This study documents the emergence of postmodern narrative therapy and shows how linguistics and social discourse influence the changing culture of psychotherapy. It shows how the therapist can empower the patient through narrative and discourse, creating a collaborative environment.

Drawing on her experiences as a practitioner and teacher and on her clients experiences of therapy, Harlene Anderson joins social thinkers who challenge the familiar culture of psychotherapy, including the foundations on which its theory, practice, research, and therapist education have been based. Anderson directly challenges the expert-nonexpert dichotomy and hierarchical structures that flow from it. She asserts that conventional premises and practices have lost their relevance in a world of rapid social transformation, and calls instead for a philosophy of therapy and a way of being in client relationships that invite collaboration. Conversation, Language, and Possibilities forges surprising links between postmodern theory and collaborative clinical practice. In this framework, human systems are viewed as systems of language and communication. Clients voices are privileged. And language is generative in shapingand reshapinghuman life and relationships, creating potentials for positive change as infinite in variety and expression as the individuals who realize them.

Creating The Space: The Give And Take Of Theory And Practice
Onions and Pyramids
Less Confining Spaces: From Modern Traditions to Postmodern Possibilities
Setting the Stage
Therapy Systems as Language- and Meaning-Generating Systems
A Philosophical Stance: Therapists Position, Expertise, and Responsibility
Therapy as Dialogical Conversation
Client Voices: Practical Advice from the Experts on How to Create Dialogical Conversations and Collaborative Relationships
A Glimpse of a Good MotherBad Mother Story
Searching For Meanings In Meanings
Knowledge and Language
Self: Narrative, Identity, and Agency
Broadening The Space
Beyond Postmodern Therapy.