An illness narrative or a social injustice narrative?

Abstract

This chapter discusses the difficulty faced by therapists when, instead of a story of emotional problems, they are presented in the course of a professional consultation with a narrative about social injustice. The chapter includes a detailed analysis of a single intake session and subsequent post-intake interviews, taken from a large study on intakes in mental health clinics with culturally diverse populations in Israel. The client–subject of this chapter presented herself to a mental health facility, claiming a state of crisis due to the downgrading of her employment status, which she attributed to systematic corporate injustice. During the intake interview, there were a number of disagreements between the client and the therapist. While the client sought to relate a narrative of injustice, the therapist insisted on identifying an illness narrative. This chapter argues that the battle of narratives is a political battle, and highlights the political power wielded by therapists in defining diagnoses and treatment recommendations.