Psychologists often use a narrative approach in therapy to help people reclaim their lives from depression’s suffocating hold. This involves curiously and respectfully examining and deconstructing the ‘problem-saturated stories’ people have come to tell about themselves. It includes challenging the authority of the depression story and recognising the hidden contradictions to what depression would have you believe about yourself. The assumption is that every person has some aspect of their lives where depression has not been able to ‘stay in charge’. Discovering those little victories and building a new story from them is the goal of narrative therapy.

In narrative therapy, your psychologist will help you identify the beliefs and assumptions that tend to reinforce depression’s influence. These could be beliefs about who you are, what you should be, or what others expect of you. As you gain insight into the factors that contribute to the depression’s power, you can begin to challenge the assumptions or prescriptions you have unwittingly lived under. This allows you to create some space to tell a new story about whom you can and should be, thus loosening the grip of depression’s story. The process involves exploring your values, strengths, and resources and using these as the foundation for creating a new personal narrative.

For example, someone may have a narrative about themselves that says they are a failure because they do not live up to certain societal norms and expectations. A narrative therapist would help the person identify and question some of those norms and expectations while exploring a definition of success more aligned with the person’s values, strengths and dreams. Together, the person and their psychologist would craft a new version of their story that affirms their unique personality, way of life and aspirations. As the person begins to ‘live by’ this new story, the old depression story (and its underlying assumptions) becomes less influential and defining.

A powerful technique that narrative therapists use is externalising. This involves separating you from the problem and viewing depression as a separate entity that can be resisted, challenged, outsmarted, and overcome (throughout this article, you will notice that we talk about depression in an externalising way – e.g., the lies of depression, depression’s grip, the dark cloud of depression). This can be particularly helpful when you feel like depression is a part of your identity or when you feel overwhelmed by it.
For example, someone who feels like depression is an essential part of who they are might be encouraged to give it a name or persona. They might be asked to describe what this entity looks like, how it behaves, and what it wants for the person. This can help the individual to gain or recognise a sense of influence over the depression and see it as something that they are separate from rather than something that defines them.

In a certain sense, all therapy is narrative therapy since it invites us to reconsider our stories about ourselves. Therapy is about gaining new perspectives and insights and developing a stronger sense of agency in shaping our lives. With the support of a skilled psychologist, you can discover the power of re-telling your story to create positive change.