Narrative Therapy in a post-pandemic world: A fictional case study of a client living with depression

Abstract

ABSTRACT Models of counselling and psychotherapy indicated for diagnoses of depression include brief, goal-oriented interventions such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and are favoured by state funded mental health services. Whilst effective in addressing low mood these modalities provide little scope to consider the effect of structural and social inequalities that contribute to the known determinants of poor mental health, which have been exacerbated as a result of Covid-19. Using a fictional case study, this article seeks to explore the impact of oppressive, gendered, societal discourse on Simone’s mental wellbeing during the Covid-19 outbreak. Using Narrative Therapy Principles, this article considers how Simone might use this therapeutic framework to reframe and re-author her experience, asking the question ‘what’s happened to me?’ instead of ‘what’s wrong with me?’ With the psychosocial legacy of Covid-19 predicted to be far reaching, opportunities exist for providers of counselling and psychotherapy to review the availability of therapeutic modalities that acknowledge the role and impact of social inequality and oppression on the lives of our clients.