The Cocreation of Crazy Patchworks: Becoming Rhizomatic in Systemic Therapy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Systemic Therapy
• Narrative Therapy

Background:

• The concept of the narrative self posits that identity is constructed through personal storytelling.
• Traditional and postmodern views offer insights but have limitations in fully capturing narrative selfhood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the nature of the self as a story.
• To propose an alternative vision of the narrative self.
• To enhance therapeutic approaches in constructing self-stories.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of traditional and postmodern perspectives on the self as a story.
• Introduction and illustration of the rhizomatic story concept.
• Application of rhizomatic thinking in a therapeutic context using practice examples.

Main Results:

• The self is fundamentally a story, not merely a metaphor.
• Viewing the self as a rhizomatic story offers a dynamic and useful therapeutic framework.
• Rhizomatic thinking encourages therapists and clients to co-construct diverse self-stories.

Conclusions:

• The rhizomatic story model provides a novel perspective on narrative selfhood in therapy.
• This approach empowers therapists to facilitate the creation of multifaceted self-narratives.
• The co-construction of 'patchworks of self-stories' enriches the therapeutic process.