The sense of agency and the search for a narrative in acute psychosis

Author(s): Aaltonen, J.

Journal/Book: Contemp Fam Ther. 1997; 19: 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013-1578. Human Sci Press Inc. 463-477.

Abstract: The search for a narrative in acute psychosis exists but the result of this search can be insufficient because the stories available do not sufficiently capture the pre-narrative quality of personal experience, and hence the sense of agency may be diminished. The context of reflexivity is lost when a subjugating story blocks an individual off from making a choice from among a multiplicity of stories. Psychosis can also be an escape in order to maintain a sense of agency. When the patient has trouble in creating meaning through narrative action, the aim of therapy and treatment is to open a channel through which the pre-narrative quality of life can become narrated, to create a multiplicity of stories, and so offer the possibility of choice in the construction of a narrative identity.

Note: Article Holma J, Univ Jyvaskyla, Dept Psychol, POB 35, FIN-40351 Jyvaskyla, FINLAND

Keyword(s): acute psychosis; narrative therapy; sense of agency; NEED-ADAPTED TREATMENT; PROJECT

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