TPC-Digests-V1-Issues-123

A n E xploration of K nowledge and P ower in N arrative , C ollaborative -B ased , P ostmodern T herapies : A C ommentary A b s t r a c t Given the increasing popularity of narrative and collaborative therapies, this article undertakes an examination of the postmodern theory underlying these therapies, giving particular attention to issues of power and knowledge in therapeutic practice, examined both within clients’ narratives and within the therapeutic alliance. Given the increasing popularity of narrative and collaborative therapies, it is important to provide adequate analysis of the philosophical assumptions underlying these therapeutic practices. This article undertakes an examination of the postmodern theory underlying such therapies, giving particular attention to issues of power and knowledge in therapeutic practice. Therapeutic theories influenced by postmodern thought, such as narrative and collaborative-based therapies, are typically attentive to issues of power in the therapeutic relationship, but the intricacies of notions of power in postmodern thought go unnoticed by counselors who undertake the practice of narrative or collaborative therapies without nuanced understandings of postmodern conceptions of power. Many times, counselors who do not attend to specifically postmodern critiques of January 30th, 2012 Cody J. Sanders TPC Digest Go To Article