Empowering Patients in Integrated Behavioral Health-Care Settings: A Narrative Approach to Medical Family Therapy

Abstract

Integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) provides patient-centered care, which assures full considerations of patients’ needs and promotes patients having a voice in decisions about their own health care. In this article, we consider narrative therapy as an empowering, nonpathologizing, and collaborative approach for medical family therapists and behavioral health practitioners to better help patients, families, and health-care systems in IBHC settings. Clinical examples are provided for effectively utilizing narrative therapy in IBHC settings across various stages of treatment. Using narrative medical family therapy informed by cultural humility, therapists can empower patients, help them reauthor their story through the lens of their experience, and validate their worldviews.