The construction of narrative is closely linked to identity formation, or the establishment of a sense of self, with its attendant notions of history and continuity and lineal development. Story-making within analysis is seen as being at the heart of symbolic process and of psychic change. The story serves as a form of transitional object combining factual with imaginal, internal and external realities, and reflects our desire to internalize one another. With regard to clinical work, this paper explores the following ideas specifically: the apparent absence of narrative in the analysis of some patients; the use of story as a defence in the service of a false self; how we differentiate ‘true’ and ‘false’ stories; and, lastly, the therapeutic value of reconstruction as a form of story making.