A Person Is Never a Problem: Narrative Externalization and Reconciliation

Narrative therapy is a social constructionist approach to psychotherapy, where clients are viewed as separate from their problems, and the problems become resolved when the clients begin to author their life story in a way more aligned with their values and virtues. The process of externalization—seeing the problem as the problem, rather than the person as the problem—fits well within the Catholic context and dignity-based positive anthropology. This article offers a review of narrative therapy's externalization philosophy and how that fits well within the lens of forgiveness from a Catholic perspective (both as a sacrament and in the lay context). This article also proposes a path for Catholic thinkers to see Catholic values within seemingly secular theories. There is something unique about the way that Catholics view the human person that these thinkers historically understood. We give particular attention to the ideas of Michel Foucault, who attended Jesuit institutions for his education as a youth. The ideas of human dignity that he espoused, which then influenced narrative therapist thinkers, have deep Catholic roots.