Alternative story
Alternative Story
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Short definition
An alternative story is a narrative that offers a different understanding of a person's life from the dominant problem-saturated story. It highlights experiences, relationships, values and responses that have been overlooked, creating opportunities for new identity conclusions and preferred ways of living.
Expanded definition
Narrative Therapy assumes that no person's life can be fully described by a single story. Alongside every dominant problem-saturated story exist many alternative stories that have received less attention.
These stories are often hidden because the problem directs attention towards experiences that confirm its influence while filtering out experiences that contradict it.
Alternative stories begin to emerge when therapists become curious about:
- exceptions to the problem
- acts of resistance
- overlooked achievements
- meaningful relationships
- personal values
- forgotten memories
- hopes for the future
Initially, these stories may feel uncertain or incomplete.
Rather than replacing one story with another, Narrative Therapy carefully explores these alternative accounts, allowing them to become richer, more coherent and increasingly influential.
Alternative stories provide the bridge between recognising unique outcomes and developing preferred stories.
Why this concept matters
People often enter therapy believing that the dominant story is the only true account of their lives.
Alternative stories challenge this assumption.
They demonstrate that:
- people are always more than their problems
- identity is multi-storied
- overlooked experiences matter
- change often begins with small exceptions
- preferred identities already exist in embryonic form
Recognising alternative stories creates hope without denying suffering.
Rather than asking people to think positively, Narrative Therapy helps them notice experiences that have always been present but rarely acknowledged.
Non-clinical example
A university student believes she is "not creative."
During conversation she recalls designing posters for a local charity, writing poetry as a teenager and regularly solving complex problems during placements.
These experiences do not immediately create a preferred identity, but they form an alternative story that challenges the dominant narrative of lacking creativity.
Clinical example
A father referred because of persistent conflict with his son describes himself as "a terrible parent."
As therapy develops, he remembers teaching his son to ride a bicycle, supporting him through bereavement and regularly attending football matches together.
These memories begin forming an alternative story organised around commitment and care.
As this story becomes richer, it develops into a preferred story of himself as a loving and dependable father.
Core insight
Alternative stories are not invented.
They already exist within people's lives but have often been overshadowed by dominant stories.
Therapy helps these stories become visible.
Questions before a session
- Which dominant story currently organises the person's experience?
- What exceptions have already been mentioned?
- Which overlooked relationships may contribute to an alternative story?
- Which values have begun emerging?
- What opportunities exist to broaden the person's story?
Questions during a session
- Has there ever been a time when this story did not fit?
- What happened differently?
- Who noticed that difference?
- What does that experience suggest about you?
- What values were present?
- Could this experience belong to a different story?
- What might that story be called?
Questions after a session
- Which alternative stories emerged?
- How did they challenge the dominant story?
- Which experiences deserve further exploration?
- Which preferred identity themes became visible?
- How might these stories continue developing?
Related epistemologies
Related schools and models
Related concepts
- Problem-saturated story
- Preferred story
- Unique outcomes
- Re-authoring
- Narrative identity
- Identity conclusions
Related methods
Related techniques
Related pathways
Key theorists / contributors
Key texts / references
- White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. New York: W. W. Norton.
- White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. New York: W. W. Norton.
Notes
Alternative stories should be understood as transitional narratives rather than fully developed preferred stories. They emerge through the identification of unique outcomes, acts of resistance and overlooked experiences. As these stories become richer through re-authoring conversations and thick description, they may develop into preferred stories that provide a more enduring foundation for identity and future action.
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