The story behind the practice.

I'm Griselda Avila, and I work with couples. Most of the people who find me are tired. They have had the same argument for years, or a promise has broken, or they are about to marry and want to begin well.

I came to narrative therapy through my own experience of being storied by others. Growing up between languages and families, I learned early that the stories told about us are not always the stories we would tell. Between two people, those stories harden faster. That gap became the foundation of my clinical work.

I trained in narrative therapy in Adelaide, Australia, and I am licensed in California as a marriage and family therapist. My approach blends narrative therapy with elements of existential psychology and, when a couple wants it, writing exercises.

I see couples at my Fillmore Street office and by secure video for people who are in California at the time of the visit. When I'm not in session, I'm writing, reading literary fiction, tending my garden, or walking the trails of Marin County with my dog, Story (yes, really).

• Licensed marriage and family therapist, California

• Narrative therapy training, Adelaide, Australia

• Couples, premarital and trust work