Affective Double Listening: 16 Dimensions to Facilitate the Exploration of Affect, Emotions, and Embodiment in Narrative Therapy

Abstract

This article expands on the concept of double listening introduced by Michael White and explores its combination with more recent discoveries and writings on affect, emotion, and embodiment. Landscape of affect is introduced as a new territory of exploration, which enriches narrative therapeutic work historically centered on landscapes of action and identity. Sixteen descriptors of affective experience are organized into two collections of questions on “affective activity” and “affective embodiment.” Incorporating affect and embodiment in narrative therapy is discussed as an expansion of available clinical practices, which can allow us to better address complex experiences of problems without diluting the approach's theoretical integrity. A clinical transcript with a young woman struggling with an eating issue exemplifies the helpfulness of these affective dimensions. The benefits and limitations of enriching narrative therapy with affective and embodied practices are discussed.