Externalizing Problems Through Art and Writing: Experience of Process and Helpfulness

Abstract

Externalization of problems as a component of narrative therapy has been well defined by such authors as Epston and White, and Freedman and Combs. This study reflects the voices and experiences of 17 participants who engaged in an innovative externalization exercise combining sculpture and journaling over a period of 4 weeks. In an attempt to better understand the experience of the participants, the principal investigator also engaged in the exercise. Findings indicated that the intervention helped participants express emotions, increased their awareness of personal resources and agency, helped separate problems from self decreased symptoms and problem behaviors, and fostered a sense of empowerment. This study reveals the potential usefulness of physically externalizing problems and interacting with them deliberately over time. Such interventions may be useful components of narrative therapy or augmentations to brief therapy. They may help reach populations who have limited access to therapy services or who are reluctant to present for therapy.

Narrative practice with youth: a heuristic case study on a youth-centre drama workshop

“…White and Epston (1990) see that therapeutic documents assist short-term memory and enable people to be 'more active in determining the arrangement of information and experience, and in the production of different accounts of events and experience' (p. 37). Payne (2000) further suggests that therapeutic documents might include 'letters, statements, certificates and creative writing' (p. 127), and there are some recent studies noting the use of object-related interactions, such as puppets, in narrative practice (Keeling & Bermudez, 2006;Butler et al, 2009). In principle, the tools and objects in NT are not merely neutral instruments supporting the therapeutic process, but they do partly constitute the therapeutic experience.…”

Externalizing Conversations: Single Session Narrative Group Interventions in a Partial Hospital Setting

“…Clinicians act as ''investigative reporters'' to elicit clients' description of problems, and clients are encouraged to develop their own metaphors to describe the problem, its goals and activities (White 2007, p. 27). This process occurs through conversation, as well as other media, such as writing (Keeling and Bermudez 2006;White and Epston 1990;Zimmerman and Shepherd 1993), art (Carlson 1997;Keeling and Bermudez 2006), and symbol (Bermudez and Bermudez 2002).…”

“…This process, known as externalizing, is a first step and ongoing theme within narrative therapy (Carr 1998;Keeling and Bermudez 2006;Weber et al 2006). Psychoanalytic theorists have traditionally used the term ''externalizing'' to refer to an unconscious defense mechanism in which a person avoids responsibility for problem behaviors by blaming them on external forces (Cramer 2006).…”

Implementation of a journal prototype for pregnant and parenting adolescents

“…Keeling & Bermudez, 2006;Thomas et al, 2012.). These programs have incorporated forms of self-expression, but neither has published data related to the specific impact of the writing components of their projects.…”