Therapists for Mood Disorders

This page lists therapists who include narrative therapy among their approaches and who work with mood disorders. Browse the listings below to review practitioners, their focus areas, approaches and languages, and to find questions to ask about how they work.

Understanding mood concerns through story

When mood feels heavy, anxious, flat or cycling between poles, many people describe an internal story about who they are and what life is like. That story can be simple, repetitive and unkind - a thin account that reduces a complex life to a label or a deficit. Narrative therapy begins from the idea that people make sense of their lives through stories, and that those stories are shaped by family, culture, work and other social forces. Michael White and David Epston developed these ideas in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s, and since then clinicians who work narratively have focused on how stories are made, maintained and changed.

In the context of mood concerns, the familiar story often names the person as "depressed," "unstable," "not coping" or "overwhelmed." That language can feel accurate, but it can also narrow the view of a life full of varied moments. A narrative approach invites you to step back from that dominant account and to notice times when the story does not fit - moments of resilience, connection or choice that point to different possibilities. The goal is not to argue away difficult feelings but to open up space where a different, more agentic story can be developed and tested in everyday life.

How narrative therapy works with mood disorders

Externalising the problem

A central practice in narrative work is externalising - talking about the problem as something separate from you so it can be described and examined. Rather than saying "I am anxious," a narrative clinician might explore "anxiety" as an influence that shows up in particular situations. Naming the problem as an external presence creates distance and makes it possible to discover its patterns, triggers and effects without defining you as identical to it.

Tracing and rewriting the familiar story

A narrative therapist will often ask where the familiar story came from - which relationships, cultural messages or events helped produce that account of you. These conversations look for thin descriptions - summaries that omit nuance - and invite richer descriptions of your values, loyalties and commitments. At the same time you will be guided to notice unique outcomes - moments when the problem was less powerful or when you acted in line with what matters to you. Collecting these exceptions becomes raw material for a different story.

Re-authoring, re-membering and communal practices

Re-authoring is the process of composing a preferred story that better reflects your values and intentions and that can hold up in ordinary life. Re-membering conversations bring attention to relationships and supports that sustain you, and practices such as outsider witnesses or definitional ceremonies create a social context for the new story to be acknowledged. Over time, these practices aim to shift how you and the people around you describe your life. For mood-related concerns this can mean building a narrative that recognizes low or high mood while also giving weight to competence, connection and hope.

What to expect in narrative sessions for mood disorders

Sessions that use a narrative approach are largely conversational. Early conversations tend to focus on naming and externalising the problem so you can see its shape - where it appears, what it wants, and how it affects relationships and projects. Your clinician may ask about the first time you noticed the problem, the events that keep it going, and times when it was less present. Questions are often open-ended and curious, inviting you to describe experiences in detail rather than reduce them to a diagnostic label.

As work continues, sessions shift toward gathering unique outcomes and testing new stories in ordinary life. You may be invited to notice and record moments when you acted differently from the problem story, or to involve trusted others in conversations that witness and support the emerging narrative. The pace is usually collaborative and tailored to your readiness - some people spend many sessions exploring the origins and contexts of their story, while others move quickly into re-authoring. Bear in mind that most clinicians who list narrative therapy among their approaches combine it with other methods, and the proportion of narrative work in any session will vary by therapist. It is reasonable to ask directly how much of their practice is narrative and what a typical session looks like.

Is a narrative approach the right fit for you?

There is no way to tell in advance whether a narrative approach will suit you. People who are often drawn to narrative work describe not wanting to be reduced to a diagnosis or to a problem label. They may feel that a story handed down by family, school or culture no longer fits, and they want a process that foregrounds values, agency and relational context. Narrative work tends to appeal to those who prefer conversational, reflective therapy that pays close attention to language and meaning.

Compared with approaches that emphasise thought content, such as cognitive behavioural work, narrative therapy shifts the focus to the stories through which thought and behaviour are organised. Compared with therapies that emphasise skills training, narrative work spends more time on meaning, identity and social context. Against insight-oriented psychodynamic work, narrative therapy often places more emphasis on externalising problems and on collaborative re-authoring rather than on tracing intrapsychic origins alone. Many clinicians integrate narrative practices with other methods to respond to the complexity of a person's life and goals. Because blended approaches are common, it is useful to ask how the therapist combines narrative techniques with other methods and what that integration typically looks like.

How to choose a therapist who works narratively with mood disorders

When you are choosing a therapist from a directory listing, begin by reading profiles with attention to focus areas, stated approaches, languages and professional credentials. Remember that a therapist listing narrative therapy among their approaches is not evidence of a particular credential in narrative methods. Ask directly how much of their work is narrative, what a typical session looks like, and how they would describe the role of externalising, unique outcomes and re-authoring in their practice. You can also ask about their experience working with mood concerns and about the kinds of collaborative tasks they introduce between sessions.

A first conversation is often the best way to evaluate fit. In that call or meeting you can notice how the clinician listens to your story, whether they ask about contexts and relationships, and whether they encourage you to identify times when the dominant story does not hold. You should also verify professional licensure or registration where you live, and check what languages and culturally informed practices they offer. If you plan to work online, narrative work translates well to video because it relies on dialogue and storytelling; you may want to ask how the clinician structures online sessions and any steps they take to create a comfortable environment for conversation.

Putting narrative work into practice

If you decide to explore narrative therapy with a clinician who lists the approach, expect a process that values your voice and the social contexts that shape your life. The work usually moves from naming and externalising, to collecting unique outcomes, to re-authoring a preferred story that better aligns with your values. Along the way you will be invited to test new descriptions in daily life and, when appropriate, to bring others into conversations that recognise the changes you are making.

Remember that no single approach guarantees a particular outcome and that many people find it helpful to try an initial conversation before committing to longer term work. Use the listings below to find clinicians who list narrative therapy among their approaches, prepare questions about their practice and credentials, and choose someone who listens to the story you bring and helps you imagine other possibilities.