Working With Narrative in Emotion-Focused Therapy Changing Stories, Healing Lives

In psychotherapy, as in life, all significant emotions are embedded in important stories, and all significant stories revolve around important emotional themes. Yet, despite the interaction between emotion and narrative processes, emotion-focused therapy (EFT) and narrative-informed therapies have evolved as separate clinical approaches. In this book, Lynne Angus and Leslie Greenberg address this gap and present a groundbreaking, empirically based model that integrates working with narrative and emotion processes in EFT. According to Angus and Greenberg's narrative-informed approach to EFT, all successful psychotherapy entails the articulation, revision, and deconstruction of clients' maladaptive life stories in favor of more life-enhancing alternatives. Because emotions and narratives interact to form meaning and sense of self, the evocation and articulation of emotions is critical to changing life narratives. Individual chapters describe how the interaction between emotion and narrative creates a constantly evolving sense of self; how clinicians can address both narrative and emotion processes to help clients create more adaptive, empowering meanings and sense of self; and the importance of a strong therapeutic alliance. Engaging, in-depth case studies at the end of the book illustrate how the model can be applied to treatment of depression and emotional trauma.

Lynne E. Angus, PhD, CPsych, is a professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada, and is currently president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research.
 
She is the senior editor of The Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy: Practice, Theory, and Research (2003) and coeditor of Bringing Psychotherapy Research to Life: Understanding Change Through the Work of Leading Clinical Researchers (2010).
 
Dr. Angus's psychotherapy research program focuses on the contribution of narrative and emotion processes for productive treatment outcomes in emotion-focused therapy. Dr. Angus codeveloped the narrative processes model and coding system with Heidi Levitt and Karen Hardtke.
 
Finally, Dr. Angus is an active clinical practitioner and psychotherapy supervisor who is committed to furthering the integration of psychotherapy research and practice in community-based settings.
 
Leslie S. Greenberg, PhD, is distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is a leading authority on working with emotion in psychotherapy and the developer of emotion-focused therapy, an evidence-based approach.
 
He has authored and coauthored the major texts on emotion-focused approaches to treatment of individuals and couples, including Emotion-Focused Therapy for Depression (2005); Emotion-Focused Therapy: Coaching Clients to Work Through Their Feelings (2002); Facilitating Emotional Change: The Moment-by-Moment Process (1996); and Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love, and Power (2008).
 
Dr. Greenberg has received the Distinguished Research Career Award of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, an international interdisciplinary society, as well as the Carl Rogers Award of APA's Society for Humanistic Psychology. He also has received the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Programs' Award for Excellence in Professional Training and the Canadian Psychological Association's Professional Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Profession.
 
He is a founding member of the Society of the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration and a past president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. He conducts a private practice for individuals and couples and trains people in emotion-focused approaches.