Narrative Therapy

I use Narrative Therapy to learn about the stories that a client tells about their life. Throughout the therapeutic process, we will "thicken the narrative" and discuss the ways that we may "re-story" our lives.

Engaged in narrative therapy training, facilitating experiential groups, and working towards certification.

Each one of us has a story. I use a variety of narrative therapy interventions, encouraging clients to consider alternative perspectives and reconstruct harmful narratives that may have developed over time. We all have the power to rewrite our stories and break free from the harmful narratives that hold us back from the lives we truly deserve.

The stories we tell ourselves create our reality. Narrative therapy works by charting your unique story, understanding the context, influences, other characters, and key moments. This therapy is a collaborative process between therapist and client, who work together to find a new alternative storyline to support healing. Here we consider the problem as a character your story, separating the person from the problem, to empower your identity as more than just "depression" or "anorexia."

Completed 3 day training on topic of narrative therapy and implements narrative therapy skills and tools into work with clients on a regular basis

Narrative therapy will help you separate yourself from your problems by viewing your life as a story. It encourages you to explore how your stories shape your identity and challenges. By re-authoring these stories, you can gain new perspectives, empower yourself, and create more positive narratives that support their growth and well-being. I will act as a collaborator, helping you discover alternative stories that reflect your strengths and values.

Narrative Therapy is based on the idea that our stories about ourselves and other people have a great influence on the way we experience the world, for better or for worse. Narrative therapists see their clients as the experts in their own lives and bring attention to cultural influence, such as toxic gender roles, perfectionism, and expectations. We reduce problem-stories (e.g., I'm not good enough) and support preferred-stories (e.g., I'm valuable and safe). Ask your therapist to learn more!

In London, she participated in an intensive Solution-Focused and Narrative Therapy training at the Brief Institute.

I specialize in narrative therapy, guiding clients to re-author their lives by examining the stories that shape their identities. Together, we’ll explore how societal, cultural, and personal narratives impact your experiences, separating you from problems and empowering you to rewrite your story. This collaborative approach emphasizes your strengths, values, and aspirations, helping you reclaim agency and create a more fulfilling, authentic life.

The foundation of Dr. Inez's psychotherapy worldview is narrative therapy. Some suppositions of the narrative worldview as defined by Michael White: Everyone has meaning-making skills. Everyone tells stories. The meanings we give these stories shape our lives. Life is multi-storied, not single-storied. Therapists listen for these storylines, and we support people to develop the preferred storylines richly.

With narrative therapy, clients have the opportunity to explore difficult situations and trauma through stories. It allows clients to explore the narrative through which they view what has occurred. Narrative therapy aids clients with rewriting their story in a way that allows them to externalize issues instead of internalizing them.

Narrative therapy provides us a way to find different perspectives on things happening in your life. Instead of trying to figure out if something is true or untrue about your life, we try to figure out what other truths are possible and which feel best for you.

Lucy Cotter, MFT, has a wholehearted commitment to narrative therapy and a passion for helping individuals and couples find freedom from old stories. As co-founder of the Narrative Counseling Center in Los Angeles, I have spent years dedicated to narrative practices that look at how stories get constructed and how people can get the upper hand in creating new stories for their lives.

I like to allow my sessions to flow freely like a conversation led by the client, with occasional interjections/comments from me in order to guide the client into telling their "story" or their personal reasons for coming to therapy, using additional and varying interventions/methods as they become appropriate in session.

I believe that you are the expert when it comes to your lived experience. I see my role as a co-author, helping you develop an alternate—yet perhaps truer—personal history so that you may move forward with courage and confidence.

writing can be a cathartic/therapeutic process by releasing thoughts and feelings onto paper. I often provide written prompts/exercises (upon clients' requests) to help motivate them to explore and process their inner thoughts both inside and outside of their sessions.

Narrative therapy is like rewriting the movie of your life where you stop being the awkward sidekick and become the epic main character. We’ll dig into your story, find the plot holes, and kick out those unhelpful narrators saying, “You’re not good enough.” Then, we’ll rewrite it with YOU as the hero, complete with triumphs, growth, and maybe even a killer soundtrack. It’s all about owning your story and making it one you’re proud to star in—no cheesy plot twists allowed!

My training at the Ackerman Institute included a focus on social constructionism and narrative therapy. My practice has focused on distinguishing people from their problems, exploring the relationship understandings that systems of power influence our lived experience, supporting people to cultivate life affirming, empowering narratives about their lives.