Narrative transformations in single-session therapy: exploring possibilities and challenges with university students

Author(s)

Rafaella Andrade Vivenzio

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2025-05-08

Examining board members

Laura Vilela e Souza; Giovanna Cabral Doricci; Silvia Renata Magalhães Lordello Borba Santos

• Advisor: Laura Vilela e Souza

Abstract

University students are considered a vulnerable group for the development of anxiety, depression, and stress. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues by impacting societal structures and affecting higher education. Among the protective and preventive strategies to mitigate such suffering, psychological care services in early adulthood have shown favorable benefits, such as the development of social and emotional skills and a greater likelihood of continuing studies. In this context, brief therapeutic interventions, such as Narrative Single-Session Therapy (NSST), become an important option to consider due to their cost-effectiveness, accessibility, and emphasis on the client\'s agency. Given this aspect, along with the identification of a lack of studies on NSST in Brazil and its use among university students, as well as the need to explore ways to expand access to mental health services in the country, this research aimed to understand the meaning-making processes regarding the practice of NSST from both clients and the therapist\'s perspective. To this end, NSST sessions with university students were conducted and recorded at a Brazilian public university. Follow-up interviews were also carried out with the students who participated in the sessions. This study included 16 students, resulting in 20 NSST sessions and 56 follow-up interviews. From a social constructionist perspective of research as intervention, the researcher of this project took on the role of therapist and participated in the meaning-making process about (and within) the practice through field diary notes. The transcriptions of the therapy sessions, follow-up interviews, field diary records, and pre- and post-session questionnaire responses were analyzed as discursive practices, enabling an exploration of the meanings produced about NSST in terms of its effects on this population and potential future applications. Consequently, this study expanded the understanding of NSST\'s conversational processes and the sociocultural influences observed in the issues brought to the therapeutic setting, highlighting the specificities of the university student population. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 22/14358-3 - Single-session Narrative Therapy with university students: Possibilities and limits
• Grantee: Rafaella Andrade Vivenzio
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master