2002: Issue 2 Archives - The Dulwich Centre

A review of the Transcending Trauma Conference— Lucy Raizman & Bea Hollander-Goldfein (Copy)

Anni Paech — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 04:44:04 +0000

On December 2-3, 2001, the Transcending Trauma Conference sponsored by Penn Council for Relationships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, provided a rare opportunity for the sharing and acquisition of knowledge. What made this conference different? There were many factors, but the most significant was the fact that the presentations were based on the multiple realities of the trauma experience as described by trauma survivors. Discussions of theories and ideas served only to enhance the understanding of the complexity of human adaptation to horror and devastation. The words and stories of survivors themselves and their family members offered insights that described the impact of trauma and their unique experiences of coping, adapting and rebuilding their lives.

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Reflections on a workshop in South Africa— Leonie Thomas

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:41:53 +0000

In February of this year I attended a four-day workshop with Yvonne Sliep in a beautiful part of rural South Africa, the Valley of a Thousand Hills. My experience in attending the workshop and in traveling to South Africa has had far reaching effects on my life and work.

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A review of the Transcending Trauma Conference— Lucy Raizman & Bea Hollander-Goldfein

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:38:30 +0000

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Poststructuralism and therapy – what’s it all about?— Leonie Thomas

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:31:51 +0000

Narrative therapy is very influenced by poststructuralist ideas and yet, for many of us, it can be quite a challenge to actually understand what poststructuralism is! Personally, we have been excited, challenged, stretched and sometimes exhausted by trying to understand poststructuralism and what it might mean for our practice as therapists.

While this is a complex topic, this is only a brief piece of writing. We’ve simply focused on a few areas and tried to offer some answers to commonly asked questions. We are not meaning to imply that these are the correct or only answers, we’re just hoping that you’ll find them helpful. We’ve certainly learnt a lot in putting them together.

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Externalising: Commonly asked questions— Maggie Carey & Shona Russell

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:27:57 +0000

The following questions and answers about ‘externalising’ have been created in response to regular requests from practitioners. We’ve tried here to respond to some of the questions we are most commonly asked in training contexts.

We’ve enjoyed the collaborative process of coming up with these questions and answers. A wide range of people have been involved and we’ve really appreciated this.

We hope this document will be of assistance to those engaging with narrative ideas. We look forward to receiving your feedback!

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The healing of memories— Fr. Michael Lapsley

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:25:01 +0000

Fr Michael Lapsley was born in New Zealand and trained as a priest in Australia before moving to South Africa. He was expelled from South Africa and went on to become an ANC chaplain while living in both Lesotho and Zimbabwe. In 1990, while in Zimbabwe, he opened a letter bomb and lost both his hands and one eye in the subsequent explosion. He now lives and works in Capetown as the Director of the Institute for the Healing of Memories. The following interview took place in Capetown. Cheryl White, Jane Speedy & David Denborough were the interviewers.

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Honouring Samoan ways and understandings: Towards culturally appropriate mental health services— Kiwi Tamasese

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:20:20 +0000

The following paper was created from a series of interviews with Kiwi Tamasese that took place in Wellington, New Zealand and also in Samoa in 2000. This paper discusses some of the findings from a research project carried out by The Family Centre. The full report Ole Taeao Afua: The New Morning - A Qualitative Investigation into Samoan Perspectives on Mental Health and Culturally Appropriate Services by Tamasese, K., Peteru, C. & Waldegrave, C. is available from The Family Centre.

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Opening the Door of Return— James Anani Amemasor

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 20:10:09 +0000

Extract:

To begin, can we ask you about your role here within this castle … what is it that you do here? And why do you feel this is important?

I work here at the Cape Coast Castle as the Museum and Monuments Education Officer. This job is very meaningful to me as it gives me the opportunity to express to others the values that I hold dear. It is my role to introduce our visitors to the history of this place, a history that we cannot run away from. Our history is very important to us. It helps us to appreciate what has happened in our country and enables us to then work out how we can forge ahead. Our history helps us to understand what is happening today in this land and assists us in travelling into the future.

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Stories of pride (a much loved previously published article) — Barbara Wingard

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 20:04:10 +0000

In June 2001, Barbara Wingard, Cheryl White and David Denborough travelled to the USA to meet with people from African-American, Latino and Native American communities to talk through cultural protocols in relation to the upcoming International Narrative Therapy and Community Work Conference to be co-hosted by Dulwich Centre and Spelman College in Atlanta Georgia. The following piece of writing was created from an interview that took place on the banks of the Murray River upon our return to Australia. We've included this piece of writing because it powerfully makes the links between the experience of Aboriginal Australian, African-American, Latino and Native American communities.

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To be a healer not a jailer: Implications for therapists in moving beyond punishment— Kenneth V. Hardy

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 20:01:03 +0000

I initially began to think critically about the issue of punishment when working with young children. The first thing I noticed was that in families where children received frequent and excessive punishment there were vivid effects on the child's development. When I saw a child in therapy who I was told was sneaky, or manipulative, or lying in relation to routine matters, upon asking various questions what came to the fore was that often these children had very good reason to fear punishment, either from their parents or from others outside the family. I came to see how these children had developed coping strategies in response to the fear of punishment. Time and again, I saw how an over-reliance on punishment had created more problems than it had effectively addressed. I particularly noticed how the legacies of punishment became problematic for families as children reached adolescence.

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Suggestions for further reading— Anita Franklin

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:55:13 +0000

Extract:

When asked to provide suggestions for further reading in relation to the theme of African American experience, I chose these three books as I believe they are particularly applicable to the situation of African Americans and others of African descent living in the West as a result of slavery and colonialism. I have found, when I am asked to teach about Black America, that these texts are the ones which I find myself recommending to students time and time again.

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Reparations: Repairing relationships and honouring ancestry— Makungu Akinyela

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:51:04 +0000

When damage has been done to a people, when there has been exploitation and one group has benefited from this, then a key aspect of repairing the relationship between these groups are processes of reparation. Processes of reparation enable the damage that has been done to be mended and relationships to be healed. Where abuse has occurred, it is of great importance in order for healing to take place, that the effects of the abuse be fully acknowledged, and that the perpetrator of the abuse engage in acts of redress and reparation. In my experience, where this occurs there is a much greater likelihood of relationships being restored. This is true in therapeutic contexts as well as larger cultural and social contexts.

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In appreciation— Norma Akamatsu

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:46:57 +0000

A note of appreciation.

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De-colonizing our lives: Divining a post-colonial therapy— Makungu Akinyela

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:42:45 +0000

I am a therapist of African descent, born in the United States. I consult primarily with families of African descent. I believe that the emotional, relationship and mental health concerns that families present to me in consultation can be best understood within the social, cultural and historical context of resistance against racial domination in the United States. Those families who come to see me are commonly struggling with questions and issues that have their roots in slavery and Jim Crow segregation as well as the current system of what I refer to as American racial colonialism. While it is now over thirty years since the end of Jim Crow, and many of our people are no longer legally discriminated against, Eurocentric thinking, metaphors and dominant narratives continue to define relationships among Africans in America and between African and European Americans.

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In Our Own Voice: African-American stories of oppression, survival and recovery in mental health systems— Vanessa Jackson

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:36:47 +0000

A review of the history of mental health includes few references to the African-American experience. Robert Meinsma's Brief History of Mental Therapy offers a review of philosophical and medical views on mental illness dating back to 600 BC that includes nearly a thousand entries. However, this very comprehensive document boasts fewer than five entries pertaining to the experiences of people of African descent. A similar criticism can be offered of the timeline compiled by the American Psychological Association (Street 2001). African-Americans have a presence in America dating back to at least 1619 when the first African indentured servants arrived in America (Bennett 1993).This chapter attempts to supplement the official records by offering a few accounts of African-American psychiatric survivors' experiences, and the philosophy and policies that guided the treatment of our ancestors and which still influence our treatment today.

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Talking of home and journeys of the spirit— Hugo Kamya

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:32:44 +0000

I work with many families who have left their homelands and have come to build new lives in this country. Whenever I meet with them I think a lot about the meaning of home. I now live far away from the place where I grew up, which was in Uganda. Talking of home, for me, brings tenderness and a sense of connection. For me, the word 'home' evokes a sense of being nurtured and comforted and being in communion with others. It also brings a sense of longing. Within the word 'home' is where, in the words of Buechner (1973), 'the heart's deep gladness meets the world's deep hunger'.

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We are making history now— Vanessa McAdams-Mahmoud

Dulwich — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:28:21 +0000

Working as a psychotherapist at Spelman College, each day I hear stories from young African-American women and their partners, friends and families. These are stories about every conceivable issue and experience. I am able to share in the happiness and joys of these young women's lives as well as witness stories of sadness and confusion.

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