Comparing Narrative Therapy And Cognitive Behavioral Therapy In Counseling

Understanding and Engagement with the Client

Compare Narrative Therapy with another Model of Counselling, considering similarities and differences in how the client is understood andengaged with, the role of the counsellor, assumptions about change, types of intervention and the evidence for effectiveness of the Models.

Knowledge in narrative therapy is an essential tool in guidance and counseling. It involves the whole process of leading people to identify and concentrate on their values, skills, and knowledge (Thomas, 2002). It is in the 1970’s and 1980’s when narrative therapy came into being. It was introduced by Michael White and David Epston. It is through these aspects that people identify the areas they can perform best in life and work on them in the appropriate way. Narrative therapists aim at leading people, to understand them better than they do (White, 2009). When the responsibility to accomplished, such people who pass through this kind of therapy are at long last, able to deal with any problem or challenge that might come across them in their lives.

A narrative therapist collaborates with the affected client to weaken the negativity in him or her and focus on the bright positive side. On the other hand, cognitive behavioral therapy refers to the approach those people who have long-term skills or goals, to keep them healthy. This kind of therapy came into being in the 1960’s. It was introduced by a philosopher known as Aaron T. Beck. According to this model, the way people feel or behave is closely related to what they think. Thinking makes the cognitive part of the approach, while feelings, emotions among other behavioral aspects, make the behavioral part of the approach. The following is a detailed explanation focusing on the differences and similarities between narrative therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

The comparison of these two kinds of therapy needs a clear understanding of what they are. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a type of therapy applied in guidance and counseling, which majorly focuses on human behavior with the main aim of eliminating gradually or suppressing a behavior that is not desirable in a given society (Trauer & Qian, 2015). This unwanted behavior not only affects the individuals but also other members of the society who are close or in a way, related to the former. In other words, behavioral therapy is a kind of therapy which has the main aim of bringing about a positive behavior change in the society. Generally, in cognitive behavioral therapy, one learns how to clearly understand his beliefs, thoughts, and altitude, question them, and come up with a solution to solve a problematic situation that is based on cognition and behavior.

Role of the Counselor

Narrative therapy, on the other hand, focuses on narratives that help to change the situation of the clients. Sometimes, stories are retold, to make sure all important aspects are fully captured. These stories, in this case, act as lenses. They reflect one’s situation. A thorough interaction between the therapist and the client may create a totally different story, which in most cases, help to solve problems of aspects such as anxiety. Metaphors are commonly used in narrative therapy, to reveal what is hidden in the narratives. Critical thinking is a major factor that helps to me this therapeutic approach successful.

There are several ways in which narrative therapy and behavioral therapy are similar and different. The following is a detailed analysis of the similarities in terms of the Roles of the client

Clients are the real specialists of their own life. They pass through both positive and negative experiences. In both models, the clients are therefore for giving their experiences honestly and in a detailed manner, for them to get the right kind of therapeutic treatment. The experiences and wisdom of the client are a major source of the knowledge to solve their own problems (White M., 2005). They hardly notice this truth until they interact with the counselor.

Secondly, for the therapy to take place effectively, the client should be open and free to express his/her ideas. When a client expresses his feelings, emotions, opinions values and principles, in a free manner, he enables the therapist to know how to solve his/her problems. According to (Graham, 2014), “a problem shared is a problem solved.” According to research in narrative therapy, such people tend to feel relieved after speaking out what is deep in their minds (Morgan, 2002). Small psychological disorders like stress can be dealt with, by only sharing one’s emotions or feelings with close friends or relatives  (Olatunji & Davis, 2013).

First of all, the counselor is a consultant. He is also referred to as a collaborator. The major role of the client is to guide the client to understand the issues facing him or her in a deeper way. They are experts who are trained and effectively fit in their profession. One of the most important roles of counselors is to help their clients find solutions to their problems. A counselor does not give a solution to a problem, but with the help of the client, he or she can come up with a particular way or suggestion that may help in solving the problem (Freedman & Combs, 1996). For example, a cognitive behavioral therapist collaborates with the client to guide him to find the solutions to himself. These solutions are mostly suggested by the client himself.

Assumptions about Change

Additionally, the counselor is also a curious learner. He learns through the experiences of different clients (Denborough, 2009). He then uses the knowledge obtained on one occasion to solve another similar, but related problem. The counselors act similarly in both therapies. It is also the role of the counselor in both models to help the client to develop self-awareness and accept their challenges. By so doing, it becomes easier for the clients to get help. The therapist should provoke conversations, to enable to affected, to disclose all issues regarding their problem.

Both models assume that human beings are able to interpret their own experiences. Human beings are knowledgeable. However, when they do not know the knowledge bestowed on them, they may not interpret both simple and complex problems facing them.

Both models also assume that each individual has his own belief, attitude or story. All our experiences cannot be put together in one belief or story. The story of an individual should, therefore, be used to solve his problem, and not the story of another third person. However, review of how a problem was handled in a third person’s story can also help to handle a current problem (Goncalves, Matos, & Santos, 2009).

Therapists in both models of counseling, use different intervention principles, to solve the problems of the clients. One of the most common is the ‘my life story’ intervention. This helps the clients, to see that their experiences and stories are even minor and therefore they should not lose hope. For children, the expressive art interventions can also be used (O’Connor, 1997). When stories are told through expressive art, they become more influential and therefore help in both the narrative and cognitive behavioral approaches.

There are various evidence to prove that narrative therapy is effective. Many publications have been made, showing this effectiveness. One of the most famous ones is the one written by (Fred & Epston, 1989). In this publication, Fred explains about how children stealing cases had become rampant in the past but recent years. Out of the sample that was taken, 45 cases of such children stopped stealing. Famous narrative therapy evidence is a case study which was conducted by (Majid, 2014). This one included a sample of boys aged between 10-11 years, who had symptoms of social phobia. The duration for the narrative therapy approach took 90 minutes session. Eventually, the phobia gradually weakened and seized completely. This was reported by their teachers and their family. These children finally became good and fluent public speakers

Types of Intervention

However, despite the many similarities between behavioral and narrative therapy, there are also some differences, which distinguish them. Based on the same basic concepts discussed above, the following are some of the differences between these two models of counseling.

Narrative therapy	Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Here, most of the clients come to the therapist while a bit mentally composed. They only need help in aspects such as attitude change, making long term decisions among many others.	Here some of the clients are extremely affected. Therefore, a guardian or a parent has to accompany such clients. For example, an extreme bhang addict cannot directly go to a counselor, without the help of a guardian
Clients here are mostly willing to participate. A person, who wishes to get guidance on a certain aspect from a narrative therapist, will feel so willing to participate in any activity that is suggested by the therapist.	Here, most of the clients facing adverse behavioral issues are often not willing to undergo behavioral therapy. As a result, they are reinforced through various methods of reinforcement, for instance, punishment, for them to change their behavior.
The main aim of clients here is externalizing their problem for them to get help	The main aim of the clients here is changing their behavior to a better one, which is acceptable by the members of that particular society.

Here the counselors also have different roles as far as behavioral and narrative therapy is concerned. The following table shows the differences between these two models of counseling.

Narrative therapist	Cognitive-behavioral therapist
It is the role of the therapist to engage his/her clients in a lengthily conversations, to help them come identify their thinness, and hence change it to the positive way.	Here, cognitive-behavioral therapists mostly reinforce the behavior of their clients, by involving them in several pieces of training, to modify their behavior.
Narrative therapist focus on the experience of the clients in their approach. It is mainly focused on the experiences of the clients.	One of the roles of these therapists is to help clients to identify the beliefs and attitudes, which are the major causes of their problems.
Narrative therapists make the use of theories involved in this kind of therapy, to administer the appropriate counseling	Cognitive-behavioral therapists make the use of behavioral theories to correct the irrelevant, undesirable and bad behavior, to a good behavior that is acceptable in the community. Some of these theories are; classical conditioning and operant conditioning (Vromans & Schweitzer, 2011).
A positive change in narrative therapy is realized through lengthy conversations between the therapist and the client	A positive change in behavior is realized through practicing the aspects of good behavior taught

Narrative therapist	Cognitive-behavioral therapist
The assumption the narrative therapists makes is that the type of language used can bring about great changes in the “thin” story of the client (Lafrance & Stoppard, 2007).	Here, the cognitive-behavioral therapists assume that behavior is not only rectified by language but also real actions. They involve many aspects to change the feelings and attitude of the clients.

Narrative therapy	Cognitive-behavioral therapist
In Narrative therapy, the approach to clients is professional and with less contact with the clients. The counselor and the client only need a close oral communication.	In cognitive-behavioral therapy, the counselor maintains a close contact with the client to make it possible for him/her, to monitor the behavior of the client.

Narrative therapy	Cognitive-behavioral therapist
The client provides a positive feedback about complete identity of issues like goals, attitude, values, among others	The client can orally talk with the cognitive-behavioral therapist about how he was before and how he is after rehabilitation among other training programs which are aimed at changing one’s behavior to a positive one.

In conclusions, narrative therapy is a wide field of study which relies on the specialist on that field, and the clients. The main aim of this study is to make sure that all people in the global; society live in peace and harmony, solving any challenge that may arise in life. In collaboration with other related studies such as behavioral therapy, most of the people in the society get help on issues that with the psychology of human beings.

References

Denborough, D. (2009). Research, evidence and narrative practice. Dulwich Centre Publication.

Fred, W., & Epston, D. (1989). Australian and Newzealnd Journal of family therapy , 3.

Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). Story development. In Narrative therapy. In The social construction of preferred realities (pp. 101-103). New York. Norton.

Goncalves, M., Matos, M., & Santos, A. (2009). Narrative therapy and the nature of ‘Innovative Moments’ in the construction of change. Journal of Constructivist Psychology , 1-23.

Graham, J. (2014). Narrative therapy for treating video game addiction. International journal of mental health and addiction , 701-707.

Irwin, M., & Olmstead, R. (2014). Cognitive behavioral therapy vs. Tai Chi for late life insomnia and inflammatory risk. a randomized controlled comparative efficacy trial , 1543-1552.

Lafrance, M., & Stoppard, J. (2007). Re-storying women’s depression. In C. Brown & T. Augusta-Scott (Eds). Making meaning: Making lives. London, England: Sage Publications.

Majid, G. (2014). The Arts in Psychotherapy.

Morgan, A. (2002). Beginning to work with narrative therapy. Dulwich Centre Foundation.

O’Connor, T. e. (1997). On the right Track: Client experience of narrative therapy. Contemporary Family Therapy , 479-495.

Olatunji, B., & Davis, M. (2013). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis of treatment outcome and moderators. Journal of psychiatric research , 33-41.

Thomas, L. (2002). Poststructuralism and therapy: What’s it all about? . International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work , 85-89.

Trauer, J., & Qian, M. (2015). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic InsomniaA Systematic Review and Meta-analysisCognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia. Annals of internal medicine.

Vromans, L., & Schweitzer, R. (2011). Narrative therapy for adults with major depressive disorder: Improved symptom and interpersonal outcomes. Psychotherapy Research , 4-15.

White, C. (2009). Where did it all begin? . Reflecting on the collaborative work of Michael White and David Epston , 57-58.

White, M. (2005). Re-authoring conversations. Michael White workshop notes , 10-12.