Synopsis

The field of narrative-informed therapy began nearly a decade ago and has now matured to the point where a significant reference work is both timely and appropriate. The Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy is the first work to draw together theorists and practitioners representing a diverse range of approaches to describe and detail assessment and intervention strategies focusing on client story-telling and story reconstruction to promote positive change in clients. It aims to bring together multiple approaches to promote a dialogue among differing narrative traditions and synthesize a more integrated understanding of client story-telling processes in psychotherapy. The editors have achieved a balance between practice, applied research findings, and background theory.

Psychotherapy practitioners and researchers in social work, counseling, nursing, and psychiatry will find this handbook of immense value. Faculty, graduate students, and librarians in clinical psychology, counseling, social work, and psychiatry departments will also find this an ideal addition to their courses and collections. No other volume brings together original contributions in narrative and psychotherapy from practitioners and researchers from around the world.

Biography

John McLeod is Professor of Counselling at the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, and previous Professor of Counselling Studies at Keele University, England. Originally trained in person-centered counseling and psychotherapy, he has shifted in recent years in the direction of a narrative-informed approach. Research interests include the development of qualitative methods for the hermeneutic narrative analysis of interview and psychotherapy transcript data, and the creation of practitioner-oriented research strategies. He has published six books, including An Introduction to Counselling, Second Edition (Open University Press 1998), which incorporates a chapter on narrative approaches, Narrative & Psychotherapy (Sage Ltd, 1997), which reviews recent developments in narrative-informed theory, research and practice, and Qualitative Research in Counselling & Psychotherapy (Sage Ltd, 2000), which includes a chapter on research into narrative and discourse in psychotherapy. He has also published over 30 chapters and papers on a range of counseling and psychotherapy topics.

In addition to their academic work, both Angus and McLeod are practicing clinicians who see clients, train and supervise clinical psychologists in psychotherapy and counseling skills and are engaged in psychotherapy process and outcome research. In their work, they attempt to fully integrate theory and research into practice, and they believe that each component of the process-practice, theory, evaluation/research-inform each other.

Lynne Angus is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a member of the Psychotherapy Research Group at York University, Toronto. Dr. Angus has an active psychotherapy practice in which she specializes in narrative-focused experiential psychotherapy. She is clinical supervisor for brief therapy treatments at the East End Community Health Clinic in Toronto. Her research interests include the development of a narrative processes model and an assessment interview and coding system for psychotherapy discourse. She has published several papers on the analysis of metaphor themes in psychotherapy sessions. The Narrative Processes Coding System has been translated into 2 languages and research collaborations in Finland, Portugal, and Spain are underway. Current grant-supported efforts include the empirical analysis of narrative change in the experiential treatment of depression as well as the systematic analysis of narrative coherence in psychotherapy sessions. She has published over 20 publications in research journals and psychotherapy-related texts.

In addition to their academic work, both Angus and McLeod are practicing clinicians who see clients, train and supervise clinical psychologists in psychotherapy and counseling skills and are engaged in psychotherapy process and outcome research. In their work, they attempt to fully integrate theory and research into practice, and they believe that each component of the process-practice, theory, evaluation/research-inform each other.