What does postmodern mean?

• Postmodern is a word used to describe changes in the ways people think- especially the way they view reality
• Postmodernity refuses to allow any single defining source of truth and reality The new emphasis is on difference, plurality and selective forms of tolerance.
• Postmodern thinking would state there is no world view
• Reality does not exist independent of any attempt to observe it (social constructionism is this idea)
• We don’t understand the world independent from language

 

Postmodern approaches

• Modern approach to knowledge is where the world is seen as something that can be measured and reduced down in its simplest components
• Post modern comes out of criticism of the modern approach
• Post modern point of view is that everyone has their own version of reality
• We are in a post-modern world and our understanding of truth and reality often come form points of view influenced by history and context rather than objective factors.
• Best known postmodern perspectives: solution-fused brief therapy, solution-oriented therapy, narrative therapy and feminist therapy.

 

How is language emphasized in PMA?

• Any understanding of reality is based on the use of language and largely a function of the situations in which people live.
• Dialogue is used to elicit perspective, resources and unique client experiences.
• The use of language in stories creates meaning.
• Questions empower clients to speak and to express their diverse positions
• The client not the therapist, is the expert
• The therapist supplies optimism and the process

 

Social Constructionism

 

Features

• The client is the expert about their own lives

• The idea that the client’s reality exists without disputing if it is accurate or rational.

Goals

• Generate new meaning in the lives of clients.

• Co-develop, with clients, solutions that are unique to the situation.
• Enhance awareness of the impact of various aspects of the dominant culture of the individual- all disorders in DSM are socially constructed.
• Help people develop alternative ways of being, acting, knowing and living.

Key concepts • Postmodernists assume there are multiple truths

• Reality is subjective and is based on the use of language
• Postmodernists strive for a collaborative and consultative stance
• Postmodern thought has an impact on the development of many theories

 

Solution-Focused Brief therapyNarrative Therapy

Features

• Grounded on positive orientation: people are healthy and competent.

• Shares similarities with positive psychology
• Past is downplayed, while the present and future are highlighted.
• Looking for what is working.
• Up to four sessions.
• Therapists assist clients in finding exceptions to their problems and to recognise the competencies they already have.
• It is a non-pathologising approach that emphasis competencies instead of deficits.
• Solution focus- what is working rather than what is broken.
• Asking how questions that imply change can be useful.

Basic assumptions

• The problem itself may not be relevant to finding effective solutions

• People can create their own solutions
• Small changes lead to large changes
• The client is the expert on his or her own life.
• The best therapy involves a collaborative partnership.
• A therapist’s not knowing affords the client an opportunity to construct a solution.

Types of relationships in SFBT

• Customer-type relationship: client and therapist jointly identify a problem and solution to work toward

• Complainant relationship: a client describes a problem, but is not able or willing to take an active role in constructing a solution.
• Visitors: clients come to therapy because someone else thinks they have a problem.

Techqniues

• Pre-therapy change: what have you done since you made the appointment that has made a difference in your problem?

• Exception questions: Direct clients to times in their lives when the problem did not exist
• Miracle questions: If a miracle happened and the problem you have was solved while you were asleep, what would be different in your life?
• Scaling questions: On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is the worst you have been and 10 representing the problem being solved, where are you with respect to….

Group counselling

• Group is focused on solutions

• Leader shifts focus from the problem by providing members the opportunity to view themselves as resourceful and competent.
• Goals for therapy are small, realistic and achievable.

 

 

Features	•  Clients construct the meaning of life in interpretive stories which are interpreted as truth •  Selecting events that fit with the dominant plot and privileging those over events that don’t fit the narrative.
Therapeutic process	•  Collaborate with the client in identifying the problem •  Separate the person from his or her problem

 

	•  Investigate how the problem has been disrupting or dominating the person •  Ask clients to speculate about what kind of future they could expect form the competent person that is emerging. •  Create an audience to support the new story.
Role of stories	•  We live our lives by the stories we tell ourselves and what we tell others. •  These stories shape our reality of what we se, feel and do •  They are in social and cultural context •  Stories not only change the client but also the therapist. •  Client is constructing the story not the therapist.
Functions of therapist	•  Listen with an open mind •  Encourage clients to share their stories •  Listen to a problem-saturated story of a client without getting stuck •  Demonstrate respectful curiosity and persistence •  Believe the person is not the problem, but the problem is the problem. •  To become active facilitators •  To demonstrate care, interest, empathy and contact. •  To believe in the client’s abilities, talents and positive intentions. •  To adopt a not knowing position that allows being guided by the client’s story •  To help clients construct a preferred story line. •  To create a collaborative relationship.
Questions	•  Used to generate experiences rather than to gather information. •  Are used to assist clients in exploring dimensions of their life situations. •  Can lead to taking apart problem-saturated stories. •  Exception questions •  “How long has the anxiety been there?” as a opposite to “how long have you been anxious?”
Externalisation	•  Externalisation is the process of separating the person from identifying with the problem. •  Externalising conversations help people to free themselves from being identified with the problem •  Externalising conversations can assist clients in recognising times when they have dealt successfully with a problem. •  Based on the idea that living life means
	relating to problems, not being fused with them.
Deconstruction and creating alternative stories	•  Problem-saturated stories are deconstructed before new stories are cocreated. •  The assumption is that people can continually and actively re-author their lives •  Unique possibility questions enable clients to focus on their future. •  An appreciative audience helps new stories to take root.
Group counselling	•  Used for group work in school settings •  Group work provides an appreciative audience with which a client can discuss the new developments of his or her life •  New identities can be rehearsed in the group setting •  Wide range of uses include: grief counselling, anger management, academic management, an adventure based program.

 

 

Strengths and Weaknesses (from a multicultural perspective)

Strengths	Weaknesses
•  Social constructionism is congruent with the philosophy of multiculturalism •  Clients are encouraged to explore how their realities are being constructed out of cultural discourse and the consequences that follow from such constructions. •  Narrative therapy is grounded in a sociocultural context, which makes this approach especially relevant for counselling culturally diverse clients.	•  Adopting a “not knowing” stance may lead clients form some cultures to lose confidence in the therapist. •  To rectify this, postmodern-oriented therapist must convey to clients that they have expertise in the process of therapy but clients are the expert in their lives.

 

 

Limitations vs. Contributions

Limitations	Contributions
•  Therapists must be skilling in implementing brief interventions •  Must employ techniques in a mechanistic fashion •  Reliance on techniques may detract from building a therapeutic relationship •  Narrative therapists must be careful to approach client’s stories without imposing a preconceived notion of the client’s experiences. •  More empirical research is needed.	•  Client’s are able to make significant moves toward building a more satisfying life in a relatively short period of time •  Their dim view of diagnosis reminds us that people cannot be reduced to a specific problem •  The use of questioning •  Brief therapy has been shown to be effective for a wide range of clinical problems
• The not knowing stance may compromise the client’s confidence in the therapist.