Unique Outcomes in the Narratives of Young Adults Who Experienced Dating Violence as Adolescents

BACKGROUND: Narrative therapy, an approach based on the reauthoring of life narratives, may be a useful psychotherapeutic strategy for youth who have experienced dating violence. OBJECTIVE: A cornerstone of narrative therapy is the concept of unique outcomes, which are moments that stand in contrast to a client’s otherwise problem-saturated narratives. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize unique outcomes embedded in narratives about adolescent dating violence. DESIGN: Text units representing unique outcomes were extracted from transcripts of interviews with 88 young adults who had experienced dating violence and were categorized using standard content analytic techniques. RESULTS: Six categories of unique outcome stories were identified: facing-facts stories, standing-up-for-myself stories, cutting-it-off stories, cutting-’em-loose stories, getting-back-on-track stories, and changing-it-up stories. CONCLUSION: This typology of unique outcomes can inform clinicians who work with clients who have a history of adolescent dating violence.