Narrative therapy was developed by the therapists Michael White and David Epston and it was created as a non-pathologizing, respectful and collaborative approach to therapy where clients are seen as the experts in their own lives.
It is a type of therapy that separates the person from the problem, and assumes that people have their own skill sets, values, commitments and competencies that can help to reduce the influence of the problems that exist in their everyday lives. This way of working takes into account the broader context and culture of people's lives particularly in the various dimensions of diversity including class, race, gender, sexual orientation and ability.
Narrative therapists work collaboratively with their clients in resisting the influences of problem stories. In therapeutic conversations this involves listening with curiosity and a non-blaming stance, and looking for clues to knowledge and skills that run counter to the problem-saturated story.
Thus within a narrative framework, people's lives and identities are seen as multi-storied versus single-storied, and the focus is never on ‘experts’ solving problems. Rather, it is on people co-discovering through conversations.. To this end, the narrative therapist collaborate with people in ‘re-authoring’ the stories of their lives.