Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) Narrative Therapy: Making meaning while learning skills

Emotion regulation difficulties are common experiences for survivors of trauma, especially those who have experienced early childhood and/or interpersonal trauma. Because close relationships provide a core vehicle for early learning, childhood and/or interpersonal trauma can interrupt the normative development of skills to modulate both emotional experiencing and interpersonal relating. Skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation (STAIR) Narrative Therapy offers a two-module framework to address such challenges in a supportive, pragmatic, and client-centered way. This chapter outlines key theoretical underpinnings of STAIR Narrative Therapy, particularly theories of attachment, resource loss, and narrative therapy, before providing an overview of the therapy's skills training and narrative components. A case example elucidates how the theory and intervention work in an applied manner. The chapter ends with a review of the most recent research supporting the effectiveness of STAIR Narrative Therapy and a preview of more recent, novel applications of the model.