Expectation and resolution
I bounce between communities without really being a member of any of them, and sometimes I hear different takes on the same idea.
Musicians talk about setup and resolution, creating expectations in a listener’s mind with keys and chord progressions, how phrases should resolve, and the difference between expectation and sonic experience is what makes a song work.
Writers talk about genre and beats and the tools they use to set up, dance with, and either fulfill or effectively subvert reader expectations of how the story is supposed to go.
Therapists work with people for whom, internally or externally, things are not how they'd like them to be. People with a story in their heads, a supposed-to-be that their current reality doesn't fit. Depending on the goals of who’s paying them, therapists might encourage them to reframe their story. Change the character they're choosing to play in their (with apologies for the eye-rolling term) life script. In that sense, all therapy is narrative therapy. And like songs and stories, expectations are the assumed baseline. What reality is compared against.
I'm not suggesting narratives and music structures are frameworks of oppression. They're some of the highest forms of human expression we've come up with. Mashups like bibliotherapy I've heard of. Music therapy probably exists. But I'm not talking about institutionalized professional strategies, just personal practices. Are we self-medicating by seeking stories and songs? And where's the line between connecting us with the dreams of what's possible, and programming us with unreachable expectations?