Every life contains far more events than any story can hold. So we select. The trouble is that selection is rarely neutral. Once a story has formed, it tends to collect evidence that confirms it and quietly discard everything else.
Narrative Therapy in Brampton
You Are Not the Problem. The Problem Is the Problem.
People arrive at counselling having already decided what is wrong with them.
I am an anxious person. I am someone who ruins relationships. I have always been lazy. These are not descriptions of behaviour. They are verdicts, delivered with total confidence, usually built from a handful of remembered moments and reinforced for years.
Narrative therapy starts by separating the person from the verdict.
Start With a Conversation
Book a free 30-minute consultation: 416-409-8045.What Is Narrative Therapy?
Narrative therapy is based on the idea that we make sense of our lives by telling stories about them, and that those stories shape what we believe is possible.
Someone who believes they are a failure will remember every setback in detail and genuinely not recall the things that went well. The story is not a lie. It is just heavily edited, and the editing was not done deliberately.
Narrative work examines how a story got written, who else contributed to it, and what got left out.
Externalizing the Problem
The central technique is putting distance between the person and the difficulty.
Rather than saying "I am anxious," the work moves toward saying "anxiety has been showing up a lot lately". Instead of "I am an angry person," the phrase shifts to "anger has been taking over the evenings."
This sounds like word games, and it is not. The shift changes what is possible. A person who is the problem has to become someone else. A person dealing with a problem can examine it, notice when it is stronger or weaker, and work out what gives it power.
It also removes the shame, which is often what has kept the whole thing in place.
What Can It Help With?
Depending on your circumstances and your therapist's clinical assessment, narrative approaches may support people experiencing:
- Anxiety, worry, and persistent overthinking
- Depression and low mood
- Chronic stress and burnout
- Avoidance that has narrowed daily life
- Harsh self-criticism
- Grief and loss
- Chronic pain and long-term health conditions
- Difficult experiences from the past that continue to intrude
- Feeling stuck or disconnected from what used to matter
- Living with a long-term condition or diagnosis
It is often useful for people who have already tried to think their way out of something and found that understanding it did not change it.
ACT is not automatically right for everyone, and a therapist should assess that rather than assume.
How Does It Work?
Naming the problem
Giving the difficulty a name of its own, separate from you. The term sounds odd at first and usually stops sounding odd quickly.
Tracing its history
When did this start showing up? What was happening around then? Whose voice does it sound like?
Looking for what the story left out
There are almost always occasions when the problem was expected to win and did not. Those get overlooked because they do not fit. Narrative work treats them as significant.
Finding out who else contributed
Stories about ourselves are rarely self-authored. Family, school, community, culture, and circumstance all wrote parts of it. Seeing that makes a story feel less like a fact.
Building a different account
Not a positive one imposed over the top, which nobody believes. A fuller one, including the parts that were edited out.
Is This Approach Right for Me?
It may suit you if you:
- Describe yourself in fixed, absolute terms
- Carry a lot of shame about a difficulty
- Feel defined by a label or a diagnosis
- Are navigating identity, culture, or belonging
- Prefer a collaborative conversation to being treated as a case
- Have found that being told to think positively does not work
It may suit you less if you want structured tools for a specific symptom or prefer a highly directive approach.
Narrative Therapy at C.S. Counselling
Narrative work is used by four of our therapists, each drawing on it alongside other approaches, according to their training and what you need. It suits a practice like ours well, because so many of the people we see are holding stories shaped by family, culture, and migration.
Sabrina Abrol, RSW
Psychotherapist and Registered Social Worker
Works with self-esteem, coping, relationships, and life change. Sessions in English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu.
Parveen Kaur
Canadian Certified Counsellor
Works with adults, adolescents, and older adults across grief, depression, and life transitions.
Pallavi Joshi
Registered Psychotherapist
Works with youth and adults, including identity, self-esteem, and cultural challenges. Sessions in English, Hindi, and Punjabi.
Sierra Jones
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Works with children, adolescents, adults, and families, including neurodivergence, LGBTQ+, and identity concerns.
Sessions are available in person at our Brampton clinic and online across Ontario with all four therapists.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this just positive thinking?
No. Nobody will suggest your difficulties are not real or ask you to reframe them cheerfully. The work is about accuracy, not optimism.
Does it mean my problems are not real?
No. Separating you from a problem does not make it imaginary. It makes it something you can examine rather than something you are.
Is it only for trauma?
No, though it is often used where difficult experiences have shaped how someone sees themselves.
How long does it take?
It varies with the person and what is being worked on.
Can it be used with families?
Yes. It can be particularly useful where family members hold conflicting accounts of the same events.
Can I have sessions in Punjabi, Hindi, or Urdu?
Yes, depending on the therapist. Sabrina and Pallavi both work in more than one language. Mention it when you get in touch.
Start With a Conversation
You do not need to know which approach suits you before getting in touch.
Tell us what has been happening and how you have come to describe yourself. From there we can explore what may fit.
We'll start by listening.
Book Your Free 30-Minute ConsultationC.S. Counselling & Consulting Services
2250 Bovaird Drive E, Suite 408
Brampton, ON L6R 0W3
Narrative Therapy in Brampton | Virtual Counselling Across Ontario
If you are in immediate distress or concerned about your safety, please contact emergency services or a local crisis line. Ongoing counselling is not an emergency service.