This paper reflects on a previously published practice story of Ray, a 24-year-old Black man from the United States. I seek to demonstrate one way that the ideas of cultural democracy can become actionable within narrative therapy practices, and in doing so, to advocate for a model that moves beyond multicultural counselling.

Around 10% of children in Hong Kong have dyslexia, and it can be supposed that in other parts of Asia, similar numbers of children have dyslexia. In Hong Kong, families of children with dyslexia are often victimised by the educational system, in which academic performance is a dominant indicator of competence. In this cultural context, dyslexia can be accompanied by significant shame and isolation. This paper describes a collective narrative intervention involving eight families of children with dyslexia. This intervention used key concepts of narrative practice to address issues relating to dyslexia and to foster agency in parents and children.

We are facilitating a collective narrative practice project, gathering multi-storied descriptions and understandings of the preferences, experiences, histories and effects of Quietness and Shyness in people’s lives. Thanks to the generosity of co-research participants, we feel clearer about what types of stories are important when we speak with someone who is experiencing Quietness and/or Shyness. We have seen and experienced the harmful effects of dominant discourses that describe Quietness and Shyness in single-storied and negative ways. We agree that stories of troubling effects of Quietness and Shyness on people’s lives need to be included; however, we have found that it is equally important to include stories of what Quietness and Shyness can contribute to people, families and communities. We are clearer that Quietness and Shyness are experienced and responded to politically, contextually, culturally and relationally. These experiences do not occur on equal grounds, and we intend an intersectional analysis of the ways people might sometimes experience silencing or choose Quietness as a survival skill.

Social work practice has often been criticised for maintaining systems of oppression when working with vulnerable persons. Critics have often proselytised the benefits of working ‘outside the system’ in order to change the system (Mullaly, 1993). The authors of this paper present a counter story to this. We suggest that there are possibilities for working within the system and for advocating for the people who consult us. We present our Singaporean experiences of applying the collaborative approaches of narrative therapy within established systems, with examples from social work case management processes.

This paper describes the use of narrative ideas in response to violence and abuse in an accommodation setting for people with cerebral palsy. There had been reports of verbal and physical abuse between residents, and staff reported feeling unequipped to respond to these behaviours. A community assignment approach (White, 2005) was adopted, using externalising and re-authoring maps, definitional ceremonies and documentation to support rich double-storied identity description. This case example demonstrates how this approach supported the mobilising of individuals and a community to respond to concerns about abuse and violence and increase community wellbeing.

This article describes the use of writing and exchanging letters to invite and strengthen people’s preferred stories of themselves, and to reduce the influence of a failure or ‘c.m.i.’ (cannot make it) identity. These double-storied letters articulate a person’s insider knowledge about responding to unhelpful expectations about achieving ‘success’ in life. The letter exchanges offer people opportunities for collective healing as they link their stories about dealing with a problem, supporting a ‘Can Make I.T.’ (can make ideas together) identity and thickening preferred stories.

The Enlighten Project involved 375 incarcerated men and women in an eight-week narrative therapy group work program conducted in Hong Kong prisons. This paper presents the results of qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of the program, suggesting the potential for narrative work in prison settings. The Enlighten Project was successful in assisting those with multiple convictions and those classified as at risk of reoffending to re-author new stories that reflected their values and commitments for life on the outside. We offer reflections on our experience running the program, and on working in narrative ways in prisons and settings where a ‘risk assessment’ model is dominant.

Practitioners in Hong Kong have long sought alternatives to dominant pathologising discourses. In 2001, when Michael White held his first open workshop in Hong Kong, a community of practitioners gathered and began exploring a localised narrative practice. In this paper, we describe the history of narrative practice in Hong Kong. We reflect on how narrative practice has informed social work and counselling practice and challenged individualistic understandings of problems and suffering. Finally, we share our hopes for the continued development of a culturally relevant and innovative narrative practice for Hong Kong.