NARRATIVE THERAPY
Suppose you, like me, have had a life that, from time to time, included extreme experiences, too many losses, emotional turmoil, and horrifying days. In that case, you might see my stories, such as A Parisian Nightmare, as narrative therapy, more than just a fictive story inspired by real-life experiences. And you would be right.
I use and have used narrative therapy – self-inflicted 😊 - since the 1990s, and let me tell you, it has gotten me through everything I have had to go through and forced me to deal with everything I have had to deal with for the past approximately 30 years.
Writing stories, regardless of how bad they may be, enables you to take a step back and look at your life from the outside, so to speak, gain perspective, and work through whatever emotions, problems, traumas, or anger you need to work through to become a better and stronger version of yourself.
I believe that I have survived the past nine years, physically as well as emotionally, due to narratives. I have constantly written about what is going on in my journals and as fictive stories, too.
This way, I work through my emotions, my anger, my hatred, and the fact that I have had my life destroyed by sick monsters and their sadistic followers, because these monsters, in all their by the Danish state nurtured megalomania, are convinced they have the right to do what they do - harass, surveil, steal from, libel, threaten, torment, persecute, and inflict pain on for fun - while their friends at the Danish police force, a broken police force if there ever was one, refuses to do their job and stop them!
AI and Narrative Therapy
Michael White and David Epston developed the ideas in the 1980s, and these ideas are now standard practice. As a narratology and Bakhtin nerd who also fell in love with Turner and Lakoff in the 1990s – see, nerd?! - I have added to and modified the theory over the years to fit my own use and purpose.
Today, writing, faction as well as fictional stories, is my go-to method to deal with issues and gain perspective and insights into how I actually feel, as opposed to how I think I feel, while yoga, as well as cooking, is my way to stay grounded and calm, regardless of the situation. We all have to find our way to keep on top of life’s sick and twisted ways in this world.
But, what’s the point of writing fictional stories these days when anyone can write a story with AI, you may ask.
Well, AI is a tool, not a work process. Tapping some words and questions into AI does not make you a writer, nor does it take your brain through the creative process of writing.
The point of AI is the product. The point of narrative therapy is the process. And that’s a huge difference.
The point of narrative therapy is not the end product; it is you and how the process of writing can help you with whatever you need help with. The goal is not to become Shakespeare but to use a method that forces your brain into its creative corners from where you can:
Gain Perspective,
Heal emotionally,
Reboot,
Understand yourself.
And who doesn’t need that from time to time? I mean, the world may be a fine place and worth fighting for, as Hemingway said, but it doesn’t mean it is easy to live in.
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![A decorative carousel in front of the Eiffel Tower.]()
A Parisian Nightmare, Part 1
In September, Indian Summer arrived in Paris, and so did a group of monsters. The monsters came from one of the darkest areas of Denmark, not in terms of lighting but in terms of mentality…
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![Home office with wooden desk, laptop, mug, and chair next to large windows with natural light.]()
Herbert
Herbert was not a pleasant man nor a sympathetic man. He wasn’t funny either. His only amusing trait was his grotesque appearance, and only because this appearance, though hideous, was so monstrous that it was ludicrous, with hips almost twice as broad as his shoulders…
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![A wooden desk next to large windows with cream-colored curtains. On the desk are a laptop, a cream-colored pitcher, and a small glass vase with white flowers. Part of a light-colored chair is visible in the bottom left corner.]()
Florence
It was all over now because Florence and her husband had sold the house and moved away. She wasn’t part of the team anymore, and all those new friends of hers, well, they were busy with the investigation, which had to be conducted from a neighboring house in case the mentally ill woman tried to kill someone…
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![View of classic Parisian apartment building with ornate balconies and rooftop chimneys, seen from a balcony with decorative wrought iron railing, under a partly cloudy sky.]()
A Parisian Nightmare, Part 2
The crazy lies spread about her in the building by Herbert, Oscar, and Berta had, as before in Denmark, isolated her completely. Trying to reach out to talk some sense into frightened and hateful people had proven futile, as before in Denmark.
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![Two black coffee cups with saucers, a magazine, and a pair of beige headphones on a white marble table.]()
Listen To The Stories
Follow the monsters Herbert, Bernard, Oscar, and Berta on their quest to rid Denmark of single women who do not show them the proper respect.
