Movement of Identities: A Map for Therapeutic Conversations about Trauma

Movement of Identities: A Map for Therapeutic Conversations about Trauma

This chapter begins with an exploration of our philosophical positioning as narrative therapists and then presents a map for guiding therapeutic conversations toward the development of preferred story lines. We present these ideas in relation to our work with people who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse. We begin by reviewing three aspects related to our philosophical position: the need for people to talk about, or give voice to, their traumas; ideas about how memories and hope are both situated in the present; and the need to be aware of how “unknowable” another's experience can be. This philosophical position colors all that we do in our work with people who have experienced trauma and so also influences our stance when using a conversational map. The conversational map is made up of five key elements: points of stories, backstory, pivotal events, evaluating effects, and summary. A case example is presented to demonstrate the utility of this conversational map in therapeutic practice. This case example illustrates how narrative ideas and practices can be applied to the specific stories of survivors. As therapists, we adopt an open and curious stance in relation to the details of the person's story. We also maintain an active position to structuring a story that will allow the person to access what was previously invisible to that individual in his or her own story.

[Page 230]Our work was initially influenced by writers such as Bass and Davis (1988), Sgroi (1982, 1988), and Herman (1981, 1992). These writers highlighted the power dynamics that are often present within parent-child relationships and male-female relationships, which encouraged practitioners to move away from the possibility of victim blaming. These feminist approaches not only positioned past abuse within a context of privilege and oppression but also confronted the ongoing pressures and constraints that survivors and therapists experience throughout the process of recounting memories and seeking change. These approaches were crucial in “raising consciousness” in both the counseling and public spheres, and they also spurred anger in those recovering from and working with memories of childhood sexual abuse.

Our work continued to be informed and influenced by Dolan's (1991) approach to working with people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. She was able to present an approach that acknowledged the hurt brought about by their memories of abuse, while at the same time moving toward ways of living that reflect their preferred identities. This is one of the tensions we recognize in working with people overcoming the effects of trauma. It is important to politicize the context in which abuse often takes place and move away from individualizing and pathologizing practices, while also helping to create preferred identities and ways of being in the world. The creation of preferred identities will involve a tension between recognizing individuals' victimization and their power and agency. We therefore believe it is most useful to develop practices that acknowledge pain and anger and move toward alternative possibilities.

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