Narrative Exposure Therapy
(NET)
NET was originally developed as a treatment for survivors of organised violence, war or natural disasters. It is most beneficial for people who have experienced some traumatic events, but has recently been extended to other psychological difficulties.
NET is a combination of “narrative therapy” and cognitive behavioural exposure techniques. In the sessions, your therapist will help you to establish a chronological narrative of your life, concentrating mainly on any traumatic experiences, but also incorporating some positive events. When talking about traumatic experiences, you will be asked to describe your emotions, thoughts, sensory experiences, and physiological responses in a lot of detail, but your therapist will make sure that you stay connected to the present, rather than getting lost in the past.
This will help you to process your memories in a different way and feel more able to deal with what has happened to you. Your traumas will make more sense and you will be able to see them in the context of your ongoing life, instead of experiencing them as fragments (e.g. disconnected flashbacks of what happened).
At the end of the therapy your therapist will have created a detailed autobiography that you will be able to take with you. NET is distinct from other treatments in its focus on creating this account or testament of what happened in a way that serves to recapture your self-respect and acknowledges your human rights.
For more information, please go to: http://www.vivo.org/en/narrative-expositionstherapie/
The Lighthouse Psychology Practice