Caseness and Narrative: Contrasting Approaches to People Psychiatrically Labeled

Caseness and Narrative contrasts two ways of trying to help persons in emotional distress. The first, called Caseness, sees signs of distress as symptoms without significant meaning, makes a diagnosis which allows the psychiatric system to name the experience, and then uses strong methods to minimize or stop symptom expression. The second way, called Narrative, allows the story to unfold, uses the structure of narrative to frame the process, and then—to avoid the person becoming stuck––supports the transformative nature of the lived experience. We invite you to a greater and deeper understanding, which may help you, family and friends support each other going through difficult emotional experiences.