I continue to be fascinated by the idea of various forms of narrative therapy and using narrative to change our lives. In an unattributed article (which may or may not be intended as a review of or excerpt from the book Narrative Therapy by Freedman and Combs) here, narrative therapy is described this way:

The Narrative Therapy is an approach to counselling that centres people as the experts in their own lives. This therapy intends to view problems as separate entities to people, assuming that the individual’s set of skills, experience and mindset will assist him/her reduce the influence of problems throughout life. This therapeutic approach intends to place the individual in both the protagonist and author roles: switching the view from a narrow perspective to a systemic and more flexible stance.

Noting that the most important aspect of narrative therapy is to empower the client, the article goes on to explain how changing the story (constructing the alternate narrative) can change one's life:

The focus of Narrative Therapy is to explore the strengths and positive aspects of an individual through his or her narrative. Therefore, the main objective of this therapeutic approach is to improve the person’s perspective internally (reflective) and externally (towards the world and others). Alternative narratives are a simple way to relate to this concept. This technique works in combination with unique outcomes. How? The individual will reconstruct a personal story using unique outcomes, therefore, focusing on the positive aspects of a previous story in order to achieve a desired outcome. This process is based on the premise that any person can continually and actively re-author their own life.

A quote from Jean Houston (not from the article) vividly captures this process:

If you keep telling the same sad small story, you will keep living the same sad small life.