Narrative Therapy and Older People
Challenging Stigma, Supporting Connection and Building Hope
- Foreword
- Editors
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Healthcare for older people tends to focus on physical limitations and cognitive decline, and the person's own perspective and strengths are often overlooked. Narrative therapy centres a person as the expert in their own story, and is particularly effective when combined with an older person's wealth of life experience. It highlights the way their views have been shaped by their cultural and personal contexts, which allows better understanding and communication, and improves people's lives.
Written by experienced psychologists, group facilitators and service users, this guide explores how to use narrative therapy with older people, including those with dementia or age-related conditions. From Tree of Life facilitation to ways of approaching loss and trauma, each chapter offers advice and proven strategies for practice for individuals, staff teams, groups and communities. This book helps you to adopt a person-centred approach to narrative therapy that helps service users to lead the life they want to live.
Where ageism and stigma often overwhelm older people and those who work with them, narrative therapy brings the focus back onto the person themselves, in the context of their history, their family and their community - who are they, and what do they have to say?
Written by experienced psychologists, group facilitators and service users, this guide explores how to use narrative therapy with older people, including those with dementia or age-related conditions. From Tree of Life facilitation to ways of approaching loss and trauma, each chapter offers advice and proven strategies for practice for individuals, staff teams, groups and communities. This book helps you to adopt a person-centred approach to narrative therapy that helps service users to lead the life they want to live.
Where ageism and stigma often overwhelm older people and those who work with them, narrative therapy brings the focus back onto the person themselves, in the context of their history, their family and their community - who are they, and what do they have to say?
- Published: Oct 21 2025
- Pages: 208
- ISBN: 9781805012429
Press Reviews
Bob Woods, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology of Older People, Bangor University
This remarkable book is full of stories, rich first-hand accounts of the healing effects of being heard and valued; inspirational and up-lifting, yet firmly grounded in the challenges associated with living into later life, or of supporting those who do so.
Keith Oliver, Kent and Medway NHS Dementia Envoy, author of Dear Alzheimer's
This page-turner of an important book works on so many levels by never losing sight of real people, either professionals or service users whose stories - if encouraged - come alive, enabling better quality of life for the individual to flourish. I know, because I have experienced narrative therapy as a recipient and as a co-facilitator in sessions, and my heartfelt wish is that through this book many others have this opportunity too. This book does exactly what it says on the title page - it DOES empathetically challenge stigma, skilfully support connection and compassionately build hope. The authors' insights resonate throughout, and people rather than their problems are their prime focus. Then by building trust and relationships through values-led practice we're taken on a positive story with both questions and possible solutions to support the reader. Here is a key book on the subject to have by your side.
Sabine Vermeire, narrative and systemic psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor at Interactie-academie (Belgium) and The Institute of Narrative Therapy (UK) and author of ‘Unravelling Trauma and Weaving Resilience with Systemic and Narrative Therapy’
This beautiful book unravels the many taken for granted ways of looking and thinking in "living together" and "working" with older people and people living with dementia. It gently but firmly gives them back a multicolored and multi-layered face. The wealth of narrative, innovative practices in speaking, thinking and doing together with older people is a treasure chest that carefully opens up throughout the various chapters and each person involved is given a full voice. The authors advocate to give older people a central place in our work but also in our lives and society. This makes the book more than necessary!
Dr Carolien Lamers C Psychol, AFBPsS, social gerontologist and retired clinical psychologist
This book is like an onion, layer upon layer is explored: the older person, their families, team members and wider systems. They return to the centre of the onion: us and we are invited to explore alternative discourses for our lives and ageing.