It is easy to see the beginning of things, and hard to see the ends,” Joan Didion wrote in her essay Goodbye to all that in which she remembers with clarity when New York began for her but could not lay her fingers upon the moment it ended, to cut through the ambiguities and second starts and broken resolves to the exact place where one is no longer as optimistic as one once was (Didion, 1968)
STAIR NARRATIVE THERAPY is an evidence-based adaptation of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It combines practical skills for managing emotions and relationships with narrative techniques to help individuals understand and reshape the stories they tell about themselves and their experiences. This approach helps clients build emotional resilience, strengthen healthy relationships, and feel empowered to move forward.
In conversations, repeated patterns such as defensiveness, blaming, or withdrawing need to be addressed by
Emotion Identification and Mapping
Emotion mapping means noticing what emotions you feel in response to different situations or interactions, and where you notice them in your body. In our sessions, we will walk through specific examples together, identify emotions as they come up, and explore patterns in when and how they appear. This helps you become more aware of your feelings and what triggers them, creating a foundation for change.
- Objectives
- Create a comprehensive emotion inventory.
Eg- abandonment, feeling lost, uncertainty
- Practice emotion labeling and recognition.
- Eg- Abandonment- leads to a trait of being lonely, isolated, poor self-esteem, poor self-work, leading to a to-and-fro cycle.
- Begin understanding emotion-behavior connections.
Eg- getting into arguments and defensiveness- which you know very well the consequences
- Interventions
- Emotion mapping exercise for fear, shame, anger, and sadness
- Practice identifying physical sensations of emotions.
- Introduction to emotion regulation strategies
- Homework: Emotion diary with trigger tracking. Please write in your diary at least once daily, noting the emotions you experienced, the situations or interactions that triggered them, and any physical sensations you noticed. Include details such as who was involved, what happened, how you felt before, during, and after, and how you responded. We will review your entries together in our sessions to identify patterns, build awareness, and practice new strategies for understanding and managing your emotions
NARRATIVE THERAPY
- Primary Objectives
- Externalize trauma and relationship problems from personal identity.
The partner is not the problem /personality disorder, but the trauma, loss (pregnancy and infant loss ), and repeated traumatization, lack of affirmation, which is feeding the trauma cycle.
- Re-author their relationship story from conflict to collaboration.
Work together rather than blame each other.
- Integrate cultural values with adaptive relationship practices.
- Process immigration trauma and cultural displacement
- Establish new shared meanings and rituals for their relationship.
- Long-term Outcomes
- Renewed commitment and connection in marriage
- Integration of Pakistani cultural values with the Western context
- Healing from individual and collective trauma
- Establishment of a new cultural identity as Pakistani-Americans
Take your time reflecting on this, and share it with M if it feels right for you. Please know that you can move at your own pace, and I am here to support you through each step.
Try 8-10 sessions for trauma work, followed by 2 sessions for reviewing lessons.
and 8-10 sessions for narrative therapy work, with two sessions for review
Total: 24 sessions
The sessions are structured as follows:
– 8–10 sessions focused on trauma work (including emotion mapping and regulation)
– 8–10 sessions dedicated to narrative therapy techniques and relationship story re-authoring
– 2 review sessions after each phase to reinforce learning and measure progress
https://youtube.com/shorts/zbYPQwYON7A?si=X3jq5J_MQrqrbl8s
This clear structure will help you understand what to expect at each stage. We will adjust pacing as needed to ensure your comfort and progress.
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