A Social Constructivist Perspective

1. A Social Constructivist Perspective • Holds that our lives and identities are formed and reformed in our interactions with each other. • Our lives and identities are ongoing projects. • We are continually immersed in negotiating viable understandings of our lives (and in conveying that understanding to others). • We may live our various realities with different people and at different times. We are multi-storied.

2. An Excerpt from the videoReflecting Processes: Dialogues about Dialogues about the Dialogues Tom Anderson, 1992

3. Expressing Oneself • comprises both giving information to oneself and others about what one thinks, • but it is also an affirmation of oneself, • which means to constitute and reconstitute self.

4. A conversation • an attempt to understand oneself • and to understand one’s surroundings • and how one may relate to these surroundings

5. Everybody is in an ongoing conversation • either with oneself (an inner dialogue) • or with others (an outer dialogue). • There is a constant search to understand who one is, • what one’s surroundings are, • and how one might relate to one’s surroundings.

6. Those who come and say they have a problem • are those who have an understanding that is not useful.

7. Counseling/Supervision • is a conversation with those who search for an alternative understanding of themselves and their surroundings and how they are relating to their surroundings.

8. This search is best done by including as many alternatives as possible, • which means to hold dialogues as openly as possible, • to allow as many alternatives as possible to emerge.

9. Steps in Narrative Career Counseling • Clients tell about their past career development, present career development, and construct their future career • Similar to a play or psychodrama, in which clients enact their lives; career is seen as a story • Application of concepts from literary criticism • _ agent - client, narrator, author of story • _ setting - where story occurs, also important people such as family, friends, etc. • _ action - designed to reach a goal that will satisfy needs of agent • _ instrument - what agent uses to reach goal

10. Storytelling • Client’s narration has a beginning (difficult or troubling situation), • middle (obstacles and instruments that may be used in working toward reaching a personal goal), • and end (counselor and client work together to develop solutions that will provide satisfaction and to reach a goal that will satisfy client).

11. Goals of Assessment in Narrative Counseling • Counselor is like an editor. Find out what is important from client’s story and what’s not, • Identify patterns in clients’ lives’ • Form a sense of the client’s identity, • Learn about the client’s goals for the future