Cultural Studies Methodologies and Narrative Family Therapy: Therapeutic Conversations About Pop Culture

• Published date: 01 June 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12204
• Author: Julie Tilsen,David Nylund
• Date: 01 June 2016

Cultural Studies Methodologies and Narrative

Family Therapy: Therapeutic Conversations About

Pop Culture

JULIE TILSEN*

DAVID NYLUND

†

Therapists recognize that popular media culture is an influential force that shapes iden-

tities and relationships in contemporary society. Indeed, people have serious relat ionships

with the commodities and practices that emerge from pop culture. However, they often lack

the conceptual and conversational resources to engage meaningfully with clients about pop

culture’s influence in their lives. Cultural studies is introduced as an interdisciplinary

approach that provides frameworks for both theory and practice that position therapists

and clients to critically examine the role of pop culture in their lives. Cultural studies and

narrative therapy are discussed as praxis allies that share a populist political int ention

and counter-hegemonic discursive practices. The integration of cultural studies methodol o-

gies into narrative therapy practice with a parent and her teenage daughter is illustrated

through a case vignette.

Keywords: Cultural Studies; Popular Culture; Narrative Therapy; Text; Polysemic;

Meaning-Making

Fam Proc 55:225–237, 2016

Pop culture shapes our ideas of what is normal and what our dreams can be.

Gloria Steinem

There is no question that popular culture is ubiquitous in contemporary society. Tech-

nology, fashion, music, social media, films, and video games are front and center in

people’s lives, exerting influence on identities and relationships. As such, pop culture is

something to contend with in therapy. But how?

Narrative therapy has always looked beyond the bounds of the theories and conceptual

frameworks that inform conventional therapeutic practices. In particular, narrative thera-

pists are interested in theoretical ideas that challenge essentialist notions of identity and

support resistance to specifications of prevailing discourses. Conceptual resources imbued

with these qualities promote discursive practices that are generative and hope-full. The

field of cultural studies provides both conceptual and conversational resources that sup-

port such a practice.

In this article, we will provide a brief introduction to the field of cultural studies and

discuss its affinity with narrative therapy practice. We will focus on the ways in which

*International Center for Clinical Excellence, Minneapolis, MN.

†

Social Work, California State University-Sacramento, Sacramento, CA.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Julie Tilsen, International Center for

Clinical Excellence, 3609 Harriet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55409. E-mails: julie@2stories.com, julie.tilsen@

gmail.com.

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Family Process, Vol. 55, No. 2, 2016 ©2016 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12204