Co-constructing stories of "we" and "us" with cohabitating couples

Abstract

In this research, I examine how cohabitating couples co-constructed stories of mutuality and “we-ness” in conversations with me. Using Gubrium and Holstein’s (2009) approach to analyzing narrative reality, based within a social constructionist perspective, I study how participants and I co-narrated and co-edited stories of relational identity. I pay particular attention to my role as researcher, and how I was active in inviting and shaping these stories of “we-ness.” In my analysis, I also attend to how participants and I co-managed the stakes of storytelling, as we were developing plotlines about who they were as a couple and where they were going as partners. In their interviews, participants indicated that talking with me about “we-ness” had strengthened their sense of relational identity. I discuss the implications of my results for both research and counselling, and particularly for how counsellors can actively invite clients into telling stories of “we-ness.”