Donna Kemp

At the heart of narrative therapy is the idea that our identities are shaped by the stories, for example, that we are handed of who are and what we may be by our families and culture as well as the stories we tell ourselves and each other about our lives.

I am interested in enabling people to fully explore and describe their life stories, including the political, cultural and social contexts of these, and to engage with the possibilities associated with them. At the same time, I encourage co-researching a problem's influences on, for example, people and relationships. I believe that a different therapy must be fashioned with and for each individual because each person has a unique story.

Narrative therapy helps people clarify for themselves alternative paths in life to that of the problem, one that comprises a person's values, hopes and life commitments.

• Narrative therapy centres people as the experts in their own lives.
• Problems are regarded as separate from people.
• It is assumed that people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values and commitments that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives.
• Curiosity and a willingness to ask questions to which we genuinely don’t know the answers are important principles of narrative work.
• There are many possible directions that any conversation can take and there is no single right direction..........

Donna Kemp has a Bristol based part time private practice for individual therapy. Please contact her by Email: donnakemp@blueyonder.co.uk or Phone: 0796 393 8677 (mobile) (0117) 907 4650 (office)