TPC-Journal-V1-Issue3

201 Given the increasing popularity of narrative and collaborative therapies, this article undertakes an examination of the postmodern theory underlying these therapies. This consideration gives particular attention to issues of power and knowledge in therapeutic practice, examined both within clients’ narratives and within the therapeutic alliance. Implications on the role of counselors in recognizing and addressing power within clinical practice is likewise detailed. Keywords: collaborative therapies, postmodern theory, narrative, knowledge, power, stories Knowledge and power, terms used frequently in everyday vernacular, carry particular nuanced meaning and significant weight in discussions of postmodern therapies. Narrative therapies, in particular, bear the marks of significant shaping by notions of knowledge and power that are given particular form through a process of postmodern critique. While narrative therapy 1 and other collaborative-based postmodern therapies have much to offer in the way of method for counseling practice, one would miss the significance of methodological structure without first understanding the philosophical underpinnings. While postmodern thought is often referred to in a unified manner, it is important to note that postmodern influences on therapy do not stem from a unified system or philosophy called “postmodernism.” Instead, postmodern influences may be most clearly articulated as a critique of the assumptions of modernism. Modernist thought can be traced throughout the foundations of the psychotherapeutic theories and modalities that have dominated the field from Freud to the present. While narrative therapy certainly runs counter to many modernist assumptions in counseling, it is sometimes difficult to see the significance of postmodern influences without first illustrating how they provide a critique to modernist assumptions. As McNamee (1996) states, “We often do not recognize the mark of modernism because it has inscribed itself on our way of living” (p. 121). Thus, it is necessary at the outset of this exploration to provide a contrast between modern and postmodern thought as it relates to the field of counseling in order to more fully articulate the importance of the concepts of knowledge and power in the theory and practice of narrative therapy. Modern and Postmodern Thought in Counseling “The pursuit of truth over meaning as humankind’s highest achievement,” as Parry and Doan (1994) characterize the modern turn in history, “probably began with Plato” (p. 2). In this pursuit of truth, modernist thought conceives of knowledge as pointing to or representing an objective world that exists independently of the mind and feelings of the individual. In this framework in which knowledge is attained through the process of observation and verification, “the knower is autonomous and separate from that which he or she observes, describes, and explains” (Anderson, 1997, p. 30). From this perspective, Anderson (1997) pictures modern knowledge as a pyramidal structure with a hierarchy of truth. Barbara Held (1995), a critic of postmodernist influences in counseling, characterizes modernism and postmodernism in terms of realist/antirealist divide. “The realist doctrine,” she holds, “states that the knower can attain knowledge of an independent reality—that is, reality that is objective in the sense that it does not originate in the knower, or knowing subject” (Held, 1995, p. 4). 1 While there are many variations and forms of therapy that are signified by the title’s plural “therapies,” at this point the paper will begin to refer to narrative “therapy” (singular) for convenience. The reader should note that this designation does not refer to one theorist’s conceptualization of a narrative approach, but refers to the myriad ways in which narrative and collaborative-based therapies are practiced. All approaches implied are influenced by postmodern thought and critique. The Professional Counselor Volume 1, Issue 3 | Pages 201-207 © 2011 NBCC, Inc. & Affiliates www.nbcc.org http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org doi:10.15241/cjs.1.3.201 An Exploration of Knowledge and Power in Narrative, Collaborative-Based, Postmodern Therapies: A Commentary Cody J. Sanders Cody J. Sanders, NCC, is a doctoral student at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth, Texas. Correspondence can be addressed to Cody J. Sanders, Brite Divinity School, Pastoral Care and Training Center, 2855 S University Drive, Fort Worth, TX, 76129, cody.j.sanders@gmail.com .