Constructivist and narrative TA

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · James R. Allen, Barbara Ann Allen · 1995

What it is

This is a theoretical orientation, a "sensibility" applied to existing TA, and not a separately manualised therapy. No published manual, session protocol or dedicated training curriculum is described. The founders are named as "J. and B. Allen", who are James R. Allen and Barbara Ann Allen. James…

Format

• Session count and format: the sources give no number. The Allens describe change as incremental, with small consistent gains valued over rapid change, and with the new story emerging "over several sessions". Classical redecision work was done both in groups or intensive workshops and in individual…
• How change happens. In this approach a script is a story the person lives by. It is constructed and maintained in relationships and in culture; it is not treated as a fixed early decision stored in the Child. Clients are active constructors of meaning. Classical redecision therapy aims at a new…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What it is. This is a theoretical orientation, a "sensibility" applied to existing TA, and not a separately manualised therapy. No published manual, session protocol or dedicated training curriculum is described. The founders are named as "J. and B. Allen", who are James R. Allen and Barbara Ann Allen. James Allen is a psychiatrist who trained at McGill and is a past president of the International Transactional…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• a polished but unfelt new story that pleases the therapist. It is working when the client uses the new story spontaneously and acts on it.
• authorship language turning into self-blame ("so I chose all this"). Authorship means agency over the story from now on, not blame for what happened to the client.
• images that turn frightening, in which case shift to the present and the room; play used to avoid feeling. It is working when the imagery carries feeling and leads to action.
• the therapist privileging individual autonomy over the client's values. It is working when the client describes a story that feels true to both themselves and their relationships.
• relapse into the old story, which is expected and should be treated as information, not failure. It is working when the client recovers from the pull of the old story more quickly each time.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.