Section by section paraphrase by Lois Shawver of:
Alternative Metaphors for 
Externalizing Conversations
Kathleen Stacey
from: Gecko, 1997: Vol 1: 29-51.
The original paper is about 7000 words.
The present paraphrase is about 800 words.

A brief herstory to this paper

It has come to my attention that American therapists who are interested in Narrative Therapy seem preoccupied with the protest metaphor that Narrative sometimes uses.  This may have been unwittingly encouraged by Karl Tomm's (1993) commentary on Michael White's  work.  Although the protest metaphor is powerful (especially in severe situations), and although I am committed to its use, I believe this metaphor does not always fit what we do and does not characterize all the metaphors we use and so I would like to mention other metaphors that can be and are useful, or might become useful, and elaborate on them a bit.

Reflecting on the protest metaphor: Broadening our concept of resistance

Therapists influenced by the work of Michael White and David Epston are interested in how people resist the influence of problems and become the authors of their own lives.  Such resistance is good in that it disrupts the meanings imposed on our lives by the privileged voices in our culture.  However, we need to be careful not to privilege the metaphor of protest over all othe forms of resistance.  Other forms of resistance that are sometimes used in the feminist and social constructionist literature include:
 
 

 1)  Refusal to submit to other's perjorative definitions 
      of oneself, 
 2)  Commitment to living outside the dominant expectations
 3)  Creating a counter-culture in the face of the omnipotent 
      presence of the problem 
 4)  Deconstructing the problem 
 5)  Externalizing conversations
 6)  Sticking with relationships that problems tend to split 
      apart. 
 7)  Practicing non-dominant cultural knowledges
 8)  Forging connections with marginalized people
 9)  Enduring one's hardship without giving up belief
10) Raising marginalized children to live in their own and the 
      dominant culture.

Writers such as Aptheker(1989) and hooks, 84, 89, 90 tend to emphasize protest as a form of resistance but they acknowledge the importance of other forms of resistance.  Aptheker emphasizes the importance survival characteristics and the values of nurturance, beauty, connection, community and family.   Similarly, hooks (1990) looks at the home as a place of resistance reminding us that we need to remember the small cummulative contributions to resistance that have been made from within the home.

Authenticating alternative definitions of resistance

It will expand the effectiveness of our work if we do not focus too narrowly on protest as a form of resistance.  We can even notice the ways in which dominant (and patriarchal) beliefs encourage us to use protest over other forms of resistance, and we can encourage and model other forms of resistance.  For example, sometimes avoiding situations of persecution can be a form of resistance even though patriarchy would characterize it as weak.

Unless we are careful in our therapy approach and use a variety of metaphors to help our clients,  therapy dialogue can unwittingly take us back into the oppressive practices that dominate the broader culture. 

Illuminating the shadows beyond the protest metaphor

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There have been times in my own work that the protest metaphor was not appropriate and I looked for a more collaborative metaphor.  I will try to illustrate what I am doing, but please understand this work is not in a final stage of development.  These examples I give can be used along with more well known kinds of externalizing practices.

Outer and Inner externalizations

Externalizations can be divided into at least two basic categories, outer and inner externalizations, and they can be used together. 

Outer externalizations are used when the problem is thought of as negative and something that can be eliminated or defeated.  There are three metaphors to talk about outer externalizaitons:
 
 

1:Protesting the existence and effects of the problem and wishing to banish it from one's life, for example, temper, trouble, worry or fears as in: Temper has taken advantage of your life stresses.

2.Readiness for growth/evolution/transition from the current situation to a preferred situation in which the problem is no longer present (or maybe, not present in the same way). This can often have a developmental flavour, e.g. soiling, bed-wetting, worry or fears.  Do you think you can tame the bed-wetting goblin?

3.Surpassing or transcending the problem through a reconstruction of the meaning system surrounding the nature of the problem. That Black Period tended to dominate you.

Inner externalizations are externalizations that are tailored to work with problems that cannot be easily divorced from the person, problems such as chronic illness or learning disabilities.  Inner externalizations use somewhat different metaphors than outer externalizaions.  Examples of inner externalizations: White spoke of a woman's eczema as her "roommate".  An abused child developed a fantasied father figure that was given a name and a withdrawn child was given an imaginary playmate.

In summary, there are many creative ways to externalize.  Protest is merely one of a variety of possibilities.

References

Aptheker, B.1989: Tapestries of Life: Women's work women's consciousness, and the meaning of daily experience. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press.

hooks, b.1984:    Feminist Theory: From margin to centre. Boston: South End Press.

hooks, b.1989:Talking back; Thinking feminist, thinking black. Boston: South End Press.

hooks, b.1990: Yearning: Race, gender and cultural politics. Boston: South End Press.

Tomm, K.1993:`The courage to protest: A commentary on Michael  White's work.' In Gilligan, S. & Price, R (eds), Therapeutic Conversations. New York: Norton.
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