'n Narratiewe pastorale terapie met depressiewe persone

Abstract

People are authors of their own life stories. From the first impressions in early childhood, narratives are formed which becomes the dominant discourses of a person's life. Impeded interpretations create paralysing narratives which disempowers a person. Many symptoms, such as depression, indicates this. Depression is a common problem symptom occuring. Through a narrative application of family-of-origin therapy, a client is enabled to create a new, positive narrative which can lead to the dissolving of the symptom. A narrative pastoral approach is described. The therapeutic goal of the pastoral therapist is also to look for religious answers. The client is eventually encouraged to form a new and positive faith narrative. Two case studies exemplify this way of doing pastoral therapy with people experiencing depression.