# Externalising ## Short definition Externalising is a defining concept and therapeutic practice within Narrative Therapy that separates people from problems, allowing difficulties to be understood as influences upon people's lives rather than as defining characteristics of their identity. --- ## Expanded definition Externalising is one of the foundational ideas of Narrative Therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston. It represents both a philosophical position and a therapeutic practice that fundamentally changes how problems are understood. Traditional psychological approaches often describe people using diagnostic or personality-based language, such as "an anxious child", "a depressed adult" or "an aggressive teenager". Narrative Therapy challenges this way of thinking by proposing that people are never identical to their problems. Instead, problems are understood as entities, influences or relationships that affect people's lives. Rather than asking, *"Why are you anxious?"*, the therapist becomes interested in questions such as: - How has Anxiety been influencing your life? - When did Anxiety first become influential? - What helps Anxiety become stronger? - When does Anxiety lose its influence? - How have you already responded to Anxiety? This shift in language changes the therapeutic relationship. The person is no longer viewed as defective or disordered but as someone engaged in an ongoing relationship with a problem that can be understood, challenged and transformed. Externalising therefore reflects a broader ethical commitment within Narrative Therapy to reduce blame, resist pathologising descriptions and privilege people's knowledge of their own lives. Rather than locating difficulties inside individuals, Narrative therapists become curious about the relationships between people, problems, families, communities and wider cultural contexts. Externalising creates opportunities for people to recognise that their identities are always richer than the problems they experience. --- # Supporting concepts The following supporting concepts are integrated within Externalising: - Problem as separate from the person - Naming the problem - Problem influence - Person influence - Relative influence --- ## Problem as separate from the person The central principle of externalising is expressed in Michael White's well-known statement: > **The person is not the problem. The problem is the problem.** This statement represents far more than a therapeutic technique. It reflects an ethical and philosophical position that rejects reducing people to diagnoses, behaviours or difficulties. When problems become fused with identity, people frequently describe themselves using statements such as: - I am anxious. - I am lazy. - I am a failure. - I am broken. - I am difficult. These descriptions often become dominant identity conclusions that restrict possibilities for change. Externalising separates these descriptions from identity. Instead of: *"I am anxious."* therapy becomes interested in: *"How has Anxiety been affecting your life recently?"* Instead of: *"I'm an angry person."* therapy explores: *"When does Anger attempt to take over?"* This subtle linguistic shift creates emotional distance from the problem while preserving respect for the person's lived experience. Families also benefit from this separation. Parents and children frequently stop blaming one another and instead begin working together against the influence of the problem. --- ## Naming the problem Externalising conversations often begin by collaboratively identifying a name for the problem. Rather than imposing diagnostic labels, Narrative therapists encourage names that fit the person's own experience. Some people choose familiar names such as: - Anxiety - Depression - OCD Others create names that feel more personal, for example: - The Bully - The Worry Monster - The Dark Cloud - Mr Perfect - The Critic - The Boss The chosen name should help people talk about the problem as something that has influence rather than as something that defines who they are. Importantly, the name remains open to change. As therapy develops, people sometimes discover that the original name no longer captures their experience. Renaming the problem can itself become evidence that the person's relationship with it has changed. --- ## Mapping the influence of the problem Once the problem has been externalised, the therapist explores the ways in which it has influenced the person's life. Rather than asking about symptoms alone, Narrative Therapy becomes curious about the broader effects of the problem across multiple areas of life. Examples include: - relationships - friendships - family life - education - work - confidence - emotions - hopes - dreams - future plans - daily routines Questions are designed to develop a detailed understanding of how the problem operates. Examples include: - When does the problem become strongest? - Who notices it first? - What does it encourage you to believe? - What relationships has it affected? - What opportunities has it tried to take away? - What does it persuade you to do? These conversations create a detailed map of the problem's operation while avoiding blame or judgement. --- ## Mapping the influence of the person Narrative Therapy gives equal importance to exploring how the person influences the problem. Even when problems appear overwhelming, therapists remain curious about occasions when people have resisted, challenged or limited the problem's influence. Initially these moments may appear small or insignificant. For example: - getting out of bed despite Depression - attending school despite Anxiety - apologising despite Anger - asking for help despite Shame Rather than dismissing these events, Narrative Therapy treats them as important evidence that the person's identity cannot be reduced to the problem. Questions may include: - What did you do that made the problem weaker? - How did you manage that? - What helped you respond differently? - What does this tell you about yourself? - Who would recognise this version of you? - What has the problem not been able to take away? These conversations gradually strengthen people's sense of agency while avoiding suggestions that they are responsible for creating the problem. --- ## Relative influence Externalising conversations move continually between the influence of the problem and the influence of the person. This process is known as **mapping the relative influence**. Instead of asking whether the problem or the person is stronger, Narrative Therapy explores how this relationship changes across different contexts, relationships and moments in time. The aim is not to prove that the problem has disappeared but to understand the ongoing interaction between the person and the problem. This balanced exploration often reveals overlooked strengths, preferred responses and emerging alternative stories. Relative influence provides the bridge between Externalising and later Narrative practices such as identifying unique outcomes, developing preferred stories and re-authoring identity. --- ## Why this concept matters Externalising represents a profound shift in how therapists understand psychological and relational difficulties. Rather than asking what is wrong with a person, Narrative Therapy asks how problems have come to influence a person's life and relationships. This shift has several important consequences. First, it reduces blame and shame. When people are no longer defined by the problem, conversations become less defensive and more collaborative. Family members often move from blaming one another to working together against the influence of the problem. Second, externalising supports agency. By separating the person from the problem, it becomes possible to recognise occasions when the person has already resisted or limited the problem's influence. These moments provide the foundation for developing preferred stories. Third, externalising broadens therapeutic possibilities. Rather than attempting to eliminate symptoms, therapy becomes interested in changing the relationship between the person and the problem. Finally, externalising reflects the ethical position that people are always more than the difficulties they experience. Identity is understood as complex, evolving and relational rather than fixed or pathological. --- ## Non-clinical example A university student repeatedly describes herself as "lazy" because she struggles to begin assignments. Rather than accepting this identity description, the therapist invites her to describe the influence of "Procrastination." Together they explore when Procrastination becomes strongest, what it persuades her to believe and when it loses influence. As the conversation develops, the student remembers occasions when she completed difficult work despite Procrastination's efforts to delay her. These experiences begin to challenge the dominant identity story of being "lazy" and instead support a preferred story of determination and persistence. --- ## Clinical example A twelve-year-old boy is referred because of severe anxiety about attending school. Initially both he and his parents describe him as "an anxious child." The therapist invites the family to explore Anxiety as something separate from the boy. Together they map: - how Anxiety prepares for school each morning - what Anxiety whispers before lessons - how Anxiety affects friendships - when Anxiety becomes quieter - how family members have already helped reduce Anxiety's influence Over time, the family begins referring to Anxiety rather than to the boy as the problem. This reduces conflict between parents and child while strengthening the boy's sense of agency and creating opportunities for developing preferred stories of courage and perseverance. --- ## Core insight Externalising does not deny people's suffering. Instead, it creates enough distance from the problem for people to become curious about their relationship with it. This curiosity opens possibilities for recognising strengths, values, commitments and alternative identities that have previously been overshadowed by the problem. --- ## Questions before a session - How has the problem become incorporated into the person's identity? - What language is currently being used to describe the problem? - How might externalising reduce blame within this system? - Which relationships appear most influenced by the problem? - What opportunities might exist for developing agency? --- ## Questions during a session - If the problem had a name, what would it be? - When did you first notice the problem entering your life? - What does the problem encourage you to believe? - Who notices the problem most? - When does the problem become strongest? - When is its influence weaker? - How have you already responded to it? - What does your response tell you about the kind of person you are? - Who would recognise this version of you? - What has the problem not been able to take away? --- ## Questions after a session - Did the conversation successfully separate the person from the problem? - Was blame reduced? - What examples of agency emerged? - Which preferred identity themes became visible? - What questions could further strengthen the person's influence over the problem? --- ## Related epistemologies - [[Social constructionism]] - [[Systemic epistemology]] - [[Poststructuralist epistemology]] --- ## Related schools and models - [[Narrative]] - [[Collaborative]] - [[Dialogical]] --- ## Related concepts - [[Problem-saturated story]] - [[Preferred story]] - [[Unique outcomes]] - [[Re-authoring]] - [[Narrative identity]] - [[Identity conclusions]] --- ## Related methods - [[Externalising conversation]] - [[Mapping the influence of the problem]] - [[Unique outcome development|Exploring unique outcomes]] --- ## Related techniques - [[Relative influence questions]] - [[Statement of Position Map]] - [[Unique outcome questions]] --- ## Related pathways - [[Narrative pathway]] --- ## Key theorists / contributors - [[Michael White]] - [[David Epston]] --- ## Key texts / references - White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). *Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends*. New York: W. W. Norton. - White, M. (2007). *Maps of Narrative Practice*. New York: W. W. Norton. - Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). *Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities*. New York: W. W. Norton. --- ## Notes Externalising should be understood as both a philosophical orientation and a therapeutic practice. While it is operationalised through externalising conversations, its significance extends beyond any single intervention. It reflects Narrative Therapy's commitment to viewing people as separate from problems and to creating conversations that support dignity, agency and preferred identity development. Externalising also serves as the foundation for many other Narrative practices, including identifying unique outcomes, re-authoring conversations, thickening preferred stories and re-membering conversations. For this reason, it is best understood as one of the central organising concepts of Narrative Therapy rather than simply a therapeutic technique.