Product Review

Narrative Therapy Trauma Manual: A Principle-Based Approach is the first published manual on narrative therapy. By focusing on seven key principles, the author strives to keep a close connection to the philosophy that supports narrative practice and to shed light on the multiple narrative practices that foster rich story development. The principles are guiding, not prescriptive, and honor the indigenous and particular cultural wisdom and local knowledge of the person seeking consultation with a therapist. Throughout, the author offers illustrations of how each principle can influence therapeutic conversations. Each principle is further linked to training guidelines in John Stillman's book, Narrative Therapy Handbook: Moving Principles Into Practice (in press). The manual's approach to trauma builds upon contributions from social learning, memory, and trauma theory by Russell Meares, Lev Vygotsky, William James, David Epston, Barbara Myerhoff, Jerome Bruner, and Michael White. The manual highlights Michael White's enduring contribution to attending to the consequences of trauma - exploring response to trauma as a basis of establishing subordinate story lines that reinvigorate value in the person's life. This reconnection with intentionality, in turn, reinvigorates memory systems, and the person's use of alternative narratives reduces the influences of trauma. This book is intended for both research and training purposes that support rigorous training of narrative practitioners. The principles are not meant to become reified or prescriptive; rather, they are intended to encourage skill development in working with people who have experienced trauma, where the person remains at the center.