Narrative Theory in Clinical Social Work Practice

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Narrative Theory: An Introduction and Overview

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 1-17

3. Encountering the Self, Encountering the Other: Narratives of Race and Ethnicity

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 19-41

4. Surviving Together: Individual and Communal Narratives in the Wake of Tragedy

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 43-65

5. Spiritual Stories: Exploring Ultimate Meaning in Social Work Practice

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 67-84

6. Sexual Stories: Narratives of Sexual Identity, Gender, and Sexual Development

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 85-112

7. Leaving Home, Finding Home: Narrative Practice with Immigrant Populations

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 113-141

8. Moving on: Narrative Perspectives on Grief and Loss

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 143-170

9. Who I Am and Who I Want to Be: Narrative and the Evolving Self of the Social Worker in Clinical Practice

   • John P. McTighe

   Pages 171-181

10. Back Matter

    Pages 183-186

    PDF

This theory-to-practice guide offers mental health practitioners a powerful narrative-based approach to working with clients in clinical practice. It opens with a primer on contemporary narrative theory and offers a robust framework based on the art and techniques of listening for deeper, more meaningful understanding and intervention.


Chapters expand on these foundational concepts by applying them to a diverse range of populations and issues, among them race and ethnicity, human sexuality, immigration, and the experience of trauma, grief, and loss. The author’s engaging voice, thoughtful pedagogical style, and extensive use of examples and exercises also work together to inform the reader’s own narrative of growth and self-knowledge.


Included in the coverage:
• Encountering the self, encountering the other: narratives of race and ethnicity.
• Surviving together: individual and communal narratives in the wake of tragedy.
• Spiritual stories: exploring ultimate meaning in social work practice.
• Sexual stories: narratives of sexual identity, gender, and sexual development.
• Leaving home, finding home: narrative practice with immigrant populations.
• Moving on: narrative perspectives on grief and loss.


Narrative Theory in Clinical Social Work Practice is geared toward students as well as seasoned social workers, and professionals and practitioners in related clinical fields interested in informing their work with a narrative approach.

• Narrative theory
• Narrative approaches to therapy
• Narrative theory and clinical social work
• Theory and clinical practice
• Therapy with diverse populations
• Constructivist theory
• Clinical Social Work
• Sexual Identity
• Social Work Practice with Immigrants
• Coping with Trauma
• Social Work Practice

• School of Social Science and Human Services, Ramapo College, Mahwah, USA

  John P. McTighe

John P. McTighe is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He received his masters degree in social work and Ph.D. in clinical social work from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University, and his M.Div. from the Washington Theological Union in Silver Spring, Maryland. He has published numerous articles in journals such as British Journal of Social Work, Journal of Traumatic Stress, and Clinical Social Work Journal, in addition to contributing a chapter to Critical Thinking in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis. He is also in private practice in Pompton Plains, New Jersey.

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