Poststructural and Narrative Thinking in Family Therapy

This brief applies variations in poststructural thinking and practice to the field of family therapy. Poststructural thinking pervades the world of therapeutic practice in ways that are often invisible to both the theoretician as well as the practitioner.  In this brief, the authors focus on what poststructuralism has brought to our understanding. What follows are chapters that speak to training and teaching principles as well as to practices that draw on ideas about “becoming,” “relationality,” and “the aesthetics of engagement." Each chapter builds on the other with the last one reprising a key component of narrative understanding. From a teaching institution in Auckland, NZ to an online training program in Minneapolis, from new thinking about “auto-ethnography” to a “de-centered” practice to “poetic” resistance, the chapters in this brief offer exciting ideas and practice possibilities.

• Autoethnography
• De-centering
• Narrative therapy
• Poststructural thought
• Poststructural thought and family therapy
• Poststructuralism
• Poststructuralist therapy
• Relationality

“American Family Therapy Academy brief offers insight into the poststructural and narrative approach in the couple and family therapy field, addressing the school of narrative thought as well as its clinical applicability. … book was written with both practitioners and teachers in mind. This brief serves well graduate students who have a lot to learn about the contemporary applications of narrative thinking. … What makes this book especially helpful is the use of vignettes or clinical examples in each chapter.” (Ileana Ungureanu, Doody's Book Reviews, August, 2016)

• Aptos, USA

  Victoria Dickerson

Victoria C. Dickerson, PhD, is a clinician, an author of numerous articles, book chapters, and two books, a teacher of narrative ideas and practice, and previously a director of two training centers.  She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Family Therapy Academy in 2012. She teaches in various universities and offers workshops nationally and internationally.  She is currently the Associate Editor for Technology and New Media for Family Process and recently created a Webinar series for the Family Process Institute.  Her publications include several recent articles on poststructuralism and narrative theory.

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