2014: Issue 1 Archives - The Dulwich Centre

Michael White and adventures downunder— David Denborough

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:08:36 +0000

This paper explores the personal-professional historical development of the work of the late Michael White. It was written at the request of Maurizio Andolfi and first published in Italian in Terapia Familiare No.102, July 2013. It is published here for the first time in English with permission. The paper is written as a response to four questions: What were some of the key steps in Michael White’s historical development from a personal-professional perspective? From where did Michael draw his main inspirations? What have been his major contributions? And what has Michael left to the younger generations?

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Ethnography, co-research and insider knowledges— David Epston

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:05:52 +0000

This piece revisits some of the intellectual histories of narrative practice, in particular the development of an ethnographic, co-research approach to working with families. By tracing the influence of anthropological and sociological thought on the development of what has become ‘narrative therapy’, this piece invites current practitioners to read beyond the boundaries of any professional field in order to generate new forms of practice.

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Uh Oh! I have received an Unexpected Visitor: The visitor’s name is Chronic Disease a Brazilian narrative family therapy approach— Lúcia Helena Abdalla and Ana Luiza Novis

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:03:37 +0000

Based on our clinical experience with people with chronic diseases, we have developed a narrative methodology we have named ‘The Pantry of Life’ (also known as ‘The Unexpected Visitor’). This reflective approach invites the person and their family to imagine and describe the appearance of adversity in their lives as an ‘Unexpected Visitor’ who arrives unexpectedly and uninvited. Consisting of six reflexive exercises, this methodology enables families who have felt hostage to the problem, to reclaim the authorship of the stories of their lives. By promoting new understandings, expanding conversations, and validating the skills and resources of family members, those living with chronic diseases are offered a chance to respond to serious problems in playful and creative ways.

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Narrative family therapy and group work for families living with acquired brain injury— Franca Butera-Prinzi, Nella Charles and Karen Story

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:00:47 +0000

Acquired brain injury profoundly challenges the identity of the affected person and family relationships. Narrative practices offer valuable therapeutic tools to assist families to face the enormous task of adjusting to an acquired disability. The integration of family therapy and group work provides multiple avenues for families to have their experiences validated and to support reconnection with strengths, values and goals. It is from this more empowered position that families can find ways to live their lives to the fullest, in spite of the difficulties.

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Narrative and Open Dialogue: Strangers in the night or easy bedfellows?— Val Jackson and Hugh Fox

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:58:16 +0000

This paper briefly describes narrative and open dialogue approaches before exploring their shared values, ways of working, their differences and the possibilities for integration. Both authors have extensive experience in using a narrative therapy approach, while Val Jackson, a family and systemic psychotherapist, also uses an open dialogue approach in her work in an early intervention in psychosis service in Yorkshire, UK.

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Weaving networks of hope with families, practitioners and communities: Inspirations from systemic and narrative approaches— Glenda Fredman

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:53:25 +0000

Over the last decade, inspired by systemic family therapy and narrative approaches, Glenda and her teams in the UK have found ways to bring families, practitioners and communities together to respond to medical, mental health and social care crises. This work has taken place with children, adolescents, older people and people affected by intellectual disability and their families. This paper shares an inspiring story of this work and describes ways of ‘conducting’ and ‘weaving’ networks of hope.

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The gift of giving: empowering vulnerable children, families and communities in rural Uganda— Caleb Wakhungu

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:51:08 +0000

Caleb Wakhungu and the Mt Elgon Self-Help Community Project use narrative ideas and practices to spark and sustain local economic ‘development’ projects in rural Uganda. Their innovative work links community work, therapy and development. This short paper describes the significance of moving away from a children’s rights model (which had been imported from the West) to a model of empowering children and families in ways that are congruent with local cultural practices and understandings.

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Narrative therapy and cultural democracy: A testimony view— Makungu Akinyela

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:48:06 +0000

In this article I discuss my personal introduction to narrative therapy as an African American family therapist and my discovery of the similarities between narrative practices and my own approaches to therapeutic work. I also examine the cultural relationship between narrative therapy and the therapies of a growing number of communities outside of European dominant culture. The article questions the dominant approach to multiculturalism in the field today and introduces the idea of cultural democracy as an alternative approach to managing the relationship between narrative and other Euro-culture grounded therapies and the therapies of non-European peoples which may be similar to, yet culturally unique from, Euro-cultural therapies. This difference is not superficial or inconsequential. The article argues that a cultural democracy view challenges the emotional/ psychologically colonizing links based in presumption of Euro-cultural superiority of the ideas of Europe over the rest of the therapeutic world. This cultural democracy perspective creates a relationship of mutual respect and cross cultural influence between narrative therapy and other Euro-cultural therapies and the therapies developed by non-European peoples.

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Creating different versions of life: Talking about problems with children and their parents— Geir Lundby

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:44:54 +0000

When working with families, many parents have told us that externalizing the problem is the single most important thing they experienced in our work together. This paper describes how externalizing conversations and double-story development can assist children and their parents talk about problems and create different versions of life. Examples from narrative family therapy conversations with two Norwegian families are included.

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Witnessing and positioning: Structuring narrative therapy with families and couples— Jill Freedman

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:42:12 +0000

In this paper, the author describes a way of structuring family therapy that fits with the narrative metaphor, creating space for stories to be understood, deconstructed and further developed. In this process, people move between positions of telling and witnessing. Family members engage in shared understanding and meaning making.

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Creating stories of hope: A narrative approach to illness, death and grief— Lorraine Hedtke

Dulwich — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:39:09 +0000

A narrative approach allows psychosocial teams to stand alongside children who have cancer, or life-threatening illnesses, and their families at critical times and to create stories of agency. Rather than dwelling on stories of loss and despair that potentially enfeeble families, a narrative approach builds on stories of strength that engender hope by asking questions that separate the person from the problem. Developing such stories supports people in taking action against the effects of cancer. It also facilitates the formation of a legacy that can sustain family members, even after the death of a child. This legacy serves as the foundation for remembering the dead, folding their stories into the lives of the living, and constructing lines of relational connection that can transcend physical death. Not only do families benefit from this approach, but the psychosocial team that provides professional and medical services can be uplifted through witnessing practices of strength and love in the face of hardship.

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