Drawing on his reading of Gregory Bateson and Jacques Derrida, Michael White became interested in the idea that the meaning we make of any experience comes from contrasting it with some other experience or set of experiences. No experience has meaning independent of other experiences. We make meaning through operations in which we say (or think, or sense) “this is different from… .” This means that a single description of any experience can be thought of as a figure that we can see because of a contrasting background. A story about a problem is made in contrast to some experience that is preferred and often treasured. If we listen closely, using what White has called “double listening” (listening for the ground as well as the figure) we can hear implications of the experiences that are being drawn on as the background for the present experience. These implied experiences are a rich source of preferred stories. For example, if a person has the experience of frustration, he or she must be pursuing purposes, values, or beliefs, but not attaining them. If a person experiences despair, he or she must have hopes, dreams, or visions of the future that are not being fulfilled. If a person experiences injustice, he or she must have a conception of a just world. It follows that if a person is speaking at length of frustration, we can ask questions that invite him or her to notice the purposes, values, and beliefs that are being frustrated, and so on.
Combs, G. and Freedman, J. “Narrative, Poststructuralism, and Social Justice: Current Practices in Narrative Therapy,” The Counseling Psychologist XX(X) 1-28. (in press) 2012. p. 1041 (via shrinkrants)