Finally understanding the narrative theory

Our last tutorial really condensed everything that we have being covering in our classes. Sometimes its easier to understand a concept when it is simply defined to you in a couple of simple sentences and I think Grant going over the theories that we had looked at in class helped me to eventually get my head around the narrative approach. I think also writing our CDT essay gave me an opportunity to try to put the contemporary theories into my own words and this also really helped.
Gothard, et al (2001) suggests that ‘the use of narrative methods would seem to have a high degree of congruence with the practice of mentoring,’ this idea really helped me to see how a narrative approach would work into today’s guidance centres. It gave me the idea that a lot of Key Workers may unknowingly use a narrative approach.
Effort and commitment to the young person is needed on behalf of the key worker and the work involved at times can be stressful and have many hurdles, and I think in order to overcome these hurdles and episodes the young person needs to trust the key worker and this does mirror the idea of a mentor and I think for a lot of young people this kind of relationship works and is needed. What is created between this individual and their key worker should be the ability to talk the key worker through their life story; what has happened, where they are at now and how they may want to move forward- I do think that this is a good way of looking at how the narrative approach can or would work.