Indicators for Assessing Intervention Fidelity in Narrative Practice: A Heuristic Review of the Concept of Scaffolding in White (2007)

Narrative practice (NP) is a psychotherapy approach that helps people identify subordinated storylines and reimagine their lives. The concept of intervention fidelity (IF) refers to the extent to which an intervention is implemented as planned, and it is an essential component in rigorous intervention research. However, it is challenging to assess IF in NP, because NP cannot be simply seen as standardized procedures. This study used the idea of scaffolding suggested in White (2007) to analyze White's conversations and develop a method assessing whether his conversations adhered to his stated principles. Results revealed potential indicators, such as progression, synchrony, and proportion of conversation utterances. These indicators are far from comprehensive and they do not represent any absolute standards. Nonetheless, they open the discussion about how we can rationalize intervention fidelity in NP.