The focus of this master’s thesis is the subject of narrative social work with families of people experiencing mental health problems. Firstly, characteristics of such families are highlighted, including the issues they face, their needs and avenues of support already available to them. The emergence of mental health problems impacts the daily lives of people experiencing them. Their conceptions of mental wellbeing, recovery, identity, and freedom are influenced by discourses prevalent in their society. The family dynamic is also affected by the change, namely the interpersonal relationships and communication within the family, as well as the daily lives of each family member. To combat stress and hardships, new family rules and roles are developed among the family members. Forms of help and support open to the families of individuals with a mental health diagnosis are also described. Families can contribute a great deal to the process of co-creating help with and for people with mental health problems, but they remain insufficiently included. Cooperation with families is also infrequent. Additionally, social work with families is presented. In social work we constantly meet multi-stressed families, and many cite challenges related to mental health as parts of their experience. We have well-developed models of social work with families, as well as expertise and competences binding us to collaborative practice. In this thesis, narrative approaches, with which social work shares an epistemological stance, are presented. The stance, social constructivism, compels us to challenge dominant discourses regarding mental health and forms of support based on the medicalizing treatment model. Many techniques typical for narrative practices have already been utilized in the mental health field, as well as in collaborative practices with families. I analyze and detail how narrative ideas may be used in social work with families of people with mental health problems. Accordingly, techniques introduced by narrative authors are presented. These have the potential to strengthen social work practice and assist the development of innovative outcomes with our collaborative partners. Narrative offers guidance to exploration of stories and presents methods of encouraging change in one’s relationship with their problem. Narrative practices remind us to uncover unique outcomes and strengths together with our interlocutors and help them to re-write preferred stories.
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