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[Music]
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there is no greater Agony than bearing
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an untold story inside you may Angelou I
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Know Why the Caged Bird
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Sings all people seek a coherent tale
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weaving together stories in time they
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build a tapestry of Life events these
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interconnected moments are like
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constellations against the night sky
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distinct yet connected each instance
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radiating its own kind of importance we
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Define Our Lives by these connections
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not just what they are but how they're
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told there are near infinite ways to
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weave together a story with each
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individual bringing with them their own
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unique traits strengths and goals the
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possibilities are Limitless furthermore
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we can always revisit our stories
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patching old gaps or connecting new
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meanings to serve the greater purpose of
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the narrative stories are not
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necessarily Bound in stone they are made
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to be
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Rewritten in this way narrative therapy
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seeks to guide an individual in the
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authorship of their own life it is the
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client's task to re-evaluate their story
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as their own expert and the therapist
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serves as merely a guide while guiding a
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client through the process it is
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important that a therapist retains a
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stance of Unknowing and curiosity
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encouraging clients to deconstruct their
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narratives and look at them from another
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perspective dominant plots are
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reinterpreted in the light of alternate
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plots and problems are
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externalized through extensive use of
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questioning labeling metaphors and focus
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on strengths the therapist helps the
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client to re-evaluate important moments
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and events consider the example of Maria
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in her session with Emma her therapist
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notice the techniques used when working
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with
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Maria so Maria what brings you um here
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to the day you're having some trouble at
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school yeah I don't know I just I feel
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like I don't really belong in school
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like I don't fit in I feel like I mean I
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don't really have any friends people
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don't really talk to me and I I I feel
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like they don't they don't want to talk
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to me I just I don't I we don't share
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the same interest and so I just I don't
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even want to go any go to school anymore
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it's just really discomforting and it's
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really becoming a problem it's really
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bothering me that I I don't have friends
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so I'm wondering if we can think of some
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names to call these problems um I think
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that once we can call them something we
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can begin to gain some power over them
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and some control and you can begin to
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feel happier and more comfortable at
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school so what should we call these
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problems you're having um maybe like
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fear and worry I just I'm very fearful
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like speak to people and speak up
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because I'm worried that I'm just going
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to be judged because I don't share the
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same interest as the people at school
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okay fear and worry so it it seems like
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fear and worry are really getting the
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best of you at school I'm wondering if
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there are ever any times um when fear
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and worry don't weigh heavy on your back
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um I'm actually on this debate team and
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I love it like I get to voice my opinion
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and I feel like people like appreciate
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that and even the leader said that I'm
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really good at arguing which is it's
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nice to be able to argue and you know
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say something and someone appreciates it
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and I just I feel like I share a lot of
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the same interest with the debate team
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and we even work as a team sometime and
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it's it's nice to feel connected because
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at school I feel disconnected from
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everyone but it's just sad cuz we only
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meet like once every other week and you
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know I just I wish we got to meet more
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CU I love that feeling do you think that
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your friends on the debate team would
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describe you as having fear and worry
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control you and your experiences I don't
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think so I feel like I feel like I'm a
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different person at debate team like I
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talk all the time there where at school
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like I never talk to anyone so like I
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don't think they think that I'm fearful
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at all the debate team so I'm wondering
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what the difference is um in your debate
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team what what's the difference how are
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you able to shake fear and worry off of
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your back I think I just feel accepted
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there like I me and the people on my
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debate team we share the same interest
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like I love talking about science and
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current events and I mean that's a lot
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of what we talk about at the debate team
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where at school it's like cool to talk
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about boys and shopping and those things
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just don't interest me and so I feel
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like I can't connect to people my age at
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school because they don't want to talk
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about sides at current events and
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they're probably just going to judge me
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for talking about those things and I
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don't want to talk about boys so we just
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we don't we don't get along there so you
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feel accepted uh in these debate team
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meetings and that you're able to talk
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about your passions and your interests
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without worrying about feeling judged so
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what do you think this tells me about
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you I mean I'm really passionate about
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certain things and it it it affects me
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if people don't like those things and so
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if I don't think someone's going to
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accept my passions like I kind of shut
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down so like at school I'm very quiet
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whereas the debate team I know people
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like my interest so I can speak up more
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yeah I think that's I think that's very
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true so what I'm wondering is you know
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you described what you like about to be
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a team is being able to argue these
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points and work together on a team um
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but often in these meetings you're
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required to listen to the opinions of
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others um which probably are inur direct
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contrast with what you believe so I'm
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wondering what the difference is exactly
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that um it's okay and you feel okay with
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being challenged in these debate team
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meetings um whereas you are afraid and
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worried about what your classmates will
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think if they don't agree with your
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opinions or what you believe so I'm
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wondering what the difference is there
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and how we can be able to um channel
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that open feeling that you have those
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debate team meetings um so you can
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really reap the benefits of that in
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class with your classmate I think just I
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feel encouraged in my debate team to
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speak up where at school it's just it's
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so easy to get into the routine of to
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not talking to anyone to kind of be
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ignored like in the hallways and in the
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classroom and like even my teachers
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don't call on me anymore I think they
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just accepted the fact that I don't want
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to speak up and so cuz I'm just so
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afraid of like how people they're going
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to react once I say something like what
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if they reject it but I guess maybe I
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can start small and like just if we have
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class discussions like get in a small
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group and talk to them and maybe I'll
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get more comfortable voicing my opinions
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and maybe I'll be talking in class later
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talking to my teachers I guess starting
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small is what I could do yeah I think
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that's a great plan to really enact
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those new stories and see if we can have
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some different outcomes so okay okay
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thank
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you built on the premise that there can
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be no universal truth that encompasses
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all of Human Experience narrative
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therapy holds a core set of assumptions
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first the world is socially constructed
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people decide Within in their cultural
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and social systems what facts events and
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thoughts are given the most power and
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meaning thus the self must always be
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recognized as existing within the larger
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framework of society's norms and values
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second because Society has constructed
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its own rules and regulations what
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individuals see as problems May Simply
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Be artifacts born of the social contract
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yet functionally distinct from the
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people that understand them to put it
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another way problems may be separate
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from the people they affect and each
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person has their own skills beliefs
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values and commitments that can be used
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to examine external problems and how
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they affect their lives people are not
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defined by problems they Define the
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problems third because there are so many
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variables integrated into the narrative
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it is impossible to know all of the
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directions a story can take no
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individual client or therapist has a
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genuine way of knowing all possibilities
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and with this comes the healing factor
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of narrative therapy there are many
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directions a story can take and each is
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as valuable as others and fourth because
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each client is the author of their own
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tale a Therapeutic Alliance focused on
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healthy curiosity and support can serve
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as the core narrative therapy
