Narrative therapy offers a distinctive and powerful perspective: mental health stigma is a story that has taken hold, not a fixed truth — and stories can be changed.
The Narrative Approach to Mental Health Stigma
Narrative therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston, proposes that:
- Mental Health Stigma is externalized: it's something you're experiencing, not who you are
- Dominant stories about yourself can be unhelpful and incomplete
- Alternative stories — containing evidence of strength, agency, and values — already exist
- Re-authoring: deliberately constructing a new narrative that doesn't center mental health stigma
Key Narrative Therapy Techniques for Mental Health Stigma
Externalizing conversations: 'The mental health stigma tells me...' rather than 'I believe...'
Unique outcomes: Finding exceptions — times when you resisted or overcame mental health stigma
Re-membering: Who in your life, past or present, would not be surprised by your capacity to address mental health stigma?
Finding a Narrative Therapist for Mental Health Stigma
Narrative therapists are found through the International Journal of Narrative Therapy network and therapist directories. Training varies significantly — ask about specific narrative training.