What is narrative reasoning?
To understand narrative reasoning, we first need to understand memory. Memory and narrative reasoning are related because narrative reasoning is a function of memory.
Memory is broken into two categories, long-term memory and short-term memory. Short term memory, or working memory, is when the brain holds information for shorter periods of time. The brain can on average store 5-10 pieces of information temporarily in your mind, however, after you’re done using it, the information goes away- like a phone number.
Long-term memory is when our brain stores information for a long period of time, this could be something that happened to you in childhood, yesterday or last month. Interestingly, there are different types of long-term memories- declarative and procedural.
Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory involving how to perform different actions and skills. Essentially, it is the memory of how to do certain things, like change a car tyre, cook a meal, clean clothes or upload a chronology onto the computer system.
Declarative memory concerns concepts, knowledge, and ideas. For example, who was the first chief social worker for children and families or what colour the sky is etc. We then have two types of declarative memory- semantic and episodic. Episodic memory is the home to narrative reasoning.
Semantic memory refers to the memory of meaning, understanding, general knowledge about the world, and other concept-based knowledge unrelated to specific experiences (science direct).This could be something you have read in a book, online or on a poster- information you do not have a real connection with.
Episodic memory is memory you direct experienced. Episodic memory is defined as the ability to recall and mentally reexperience specific episodes from one's personal past (science direct). It could be the time you went to the shop and lost your parent. They are specific events that you store like movies or narratives in your head.
Dyslexics have a better imagination because we have a preference for encoding information in episodic declarative memory. Once stored those memories can be recalled like a movie, and then cut into a scenes that help us solve problems or recall information. Narrative reasoning is being able to create vivid "mental scenes" to display important ideas and concepts from the past, present or future.
As Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Narrative reasoning in practice
Studying and professional development-
Narrative reasoning is something I use very often in my personal life- making up stories for inanimate objects to make sense of an emotional or physical experience. I would also up stories and experiences to remember information and research when I was studying or completing professional development. For example, when I was studying psychology and trying to remember what researcher completed what study, I would create a story about the researcher in the study.
For example: My sister, the social worker, ran to the shops in 2017 and tripped over an invisible and vulnerable child. Their friend, Harry Ferguson, helped my sister find out why she couldn’t see the invisible child
Translates to: How Children Become Invisible in Child Protection Work: Findings from Research into Day-to-Day Social Work Practice
However, since qualifying and reflecting on how or if my narrative reasoning has transitioned in my professional life, I have found that as a social worker I too prefer to translate facts into stories and I often learn better through experiences and the narrative that accompany them- rather than keeping experiences and facts them as abstract concepts.
Narrative reasoning during assessments-
With this being said, I do not use storytelling to only assist my memory recall, but I now use it to portray as honestly and realistically as possible a child’s journey and lived experiences to inform decision making. Narrative reasoning reminds me a lot of the narrative approach that we can use in our practice – narrative reasoning enables us to put facts into stories (however the facts never change).
For example, story telling and narrative reasoning can often be used in assessment work to understand a family’s journey and the impact of the journey on the children. In addition to helping integrate contextual information better. Hearing the story and experiencing the journey through the family evokes emotions that we may have experienced ourselves in our own stories - triggering episodic memory and increasing our memory recall of the family's needs whilst working with them.
Using a narrative or story telling approach in assessments also enables us to support parents and/or carers to remember the past, describe the present, and imagine the future. Which has been pivotal to informing assessment decisions and support planning. As alluded to earlier, this dyslexic advantage fits into place with the narrative approach we sometimes employ in social work to understand a family’s experience, as they are the experts in their own lives.
Reflecting with a parent about where their journey has taken them, what the triggers for this might be and reflecting on the impact on their child in a story like way (asking prompting questions throughout: what were your thoughts and feelings at this time X happened, what did you notice was around you when X happened, what did x do next, what did you think about this? What did routines look like then? How did it feel in the house when X happened? Etc) during an assessment enables us to establish with the family what they wanted to change, why and how they could use welfare services, their family tools and support from their network to achieve their desired changes. Subsequently providing robust evidence and reasoning for assessment recommendations, in addition to nurturing a family's episodic memory and narrative reasoning skills.
Narrative reasoning in case notes-
Storying telling can additionally be used in case notes to capture an intervention with a family, the perceived impact (and family reflections) and the emotions evoked for the family and anyone present. This can be trigger a family's episodic memory if they were to receive their case notes in adulthood.
This extension of the narrative reasoning has been invaluable to ensuring a child’s journey and experience (past and present) are captured and written in a way that is not only true to them but is also told in a way they (their family and professional support network) can digest and understand.
Capturing and understanding children's lived experiences-
It is important that parent’s and a child’s support network can understand an event or experience from the child’s emotional and physical point of view and not from a professional or parental lens- this has enabled me to work harder to ensure I understand or can portray in real feelings and words how children have experienced something (event or relationship for example). It additionally facilitates advocating for children, and help professionals and parents understand a child or young persons lived experiences (using their own words and emotions). if you can tap into your episodic memory, you can tap into theirs too which can be especially powerful when arguing for a provision of service.
Using narrative reasoning can support us establish and widen a parent, carers or professional’s ability to understand a child’s lived and emotional experiences. Moreover, narrative reasoning can support us when we communicate the impact of and event on a child where a parent of professional may lack the understanding. This is a technique that I know many social workers who are not dyslexic use as it supports reflection and develops our ability to see things from other’s perspective.
This is achieved by tapping into a parent/carer/professional's episodic memory of their childhood to reflect on the impact on (lets say) Jonny. By asking such questions as: how do you think Jonny felt when he heard lots of loud arguments? What did you feel when you heard adults shout for the first time as a child? do you think Jonny would feel the same of different? and why? (being careful not to trigger trauma memories) critical reflection can happen with the focus on the best interest of an impact on the child at all times.
Using narrative reasoning in supervision-
Within supervision, support planning meetings and interventions I may tell the story of events through the child’s eyes, relaying details of sights, smells, emotions, and thoughts that the child has disclosed within the assessment- and might trigger an episodic memory. This enables the support network (family and professional) to paint a picture and put themselves in the child’s shoes- where a family may not perceive boundaries as a necessity for healthy child development, working with the parent to put together a ‘day in the life’ of the child’s current boundaries and the impact, including thoughts feelings, sights, smells etc, supports the parent and support network to see boundaries and their impact from the child's perspective.
Utilising narrative reasoning during interventions-
Finally, narrative reasoning has made me naturally drift towards story-based learning with children and young people. Being able to discuss difficult issues such as harmful sexual behaviours, consent and grief and loss with children through storytelling adds a different level of engagement for children. They can connect with the story and the characters, maybe even relate to some of them through their own episodic memory.
Tell a friend: do you know any narrative reasoning thinkers in your life? Forward this their way and let them know you see their superpower!
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