reconstitute self.

A conversation

• an attempt to understand oneself • and to understand one’s surroundings • and how one may relate to these surroundings

Everybody is in an ongoing conversation

• either with oneself (an inner dialogue) • or with others (an outer dialogue). • There is a constant search to understand who one is, • what one’s surroundings are, • and how one might relate to one’s surroundings.

Those who come and say they have a problem

• are those who have an understanding that is not useful.

Counseling/Supervision

• is a conversation with those who search for an alternative understanding of themselves and their surroundings and how they are relating to their surroundings.

• This search is best done by including as many alternatives as possible, • which means to hold dialogues as openly as possible, • to allow as many alternatives as possible to emerge.

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Steps in Narrative Career Counseling

Clients tell about their past career development, present career development, and construct their future career

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Similar to a play or psychodrama, in which clients enact their lives; career is seen as a story

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Application of concepts from literary criticism _ agent - client, narrator, author of story _ _ setting - where story occurs, also important people such as family, friends, etc.

action - designed to reach a goal that will satisfy needs of agent _ instrument - what agent uses to reach goal

Storytelling

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Client’s narration has a beginning (difficult or troubling situation),

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middle (obstacles and instruments that may be used in working toward reaching a personal goal),

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and end (counselor and client work together to develop solutions that will provide satisfaction and to reach a goal that will satisfy client).

Goals of Assessment in Narrative Counseling

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Counselor is like an editor. Find out what is important from client’s story and what’s not,

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Identify patterns in clients’ lives’

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Form a sense of the client’s identity,

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Learn about the client’s goals for the future