Stories in Therapy: My Journey and How Narrative Shapes My Work

Heidi Streicher

When reflecting on what exactly led me to pursue a doctorate degree in psychology, the full answer is interwoven with many life events and choices that brought me to my calling as a therapist. The foundation was probably formed in the quiet parts of my childhood where I found both excitement and solace; in books. The stories I read growing up and throughout adolescence cultivated a deep appreciation for the full breadth of the human condition: the beautiful and the ugly, the complexities and the simplicities, the loneliness and the connection, the private and the shared, and everything between. Reading people’s stories and gaining intimate glances into how humans think, feel, and interact planted the seeds for a lifelong interest in how our experiences and relationships shape us, and how we shape our lives and others in return.

Literature had such a profound influence on me that, for a long time, I believed I would become an author. But over time, my interest shifted from writing stories to sitting with them: listening to the stories people carry, helping them understand the narratives that shape their relationships and choices, and collaborating on how they want to write the next chapters of their lives with intention and purpose. My love of story and the complexities that create them are integrated into my therapeutic style, as I look to provide a co-created therapeutic space that offers a connecting place where a client’s full story, in all its nuance and contradiction, is welcomed.

I appreciate that the story of healing that occurs through therapy can involve a unique blend of science, philosophy, and creativity. Humans and their individual stories are immensely diverse and there is often no single path forward that will fit everyone. Even so, I do consistently rely on techniques, lenses, and approaches that are evidence-based and shown to be beneficial. I think of this in the same way that we have story-telling devices that we know consistently make a good story, so we use them regularly when writing them. That being said, a story cannot be written without unique imagination, curiosity, personalization, and flexibility. I strive at all times to remember this reality by also allowing creativity to play a significant role in personalizing a client’s path forward in their healing journey. No two stories are the same, and no two paths toward healing look identical either.

My hope is that clients leave our work together with a deeper sense of understanding and compassion for themselves and their own stories. Life can be incredibly difficult and full of pain, unpredictability, and old wounds that can pull us off course from the direction we want to go. And yet, life is also rich with love, connection, purpose, and moments worth treasuring. My sincere desire is to help clients better understand the story they are creating while recognizing they also have the power to shape their next chapters with a greater sense of clarity, steadiness, and meaning.