Stories of Change.

In Annie Proulx's novel "The Shipping News," the anti-hero undertakes a journey of change that transforms the way he sees himself and his ways of acting and relating. This novel about the complexity of life and difficulty of change mirrors the course of wilderness-enhanced narrative therapy. Narrative therapy suggests that the sum of one's life experiences and the way one acts on that information make up the "dominant narrative" in one's interpretive structure, which molds future perceptions, beliefs, goals, and actions. Narrative therapy can help a client to deconstruct a negative dominant narrative and discover "subplots" that offer alternative interpretations of life events. In the wilderness-enhanced model of narrative therapy, students are referred to the program by the school, based on a long-term history of negative behavior and failure. Students' dominant narrative--negative self-assessment and behavior patterns--are reinforced in school and possibly at home. In the first part of the program, 10 days of wilderness experience produce extreme stresses and challenges to students in an attempt to deconstruct the dominant narrative. Participants are told that they are responsible for the way they get through the experience and are encouraged to reflect on the consequences (good and bad) of their decisions. Over the following 2 years, consistent guided reflection on an alternative self-narrative enables the students to act and interact in more positive ways. (SV)