2005: Issue 2 Archives - The Dulwich Centre

The Goodbye Feelings: Working with Children Living in Two homes – One with Mum and One with Dad— Carolyn Markey

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:39:33 +0000

Through descriptions of counselling conversations, this paper explores ways of working with children who are affected by parental separation and who move between two households. It includes extracts of conversations, therapeutic letters and a graph drawn by the child concerned.

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Responding to the Working Children of Bangladesh: The Work of Ain o Salish Kendra

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:29:16 +0000

The following interview describes the work of a drop-in centre and flexi-school for working children in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We have included this here in the hope of offering readers a glimpse of the different dilemmas facing those who are working with children in developing countries. Ain o Salish Kendra is a legal rights organisation. One aspect of their work involves trying to reduce the amount of hazardous work performed by children in Bangladesh and to provide working children with access to education, health and legal services. The Protection of Working Children Unit aims to provide meaningful opportunities to children who have no choice but to work to support themselves and their families. We were introduced to the work of Ain o Salish Kendra by Margaret Ryan (via Narrative Connections!) and visited one of their drop-in centres for working children in March 2005. Sitting in a small classroom, children somewhere between six and ten years old, all introduced themselves – proudly describing the work that they did. This ranged from selling flowers in the street, to working in a glass factory, to making paper containers, to domestic work. After they had finished their introductions they turned to us and asked: ‘And what work do you do?’ Many of our assumptions about childhood, about work and about child labour were questioned at that moment. After introductions, we witnessed the children share news from their day with their teacher. A number of children told of positive events. One described a fire that had occurred in the factory in which she worked. Another mentioned that his family was having difficulties due to his older brother’s drug use. They then moved on to read the book of the day which involved a family that was trying to get enough food to eat, to study the letters of the alphabet, and to learn how to draw pictures of ducks and people’s faces. This drop-in centre and school provides a forum for these children to speak about their lives with other children and with caring adults. As the following interview describes, the work of Ain o Salish Kendra also tries to provide pathways for these children towards safe work and opportunities for further education.

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A Narrative Theatre Approach to Working with Communities Affected by Trauma, Conflict & War— Yvonne Sliep

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:24:17 +0000

This paper describes a narrative theatre approach to working with communities affected by trauma, conflict and war. The approach was initially tried in villages within rural Malawi in relation to issues of HIV/AIDS. It has been developed further over the last ten years in different parts of the world and is currently being engaged with in Uganda, Burundi and East Congo. This paper explores the effects of trauma on community life and grassroots, theatrical means of responding. This approach has been influenced by the ideas and practices of Narrative Therapy and Forum Theatre.

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Responding to Families at Times of Trauma: Personal and Professional Knowledge: Personal and professional knowledge An interview with Yael Gershoni

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:21:54 +0000

In this interview, Yael Gershoni, an Israeli therapist, tells the story of how a suicide bombing affected her relative’s family and how this, in turn, has influenced her life and work. Particular emphasis is given to ways of responding to the traumatic visual imagery that is often an after-effect of experiences of trauma. The interviewer was David Denborough.

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The Story of Ruthi and Miki: Working with a Couple Where Both Partners Have Experienced Trauma— Saviona Cramer and Yael Gershoni

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:17:54 +0000

This paper describes work by two therapists with a heterosexual couple in which both partners had experienced trauma. The man, Miki, had been traumatised ten years earlier in a suicide bombing on the bus on which he was the driver. The woman, Ruthi, had been traumatised in the years since the bombing by Miki’s abusive aggression. The therapeutic conversations described here involved ways of addressing the experiences of both partners, while prioritising Ruthi’s safety. This paper was created from a series of interviews. The interviewer was David Denborough.

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Prisoner Rape Support Package: Addressing sexual assault in men’s prisons — David Denborough and the Preventing Prisoner Rape Project

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:15:22 +0000

The following support package has been developed to try to provide assistance to men who have been raped or sexually assaulted in prison. It has been developed by the Preventing Prisoner Rape Project. This project, based at Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia, is hoping to: raise awareness about the issue of rape in prisons; reach out and support prison rape survivors; support those workers both inside and outside prisons who are trying to deal with the issue of sexual violence in detention; and bring about appropriate law reform and changes to prison administration in order to prevent prisoner rape. This package relates to men’s experience. In the near future we hope to be able to develop a similar package for female survivors of prisoner rape. While currently in written form, we hope to make CDs and tapes of this information and distribute these within prisons. We would value your feedback as this is a continuing project.

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Debriefing After Traumatic Situations – Using Narrative Ideas in the Gaza Strip— Sue Mitchell

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:12:59 +0000

This paper describes the use of narrative ideas in debriefing Palestinian adults and children in the Gaza strip after traumatic experiences. The author was working as a volunteer psychologist for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Gaza.

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‘How can You Do This Work?’ Responding to Questions about the Experience of Working with Women Who Were Subjected to Child Sexual Abuse— Sue Mann

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:10:42 +0000

This paper explores ways of understanding the experience of therapists who work in the field of child sexual abuse. The author describes how she is regularly asked by women who consult her, ‘How can you do this work?’ The first section of this paper explores the different meanings that this question can have for those women who ask it of their therapist. The second section considers the many different experiences that the author has in counselling conversations with women who have been subjected to child sexual abuse. The final section particularly focuses on those experiences of therapist distress that sometimes accompany this sort of work. A range of questions are provided in the hope that these will be helpful to other therapists.

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Stories from Srilanka: Responding to the Tsunami— Shanti Arulampalam, Lara Perera, Sathis de Mel, Cheryl White and David Denborough

Dulwich — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:07:18 +0000

This paper consists of a series of extracts from interviews from Sri Lankan community workers and psychosocial workers who are involved in responding to the aftermath of the tsunamis of December 2004. Three months after the tsunamis had devastated areas of Sri Lanka’s coastline, Cheryl White and David Denborough visited the country and witnessed the extent of the destruction and loss of life, and also the extent of the reconstruction efforts. They met with families who are now living in small tents one hundred metres back from the shore and are gradually piecing life back together again. Because it was exactly three months to the day of the tsunami, Buddhist remembrance ceremonies were being held in many parts of the country. A number of interviews were conducted with thoughtful and dedicated local organisations determined to hold onto and utilise local knowledge and expertise in responding to the experience of Sri Lankan communities. This paper includes stories from a number of these organisations.

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