Creating Alternative Selves: The Use of Futures Discourse in Narrative Therapy

This article focuses on the field of narrative therapy which emerged in the 1990s (i.e. Angus and McLeod, 2004; Denborough, 2010; Monk et al 1996; Morgan, 2000; White, 2000) and investigates the use of futures discourse within it. Narrative therapy in psychology focuses on helping individuals to move away from unhelpful and distressing storytelling and towards new stories that shape their identities and relationships in line with the possibilities of desired presents and futures. The article therefore analyses the explicit and implicit use of futures discourse in narrative therapy, and investigates connections between narrative therapy and futures studies. It concludes by suggesting the strengthening of these connections by proposing futures studies practitioners further learn from narrative therapists and vice versa