| The world of problems |
We live in a society where problems and people are so often seen as one thing, they are not separate. Therefore, we hear about the “oversensitive woman” or the “weak leader” because so often the descriptions of people are married in language one to the other.
In the world of problems that we are faced with today:
- Problems are often situated inside of people
- Problems are part of a person’s identity
When we are working with problem stories in re-authoring ideas and practices, we are in a certain sense challenging these ideas of the problematization of people or the situation of problems inside of people.
At a time in my life when I was told that I am the problem and that the problem was somewhere inside of me, a surprising question came that changed my life. The question situated me in relationship to the problem by asking me: “What are you teaching the problem?” Up until that point I had no imagination that I could be teaching the problem anything.
In Narrative Therapy we say: “The person is not the problem. The problem is the problem.” We also say that the person is in relationship to the problem and the problem is in relationship to the person. We are curious about how that relationship with the problem started, what is strengthening it and what is also helping the problem to sometimes take a holiday?
Re-authoring ideas and practices invite you to consider your relationship to problem moments, problem stories and stories you want less of. You are not the problem!
This has been the most liberating experience for me, to know that in this relationship with problem moments in my life, I have a say and I can choose. I am a participant in the writing of my own life!
