The Use of Reauthoring and Therapeutic Letters in Narrative Therapy: Case Study with “Peter”

February 2nd, 2010
By Peggy Gold, MS, NCC, LMHC, Narrative Therapy Topic Expert Contributor

Click here to contact Peggy and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

** The following article is a continuation from last month’s GoodTherapy.org submission, “The Use of Scaffolding Map in Narrative Therapy” **

In my second meeting with Peter, we met alone for the majority of the time because his father was involved with taking care of the other children in the family. Peter was immediately talkative and engaged in our conversation. I “checked in” with him regarding how he has been feeling about things since our last meeting (which had taken place one and a half weeks prior). Peter identified that he was noticing that he was not feeling angry or sad, and that this was a change for him. I inquired as to what contributed to that change, and he said that he was deciding to “focus on other stuff,” which enabled him to “worry less about things going on around him.” When I asked what “other stuff” he was focusing on, he said that he was focusing on homework, and also on baking. Peter smiled as he told me of his recent success with baking a new type of cookie that he had discovered in a cook book. The fact that he got the idea to bake them, asked to bake them, made them, and that they were enjoyable to others had him feeling “proud of himself.” Through questions, I was able to ascertain that baking these cookies was a new initiative for him. I asked him to give this initiative a name, and he called it being “adventurous.”

Here commenced a reauthoring conversation that centered around Peter’s adventurousness. I spent time asking Peter about both his actions, as well as questions about his identity, as seen through the lens of adventurousness. Peter’s affect was bright and engaged during this conversation. A reauthoring conversation is based on highlighting actual events in a persons life (landscape of action) as well as exploration of the meaning, hopes, values, preferences, learnings, commitments, and importances to that person (the landscape of identity). As I spoke to Peter about adventurousness, my aim was to ground this initiative in Peter’s current and past actions, as well as connect this step to his beliefs about his life, his hopes, and preferences for living. This conversation is summarized in the following letter which I wrote to Peter after we had our reauthoring conversation.

Dear Peter,

Hi! Sometimes I write letters to the people I see in my counseling practice because it’s a fun way to remind them of the work that they are doing. I hope getting this is a nice surprise for you. Do you like getting mail? I always do.

I really enjoyed learning about your adventurousness tonight! It was so cool that you came up with that great word while we were talking about your butter cookies that you decided to make. It seems like you hadn’t thought of yourself as being adventurous until we really took a look at it. And it was great to then track all the other adventurous qualities you have had over the years. You have really taken steps in this direction for a while now: with your trying out sailing at camp, and picking up that craft/hobbies book at the church fair, and making the butter cookies!!! And something about feeding alligators?! It’s so nice to hear that you were feeling proud of yourself about these things. These accomplishments are so different from what “sad” and “angry” would want you to notice about yourself. Even “calm” for that matter. I know that you like calm too, but your adventurousness gets you closer to feeling carefree, and that seems like a place that you would really enjoy being.

I hope our talk was helpful in getting your adventurous spirit going even more and that you made some great chocolate chip cookies. Maybe it will have you looking more closely at some new hobby options too. I’m interested in how you like to have a nice product at the end of your efforts. Maybe you could share with me more about what you like about that next time we talk. It makes me guess that you enjoy seeing and experiencing your accomplishments, perhaps because you get to feel proud of them? I’m glad to know that you like feeling proud of yourself. I know you said it helps you feel happy.

So will you share this letter with anyone? That is totally up to you, but there may be some people in your life that you’d like to read this. Feel free to do that, or just to keep it for yourself. I hope that you have a great week as you explore your adventurousness and that “sad” and “angry” stay away like they have been. If they crop up, that’s OK, but it sounds like you have some new ways to make them stay away.

I’ll talk to you soon, Peter!
Have a great week,

Peggy

The purpose of the Reauthoring conversation is to make previously subjugated storylines more present in people’s lives. Often “problem” storylines (in this case – sad, angry, and stressed) have taken over people’s thinking, and life events become interpreted within the context of these problems. Since Reauthoring conversations bring about a new way of looking at lives, often these conversations require some extra “reinforcements.” Because Peter had just discovered this place of “adventurousness” in his life, I chose to send him the therapeutic letter in order to reintroduce and reinforce these ideas with him a few days later.

Also – at the end of our conversation that night, Peter’s father entered the counseling room and I recounted on the developments of adventurousness. By having Peter listen to my “retelling” of his Reauthored story, he was able to listen to the entire plotline from a place of distance, which helped it become more real for him. Additionally, I interviewed his father briefly about what he knew of Peter’s adventurousness, and Peter was able to hear these stories (one about playing soccer on his older brother’s soccer team, and one about feeding alligators in Florida), within the context of him being adventurous. The retelling, the interview with his father, and the letter all serve to bolster and reinforce the strength and power of the developing Reauthored story.

Peter has continued to embrace and explore his adventurousness. One day after our conversation, he asked if he could make chocolate cookies from scratch, and he did. He has expressed that trying new things and being adventurous has him feeling proud of himself and happy. He says that it helps him to feel like he can be “more carefree and less stressed.” His father has also commented that he feels like he has “gotten Peter back,” as they have had the opportunity to have fun together, and be silly and carefree.

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